Nicholl ‘concern’ over O’Neill bid

JIMMY NICHOLL admits he would be hugely relieved if Scotland target Michael O’Neill put pen to paper on a new six-year deal with Northern Ireland. The recently appointed Rangers No 2 is part of O’Neill’s backroom staff, but has been in the dark about the Edinburgh resident’s future since the end of the Irish World Cup bid. The SFA have yet to meet the compensation demands required to open formal talks with O’Neill, despite an initial approach back in November. That has left the IFA increasingly confident of keeping their man, with discussions already started on an improved long-term contract. ‘It would be brilliant if Michael stayed with Northern Ireland,’ said Nicholl. ‘I know he has had a couple of offers. ‘I asked him often enough about what might happen. He had a lot going on in his personal life and then there were a couple of clubs interested. He said he hadn’t made up his mind. ‘Listen, he just weighs things up. He wouldn’t want to go through what he did, taking the boys to the Euros and just missing out on the World Cup on a penalty kick, and then maybe lose four or five players from the squad and have to rebuild again. ‘He might be able to get us to the next Euros. What I was always hoping was that he could get another campaign out of the squad, especially the likes of Gareth McAuley, Jonny Evans and even Steven Davis. If he got another campaign out of the older ones, I thought he would stay. ‘I have definitely been concerned about the Scotland situation, because it would be a real disappointment for Northern Ireland. ‘When you see how he works, his man-management is down to a tee. ‘The way he handles people and the decisions he makes are really impressive.’