You won’t get O’neill on the cheap, Macphee warns SFA
● Top target doesn’t think he’s above the Scotland job but will have plenty of offers
Michael O’neill does not believe he is too big for the Scotland job but he will not come cheap, according to his right-hand man Austin Macphee.
The Northern Ireland boss remains Hampden chiefs’ first choice to replace Gordon Strachan. But there has been little movement since last month, when Scottish Football Association chief executive Stewart Regan approached his counterparts in Belfast to seek permission to open talks with the 48-year-old and was told to meet the compensation figure before any discussions could begin.
The former Brechin City and Shamrock Rovers manager has two years left on his current £500,000-a-year contract and confirmed last week discussions had begun with the Irish Football Association over a new four-year extension, which would likely come with enhanced financial rewards.
The SFA is facing stiff competitions from their Northern Irish counterparts and Macphee agrees that the Scots may have to dig deep to secure O’neill’s signature.
However, the Hearts assistant manager, who is also Northern Ireland’s No 2, shot down suggestions that O’neill might view the SFA post as being beneath him, given his achievements since moving into international management six years ago.
Speaking at Hearts’ weekly press conference, Macphee said: “I don’t think anybody would ever be above the Scotland job. [Sir] Alex Ferguson would never say he was above the Scotland job.
“But naturally he [O’neill] is now in a financial bracket which links you with some jobs and not others. I mean, Brechin are not going to come calling now and that’s because of the financial bracket he is in following the success he has had.
“If Alex Ferguson says he is not above the Scotland job, and I haven’t asked Michael specifically, then I certainly wouldn’t say Michael was.”
However, Macphee admits that speculation over O’neill – who took Northern Ireland to their first major tournament in 30 years at Euro 2016 – is unlikely to cease even if he does decide to sign on again with the IFA.
“Michael is under contract with the IFA and so am I, so it’s not something I want to talk about too much right now,” added Macphee.
“I just think he’s a fantastic manager. There will be speculation about him all the time. He’s the national team manager who has had the biggest increase in world rankings globally so that puts you on every board’s radar. He has taken Northern Ireland from 133rd to 20th. No other manager has done that.
“He is going to be linked with lots of different jobs.”
“He’s the national team manager who has had the biggest increase in world rankings globally”