Money can’t be an obstacle for SFA when it comes to landing miracle worker O’Neill
INTERNATIONAL SPECIAL
PROTOCOL and common courtesy prevented the names of possible successors passing his lips. Stewart Regan couldn’t have dropped a stronger hint as to the identity of person the SFA would like to see replace Gordon Strachan as Scotland manager, however, had he chalked the initials ‘MO’ on the blackboard behind him before winking and putting his fingers to his lips.
To be in no hurry to appoint the new man was an approach entirely in keeping with the magnitude of the decision. One that no one would raise an eyebrow at.
Yet the SFA chief executive’s attitude to identifying the individual tasked with getting Scotland to Euro 2020 went beyond laissez-faire. By common consent, it went all the way across the M8 to the front door of the man who — at the time — might well have been taking Northern Ireland to the World Cup next summer.
‘We may have a couple of friendlies in March and June of 2018, which we are thinking about at the moment,’ Regan said on October 13.
‘We might have a new manager in place for those friendlies. But if we haven’t, it’s not the end of the world.’
In other words, Northern Ireland had prevailed against Switzerland to ensure O’Neill was occupied through to next summer, Regan and the rest of the SFA board were still prepared to bide their time and wait for their man.
As it transpired, the brain-freeze experienced by Romanian referee Ovidiu Hategan in penalising Corry Evans for a handball that never was last Thursday looks like bringing matters to a head long before then.
Which is not to say that the commercial department at Hampden should get the Edinburgh resident’s name emblazoned on the back of the striking new home kit just yet.
The main barrier to capturing O’Neill is the small matter of a contract with the Irish FA which runs until 2020. Believed to be worth around £500,000 per year, it’s scarcely the kind of document you feed to the shredder unless someone else is prepared to make it seriously worth your while.
Now linked with virtually every English Premier League gig that arises or is likely to, the man who briefly worked in the financial services industry after finishing playing won’t need a refresher course to appreciate his market value.
After 20 years without a major finals, though, the SFA’s bargaining position in this has been diminished. It’s no longer a question of whether they can afford to push the boat out in order to make Euro 2020. More if they can afford not to.
And if they want to employ a man in such high demand and with such an impressive track record, they will have little option but to pay the going rate for him.
‘It would be a good, sensible decision if the SFA go and get Michael O’Neill,’ said former Hibs manager John Hughes.
‘But he won’t be short of offers, so it will all depend on the contract.
‘If they are determined to go and get him then they will have to show that. He’s under contract with Northern Ireland, so I’m assuming they will have to pay some sort of compensation.
‘Michael will have offers. Does he want to go into club management? He did very well at Shamrock Rovers.
‘But if Scotland come calling, I think it would be too good an offer to turn down.’
In one sense, Regan and his cohorts can consider themselves to be in a privileged position. While O’Neill’s salary would likely dwarf that of any previous Scotland manager, it is believed the compensation clauses in his IFA contract are much less prohibitive for countries than they are for clubs. Whether this was an oversight or not, the fact is his credentials for the post are impeccable. Notwithstanding his commendable record with Shamrock Rovers where he became the first manager to lead a League of Ireland team into the group stages of a European competition, O’Neill distinguishes himself from other candidates on the only point that should truly matter: he has successfully taken a small nation to a major finals and might well have taken them to another. ‘I did my coaching badges with Michael and I know him very well,’ continued Hughes. ‘He’s done brilliantly with Northern Ireland and he looked very disappointed that they didn’t qualify, especially on a referee’s decision.
‘He would be a good appointment for Scotland. Northern Ireland and Scotland can call upon similar players.
‘We don’t have an abundance of top players like we did years ago when every top English team had a couple of Scotsmen.
‘Michael could go in there and get the gold dust on them and hopefully get us success because we’re crying out for success.
‘Gordon did a wonderful job and I’m a big admirer but ultimately we didn’t qualify.’
The sense of bemusement on the other side of the Irish Sea about talk of O’Neill defecting to Scotland is understandable.
Northern Ireland are 23rd in the FIFA rankings — six places higher than Scotland — and can count themselves very unfortunate not to be contemplating a second successive major finals.
Scotland, by contrast, have had their noses pressed against the glass for two decades now.
The compelling argument can only be seen by gazing into a crystal ball, it seems. For all their extraordinary feats, the best international days of many of O’Neill’s charges are behind them. Scotland, while Kieran Tierney, Andrew Robertson et al, have greater promise.
‘We were just coming good under Gordon and he was just getting it right,’ reflected Hughes.
‘Michael would be great to take things on. He stays in Edinburgh and I’ve got so much admiration for the job he’s done over six years with Northern Ireland.
‘Northern Ireland were patient with him at first and we would need to do the same.
‘We aren’t blessed with technical footballers. It will be the exact same scenario as with Northern Ireland where he would need to get the team to dig in, be resolute and good at set-pieces.’
MJOHN HUGHES was speaking at a William Hill media event. William Hill is the proud sponsor of the Scottish Cup.