Wright the favourite for NI job
TOMMY WRIGHT has been installed as the odds-on favourite for the Northern Ireland job after his shock departure from St Johnstone yesterday.
The former Windsor Park favourite, who was capped 31 times for his country, threw the towel in at Mcdiarmid Park after seven years in charge of the Perth club.
Bookies slashed Wright’s odds to 10/11 to succeed Michael O’neill in the aftermath of the announcement - with Motherwell’s Stephen Robinson and under-21 boss Ian Baraclough also in the running.
The Ballyclare man admitted admitted leaving St Johnstone was not easy but thinks it is the “right time”.
Wright led Saints to their first-ever Scottish Cup success in 2014 and guided the club to several top-six places in the Ladbrokes Premiership.
Wright took over as manager in June 2013, after initially joining as assistant to Steve Lomas in 2011, and he still had two years left on his current contract.
Plans were already in place to leave the club at the end of the campaign, and he has decided now is the time to part company during the coronavirus lockdown.
Speaking to Saints TV, Wright said: “It was extremely difficult, obviously being at the club so long I’ve got a lot of feelings for the club, lots and lots of happy memories and worked with a lot of good people both on the pitch and off the pitch.
“It was something that was being considered for a while, even as far back as at the end of the season when we finished eighth (in 2017-18).
“We sort of made a decision to see if over the next couple of years we could bring the age of the squad down and it might be time for me to move on.
“Fortunately, we have done that.”