Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
O’NEILL TIES THE NOTT
Reid: Martin will be ideal fit for Forest
MARTIN O’NEILL wasted no time getting down to business yesterday – and was surrounded by some familiar faces.
But Roy Keane is not yet among them as discussions to appoint him as Nottingham Forest assistant are still ongoing, although the club remains hopeful.
Steve Guppy and goalkeeper coach Seamus Mcdonagh were part of O’neill’s staff with Ireland and were on the Forest training ground with O’neill yesterday.
Having been officially appointed yesterday morning, O’neill met the players before taking the session ahead of Saturday’s Championship clash at home to Bristol City.
But former Irish international and Nottingham Forest star Andy Reid has warned O’neill that he will need to hit the ground running to keep the fans on side.
Reid had two spells with Forest between 1998-2005 and 2011-2016 and still has strong links to the club.
While O’neill’s time with Ireland soured in 2018, Reid believes the club’s two-time European Cup winner can breathe life into their promotion push.
Forest sit ninth in the Championship table, just four points off the playoffs going into the second-half of the season.
O’neill has been tasked with a top-six finish and if he gets points on the board early on, Reid (right) feels the 66-year-old can save their season.
Reid, who won 29 caps for
Ireland, said: “It’s a good time in
Martin’s career to come here, with Forest in need of a little bit of an upturn.
“On the face of it, it seems a really good fit, but football boils down to ‘are you going to get results?’.
“Can he galvanise the team and get them moving in the right direction?
“Let’s not forget, they’re only four points off the play-offs.
“They could easily make that up in the Championship. There are some good players there, some really top players.
“And the owners have been willing to put their money where their mouths are and back the managers who have been there.
“It’s exciting times for Forest really. It was a bit disappointing after Aitor Karanka left but there’s a lot of excitement in the air.
“It’s a really, really big club and it’s a club that deserves to be back up in the Premier League.”