McInnes could yet pip O’Neill for the post
AUSTIN MacPHEE is such a dreadful tease. Nothing to do with the long, blond hair, by the way. It is his words, filled with such hidden promise, that are proving so seductive. Just days after his Northern Ireland colleague Jimmy Nicholl had insisted Michael O’Neill was destined for a club job in England rather than a smart blue blazer at Hampden, MacPhee comes out and offers fresh hope — detailing how the method behind this miracle being performed on behalf of an exultant Green And White Army is ‘certainly transferable’ to another country.
Recollections of celebrating with the Ulstermen on the backroom staff at the time of qualifying for Euro 2016 just added even more intrigue.
‘One day, I would like it to mean as much to me,’ he said, evoking images of wistful gazes back across the water to old Caledonia, wobbly top lips and gathering teardrops.
Is it reading between the lines too deeply to view that as some kind of job pitch? Is he testing the temperature? Is that all just wishful thinking?
O’Neill (below) is certainly the outstanding candidate for Scotland right now. No matter what Brendan Rodgers may say, Derek McInnes simply doesn’t tick as many boxes. Not yet, anyway.
The problem is that these are only MacPhee’s words we are working with, spinning theories around.
O’Neill is keeping his cards close to his chest and, of course, should Northern Ireland beat Switzerland and make it to the World Cup, the landscape could change again between now and next summer.
It is essential to have a list of viable alternatives. And if McInnes really does fancy being considered, what better way to push himself ever closer to the front of the queue on Wednesday by doing what any future Scotland boss will have to be capable of — pulling off a game plan to the letter against technically-superior opposition? Rodgers may well have tipped McInnes for Scotland. Ironically, it may involve finally getting the better of his Celtic side to fully justify that recommendation to the general public. There are obvious questions regarding the Dons manager’s suitability for international football. He has never worked at that level, for starters. ‘If I was running the recruitment process, it is a punt on anyone who hasn’t done it,’ says MacPhee. ‘There is a real misunderstanding that the skills of a club manager are transferable to the skills of managing in international football.’ He is right. It is a very different job. A different discipline. Craig Levein was — and is — a very good club manager in Scotland, but he struggled during his tenure at the SFA and, ultimately, suffered.
McInnes does have a trophy to his name as a manager, though. He has managed in several finals and rebuilt the club splendidly.
What’s more, he is clearly continuing to develop and improve. There are many good things about McInnes that make you think he
could be a Scotland boss of the future.
He clearly has the ability to make players better. His comments after the recent win at Hibernian were interesting, detailing how he is taking forgotten players such as Stevie May and Gary Mackay-Steven from places where they didn’t play and were ‘not important’ to the top of the table.
Making players feel respected and important is a key part of O’Neill’s ethos with Northern Ireland and has to be a central plank within the Scotland set-up, too.
When Aberdeen press hard, swarming over the opposition, they are a joy to watch. McInnes demands high work-rate, energy, fitness, relentlessness. Scotland, up against higher-ranked sides, will need to do the same.
He is also proving himself adaptable. Summer surgery left him unsure of his best starting XI. A 3-0 Betfred Cup defeat at Motherwell delivered some painful home truths.
Kari Arnason and Scott McKenna have been installed as the centraldefensive pairing, with Anthony O’Connor protecting them and clean sheets have followed.
The disaster of last season’s Betfred Cup final and that meek surrender to Celtic were followed by a more accomplished display in the Scottish Cup final in May.
Aberdeen were terrific that day. Their execution of the game plan was agonisingly close to perfection, running out of steam in the closing stages and left to count the cost of Jonny Hayes just failing to play in Kenny McLean in front of goal.
For all that improvement, though, Aberdeen lost six out of six against Celtic. They still need to take that final, elusive step. McInnes has, so far, dodged questions on the Scotland job, stating only that it would be ‘high on the agenda’ for any aspiring manager.
O’Neill has been over the course at that level. He has achieved the kind of results Scotland will need to make sure they are on the pitch in these Euro 2020 matches lined up for Hampden.
Still relatively young at 48, he also appears to enjoy the international scene. He can surely see that this cannot last forever with Northern Ireland either. By the summer of 2020, Gareth McAuley will be 39 and long forgotten, while Steve Davis and Chris Brunt will be 35.
We can definitely offer O’Neill an interesting opportunity. There is still time, though, for McInnes to make himself a compelling option.
Victory on Wednesday against a Celtic side on a 60-game unbeaten domestic run would be a statement quite impossible to ignore.