SPLIT DECISION
Tommy: Northern Ireland have a better defence than Scotland, who have more attacking threat. Put the best of them together and it would be some team to manage
MICHAEL O’NEILL may well have reached a crossroads in his managerial career.
It could all come down to a straight shootout between Northern Ireland and Scotland.
The Northern Ireland boss is the SFA’s preferred candidate to replace Gordon Strachan in the Scotland hotseat.
Earlier this week former Northern Ireland manager Lawrie Sanchez urged O’Neill to stay put because he had a better chance of leading them to the next European Championships rather than the Scots.
St Johnstone boss Tommy Wright has been a close friend of countryman O’Neill since 1988.
And he reckons any manager would love the chance – and the choice – to boss Northern Ireland or Scotland because they both have fantastic players in their squads.
Wright suggests if you merged the Northern Irish defence with the Scottish attack you would have a formidable international force.
And even former Northern Ireland defender Stephen Craigan had a go at combining the best of the two squads in a tweet earlier this week.
Wright does not dispute the quality and standard of player available to Scotland – after all he is the Premiership’s second longest-serving manager.
But he believes the secret of Northern Ireland’s recent success is because they’ve been fishing in a smaller pool for their talent, helping O’Neill to nurture a club mentality at international level.
Wright said: “Northern Ireland have a good squad. Scotland have a really good squad as well.
“Scotland just happen to have a bigger pool of players to choose from than Northern Ireland.
“However, Northern Ireland have key players in the Premier League. You could argue that defensively Northern Ireland are better than Scotland.
“Scotland might have a bit more in the attacking end of the pitch. If the two could join together they’d be a great team. “The ideal international team to manage would be one that probably incorporated the Northern Irish defence and the Scottish attack.
“However the difference between both nations is Northern Ireland have proved in recent years they can compete. To be fair to Scotland they have also had some bad luck in recent qualifying tournaments. I can see Sanchez’s point that Northern Ireland have a better squad and better chance of qualifying for major tournaments than Scotland because they have proved that is the case by reaching Euro 2016.
“On paper you could argue Scotland have more quality because they have a bigger squad of players to pick from.
“In terms of qualifying for major tournaments what also helped Northern Ireland is the fact they do have a smaller pool of players. That is a disadvantage but Michael has been able to nurture a club mentality within that group.
“The same has also happened with Iceland who don’t have a big pool of players to pick from but have enjoyed success on the international stage. That is because the players become totally familiar with the set-up and in turn there are limited changes to the squad.
“It is no coincidence there was an upturn in Scotland’s recent results when the contingent of Celtic players featured for both club and country.
“Even at club level St Johnstone built their success on those kind of things. I read the other day St Johnstone had the most loyal players in the Premiership and stayed at the club the longest.
“For years we worked on the, ‘If it ain’t broke then don’t fix it’ premise.
“That in some ways has helped Northern Ireland and O’Neill whereas the choice has been far greater for Scotland and they have always had options to change their team.
“At club or international level if you are able to pick roughly the same team that is going to help you get results because that group of players will know each other inside out.”
The IFA have already begun talks on an extended deal with O’Neill after the Northern Irish suffered heartbreak against Switzerland in the World Cup play-offs. The former Brechin and Shamrock Rovers boss is contracted until 2020. But Wright doesn’t share Sanchez’s view that if O’Neill does choose to jump international ship then it will all be down to money.
Having been linked with the USA job as well as Sunderland, Wright admits O’Neill has earned the right to choose where his future lies.
Although he reluctantly admits the time may well be right for O’Neill to seek a fresh football challenge.
Wright said: “Michael is in a very strong position now. Whether he opts to stay with Northern Ireland or choose a job in club football or accept the Scotland job, he has earned that right to do so.
“I believe Michael is the preferred Scotland candidate but as a Northern Ireland fan I hope he stays. He has been there for six years now. I could fully understand if he wanted to move on and seek a fresh challenge.
“People have said Michael can do more with Northern Ireland. He wouldn’t look at it like that. He would say the next campaign is a new challenge. Maybe he is ready for a fresh challenge.
“There was a lot of pressure attached to the World Cup play-off games and he will be relaxing now. He’ll decide his future whenever he is ready.
“It is no surprise to see Northern Ireland offer him a better deal. I read what Sanchez said but this will definitely not be about money for Michael. This will all be about where he sees his next challenge. He will not rush into anything and will take his time – and will already be preparing for his next challenge whatever that may be.”
A fierce patriot, Wright hopes his pal remains in situ. But he’s adamant should Scotland be able to prise O’Neill away from Northern Ireland then they’ll have hired a manager at the top of his game.
Wright added: “As a Northern Irishman, I want Michael to stay.
“If Scotland, USA or a club side were to pinch him from us then they would be lucky as they’d be hiring a top manager and a top person.
“Wherever Michael ends up next he will do everything in his power to make sure that club or country is successful.”
NI have a smaller pool of players ... Michael’s been able to nurture a club mentality TOMMY WRIGHT