The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
O’Neill accused of using Scotland
Former SFA chief executive Gordon Smith has accused Michael O’Neill of using the Scotland job as a bargaining chip, but concedes that Stewart Regan will shoulder the blame for the very public failure to attract their No 1 candidate.
O’Neill turned down the opportunity to succeed Gordon Strachan following a meeting with SFA officials in Edinburgh, releasing a brief statement on Monday explaining “it’s a huge honour to be offered the position. However I do not feel that this is the right opportunity for me at this moment in my career”.
Smith believes the meeting should never have been allowed to take place without assurances that he would accept the job and, with O’Neill now set to pen a lucrative extension to his contract with Northern Ireland, reckons he has achieved his role of currying favour in his homeland and raising his profile.
“What I find strange is we got this far – the compensation has been agreed with the Irish FA to allow us to speak to him – and then he has turned it down,” said Smith.
“I honestly believe everything should have been in place before he even went to that meeting.
“He’s got advisers, people who look after him, and it all should have been agreed – salary, everything – beforehand.
“So, why has he turned it down? The only thing I can think of, and I’m disappointed he has turned it down, is that he has used this to get a bit of esteem.
“His stock is high anyway, but I think he has used this in terms of getting a big job and to look good with the Irish people.
“They will say ‘he’s turned them down, he really wants to stay a part of this Northern Ireland set-up’.”
Nevertheless, Smith, who held the top job with the governing body from 2007 to 2010, acknowledges that current chief executive Regan has left himself open to criticism by not being seen to hedge the SFA’s bets.
“Everything should have been tied up before Michael came along,” Smith continued. “Or they should have said ‘he is one of a number of candidates – there are other people in the frame’. Then, if he turns it down, as he has, it would not have been as embarrassing as it has turned out.
“The SFA are going to be criticised for this no matter what, regardless of who was involved, and generally the chief executive is the one who gets the blame. I’ve experienced that myself.”