Davis key factor in O’Neill’s big call

THE question will remain unanswered. Just what might have happened in Scotland’s Euro 2020 campaign if Michael O’Neill had been persuaded to jump ship from Northern Ireland? Failure to land O’Neill was an unhappy final chapter for Stewart Regan in his eightyear tenure as SFA chief executive. Regan resigned from his post in February 2018, barely a week after O’Neill had officially turned down the job offer at the end of a protracted and botched pursuit. The Yorkshireman may have carried the can for that affair, but O’Neill has now revealed how another figure familiar to Scots fans played a key role in convincing him to reject the SFA’s advances. Rangers midfielder Steven Davis has captained Northern Ireland throughout their successes under the one-time Brechin City boss, most notably ending a 30-year wait for a place at a major finals by reaching Euro 2016. And it was Davis who approached O’Neill with a simple message after suffering an unlucky defeat to Switzerland in a World Cup play-off in November 2017. ‘I remember after the game, the lads were having a beer in the hotel,’ said O’Neill. ‘Davo said to me: “We don’t mind if you leave to go to a club, but you can’t leave and go to Scotland. That’s the only thing that I ask of you”. ‘It wasn’t why I made the decision but it resonated with me because it showed there was a real closeness there with the players. It’s different in a club situation. ‘At Northern Ireland, those players probably felt they owed me a lot because their international careers amounted to something. ‘Equally, I feel a real attachment to them because they delivered after a very difficult period. At that point I had a decision to make. The IFA were brilliant and made me an unbelievable offer with flexibility in it. I just felt the right thing to do was stay and that’s what I did.’ O’Neill signed a lucrative sixyear deal. Despite joining Stoke City in November 2019 and subsequently preserving their place in the English Championship, he will remain in charge for Northern Ireland’s Euro 2020 play-off against Bosnia. Speaking to the At Home With Colin Murray podcast for Five Live, O’Neill added: ‘When you are at the point when you are playing games against Germany and Holland and believe you can still qualify, I think that says it all about what the team has achieved. We have another chance now.’ Meanwhile, Barnsley chief Paul Conway last night unveiled plans to hold takeover talks with distressed, cash-strapped clubs in the Scottish Premiership. Part of the international consortium which owns 80 per cent of the English Championship outfit and Swiss side FC Thun, Tykes co-chairman Conway failed in a bid to buy Glasgow team Partick Thistle last year. Frustrated by Scottish FA regulations on dual ownership, the American lost out to a community-ownership bid fronted by Colin Weir prior to the lottery winner’s death last December. However, with the SFA now willing to compromise over dual ownership in a bid to attract investment to Scottish clubs stricken by the coronavirus shutdown, Conway has already made tentative approaches to two clubs in the top flight of the SPFL. Speaking from Florida last night, he said: ‘We want to take this opportunity in the current environment to say to clubs in Scotland: “We are open for business”. ‘We hear there might be more flexibility with regard to dual ownership, which might be a good thing during this difficult period for clubs. ‘We can move fast for the right opportunity in the Scottish league and we are open to creative deals.’

‘I felt a real attachment to players in the squad’