I’ve more than paid my way in this job, but you can outstay your welcome
Martin O’Neill knows he’s walking a tightrope as pressure mounts following a grim run of results
‘WE HAVEN’T A GOALSCORER IN OUR GROUP AND THAT IS DIFFICULT’
AS a fan of the Buffalo Bills, Martin O’Neill has a sense of the chill winds currently blowing off Lake Erie. Nine NFL games played this season, two wins and a current losing streak of four, have left the Bills bottom of the AFC East.
Those stats are almost as grim as that of the Republic of Ireland in 2018. Eight games played, one win and only one point out of a possible nine in the Nations League.
Form like that gets coaches the sack, but if O’Neill is feeling the heat, it’s not showing. In Dublin last Monday to announce his squad for the games against Northern Ireland and Denmark, he was asked if he felt extra pressure to deliver as Ireland manager now that businessman Denis O’Brien was no longer paying part of his wages.
‘No,’ he replied instantly. ‘We qualified for the Euros and we made substantial money from the Euros. So, I don’t think I have to worry too much about my wages. I think I have paid my way,’ he said.
When it was put to him that the figures being mentioned are massive – reports of a €1.9m salary have not been countered by the FAI – he became a tad defensive, insisting the contract was ‘private’.
‘I haven’t asked about your contract,’ he said a touch testily to journalists.
After it was put to him that his new deal may be almost double his first in 2013, he continued, ‘I think that in my career I have more than paid my way. If you ask any of the clubs that I’ve been at, I’ve more than paid my way.
‘I think if you asked the people at the FAI I think they’ve been pretty happy. We qualified for the Euros, we made money there and we made money in the Euros. We’ve played some play-off games too. When I came into the job first of all I think there was going to be 7,000 people for the game against Latvia and it turned out to be 35,000.
‘I don’t have to be justifying all of these things all of the time, but I think if you looked at the bigger picture, I think it’s pretty well clear.’
‘Honestly, I think we’ll be fine. Of course, there’s pressure on me, pressure is part of it all.’
Outwardly, he hasn’t lost any of the self-belief he brings to management after almost 30 years at the coalface. While the Irish team he oversees is struggling, he is adamant that he knows his job and is making a decent fist of it too. He clearly has the FAI’s blessing to continue for the Euro 2020 finals, even if few in Irish football genuinely believe the team, in its current guise, will qualify.
In that event, the Derryman won’t be offered a fourth campaign as manager and his time with Ireland will end sourly.
He accepted that if next year is as ‘tough’ as this one has been, people will call for his head. ‘Absolutely you can outstay your welcome, that happens in any job,’ he said. ‘Managers nowadays, at club level, have very, very little time. They had little time when I was there, but I think my stays at football clubs would suggest I must have been doing something reasonably well. The Euros start in earnest in March time, so of course you get back up and fight, that’s the idea. ‘The Euros in 2012 were pretty disastrous, I think we’d one shot on target in three games and the players followed that up by being hammered by Germany, so you have to fight back from these things.’ Are the tools there? ‘Whether they are or not, it’s my job to try and qualify for competitions. Of course, I have to take it personally, this is a job I want to do.’ A key resource for any successful manager is a decent goalscorer. Here, O’Neill is lamentably light. Shane Long, his most experienced forward, is not a natural fox in the box, nor is David McGoldrick, whom he watched on Friday night in the Sheffield derby but curiously declined to call-up for the forthcoming games against Northern Ireland and Denmark. Jon Walters is 35 and injured while the newcomers, Sean Maguire and Scott Hogan, have hardly played a meaningful international between them. Aiden O’Brien, who scored a fine goal in Poland in September, is stuck on the bench at Millwall.
‘With respect to us, at this minute we haven’t had a goalscorer in our group. Without one at any level, it’s difficult. There’s hope for young Maguire, I think he can manoeuvre it and do quite well,’ said O’Neill, who intends to use the Preston striker in the upcoming games.
The lack of options explains O’Neill’s willingness to promote uncapped Southampton striker Michael Obafemi, 18, into his squad.
‘He’s got a long way to go,’ said the manager of the Dublin-born forfirst-team ward, who figured against Manchester City last Sunday.
‘Results are not great at the minute at Southampton, yet the manager (Mark Hughes) thinks he’s got a chance of playing. I think that augurs well for the kid. He’s got a bit of pace, it’s something we don’t have in abundance, so I wouldn’t mind having a little look.’
Asking a rookie with two appearances to make the step up to international level is a lot and O’Neill is not expecting Obafemi to work the oracle. While he resisted the temptation to promote Troy Parrott, he holds the 16-year-old Spurs striker in high regard.
‘I think his time will definitely come and hopefully sooner rather than later. He may not even be for me, but for future coaches with Ireland. It would be great to see him come through, he’s got a proper chance.
‘Whether we have that goalscorer or not, and it’s going to be unlikely that someone is going to appear in the next couple of months, we’re going to be very, very competitive,’ he promised.
‘And, hopefully, we might have a fit Seamus Coleman, a fit (Robbie) Brady and a fit (James) McCarthy, a couple of players who have that little bit of extra experience which might help us win a few games.’
As a dreadful 2018 draws to a close, any win would give O’Neill some respite. The Buffalo Bills, who meet the Jets today, would surely concur.
nSHANE LONG will miss Ireland’s forthcoming games against Northern Ireland and Denmark. The striker was not involved with Southampton yesterday pending ankle surgery and is expected to be out for 4-6 weeks.