O’NEILL OUT OF FRAME AS STOKE LAND MAN
hours after ruling himself out. TV stations and photographic agencies bombarded the SWAI officers to know could they gain access, and chase down O’Neill. The Derry native asked for an all-FAI table at the event and there was a request from the FAI to be kept away from the top table, where he usually sits at the event to recognise excellence in Irish club football. O’Neill, Roy Keane and the senior Irish coaching entourage skipped the pre-dinner drinks and arrived last into the ballroom just after 7.45pm, moving at speed. Notably, there was little contact with any of the other 260 guests as they took their seats. Media requests in advance for a few words with O’Neill were rejected, as was the possibility of a Q&A on stage. The FAI also declined to issue a statement, simply insisting the manager was present for a sociable evening. By choosing to say nothing, it was as if the FAI, and O’Neill, hoped the dramatic events on the past week might go away — it’s a flawed strategy. This was the ideal time for O’Neill to explain himself, in front of the Irish football family, and to offer assurances of his commitment to the Ireland manager’s job. His presence gave the event added profile, and he applauded warmly in recognition of John Caulfield’s selection as ‘Personality of the Year’ and followed the tribute to the late Ryan McBride closely, but his detached manner suggested he was in Dublin under sufferance. Had the ball broke a different way in the English midlands this week, he might have been getting his feet under the table at Stoke, not the Conrad. Instead his next Irish engagement, the Nations League draw on January 24 in Lausanne, might be where he finally breaks his silence. All week O’Neill appeared to be in the driving seat for the Stoke vacancy but his unexpected dash to Dublin indicated he had been passed over, and that Sanchez Flores had secured the confidence of the club hierarchy to take Stoke forward. It is understood that Flores was always the preferred option to take over from Mark Hughes. As for O’Neill, he remains the Republic of Ireland boss but the ground under him is not as secure as it was a few short months ago. He still has some explaining to do.
CORK CITY’S Mark McNulty picked up the Goalkeeper of the Year award on the night while the Special Merit award winner was former Shamrock Rovers wing-half Ronnie Nolan who won four League of Ireland titles, seven FAI Cups and played in 13 finals.