O’Neill admits he would be interested in staying on for 2018 World Cup

FOR THE first time since his appointment, Martin O’Neill has indicated he would ‘consider’ continuing as Ireland manager even if his team doesn’t qualify for the European Championships finals. The Derry native, 62 next month, has revealed he would give serious thought to a new deal for the 2018 World Cup if he felt he was ‘building something’ as manager, and that he felt ‘wanted’.

His €1.2m-a-year contract with the FAI covers the duration of Ireland’s involvement in Euro 2016, which could end as soon as June should the Group D qualifiers against Poland and Scotland go the wrong way, or June next year, should the team make it to France.

So far, he has been reluctant to look beyond the current campaign but the World Cup qualifying draw in St Petersburg on July 25 will bring a new focus to the battles which lie over the horizon. Asked if he would like to continue as manager, he was initially reluctant to engage on the topic.

‘Personally speaking, I don’t want to look that far into it, and I don’t think anybody has. I also don’t know if I should go putting that kind of pressure on myself at the end of the day,’ said the Ireland manager. But pressed about being in charge for the 2018 campaign, his stance softened and enthusiasm flickered from within.

‘If I feel I’m building something here and if we’ve been genuinely unlucky in not qualifying, I think that might be a different issue. If I feel I’m wanted around, and results have shown I could do something with it, and change the (home) record, then that is something I would consider,’ he said.

‘I’ll see whether we’ve progressed and whether I’ve taken this forward, and if I feel we’ve done that, and we’re unlucky, I’ll see. If it’s not improved one jot, and you tell me “sorry, but...”, I’d know myself.’

Perhaps a chat with Mick McCarthy, the Ireland manager from 1996 to 2002, has given O’Neill (right) a different sense of perspective about the Irish job.

‘It was interesting speaking to Mick [McCarthy], who hadn’t realised the amount of games he was manager for; he thought he’d done many more. He’d a good run, he was successful, too.

‘Really, the next batch of home games will decide. If we’ve qualified in any aspect at all, that will be fantastic, and would be something I’d be very proud of.’

The FAI’s stance is that talk of O’Neill’s future is on hold until Ireland’s Euro 2016 fate is known. However, should Association chiefs, in the event of non-qualification, decide not to renew O’Neill’s contract, his tenure as manager would mirror Steve Staunton’s in its brevity.

Staunton was half-way through a four-year contract when he was dismissed in October 2007.

If the former Sunderland boss is to serve two campaigns as manager, the next two games are vital as Ireland, without a home win over a team inside the world’s top 40 since 2001, take on Poland (40th) on March 29th and Scotland (38th) on June 13.

‘We have to change that record,’ he stressed.

‘I think the Poland game is so essential, so important to us. We have to put everything into that game, try to find a way to beat them.

‘I think, if you ask the players, they’d feel we have some confidence about qualifying.’

O’Neill has promoted David McGoldrick and Cyrus Christie into the squad but is wary of including anyone for the sake of appearances for such mega matches as Poland and Scotland.

‘Not all the names I’m getting, in my opinion, would be good enough to handle these matches at this stage,’ said O’Neill.

‘Some players I’m monitoring are really improving in the year I’ve seen them but I still think we might have stronger players in those positions at the minute,’ he said.

One player he may fast track to the group is Shane O’Neill, the 21-year-old holding midfielder with Colorado Rapids in the MLS.

Son of Colm O’Neill, who won two All-Ireland Football Championships with Cork in 1989 and 1990, he is being pursued by the USA, for whom he has played at Under 20 level.

The Ireland manager can keep close tabs on him through his coach Steve Guppy, who has taken up a coaching post at Atlanta Silverbacks in the NASL, the league below the MLS.

Guppy, who will continue as part of the Ireland staff, previously coached at Rapids when Shane O’Neill was part of the youths’ set-up.

‘Steve will be able to fulfil a few things for me over in the States. He was going to give me full details of him as he’s definitely one we’ll be looking at.’

The Ireland manager had been tempted to seek a friendly international before the Poland game, as Scotland and Northern Ireland have done.

‘I did consider it but, hopefully, most players would have played some sort of football, and it’s a stage of the season where we might not want to pick up injuries.’

I’ll see, the next batch of home games will really decide things