It’s tough call but I want Roy here
MARTIN O’NEILL says Roy Keane is difficult to handle but he still hopes to bring him in as his assistant at Nottingham Forest.
The two have spoken at length and O’Neill is hoping for a quick answer from his brooding tough-guy sidekick.
The two worked in tandem with the Republic of Ireland for five years and guided them to the last 16 of Euro 2016.
O’Neill said the 47-year-old former Manchester United and Forest star had a number of things to sort out before making his decision.
“He’s got a couple of things to really mull over but I really would like him to come,” he said. “He’s been in America and so all this has come at him as quickly as it has to me. His dad isn’t very well at the moment. But I’d love to get him on board.
“He was a great assistant to me. He’s tough to handle but you know that with him. He’s pretty special.”
O’Neill has only committed to an 18-month contract with the sole mission of returning Forest to the Premier League.
“The target is to get promotion,” he said. “I can’t see any other reason to be here. If I can’t deliver that then maybe it could be time for someone else.”
O’Neill, 66, breezed into the club saying it was hard not to feel the presence of Brian Clough, and admitted he always felt he had to prove himself to Old Big ’Ead despite being a key member of his legendary Forest side which conquered Europe twice. Asked exactly what his old boss would have thought about him sitting in the City Ground manager’s office, O’Neill laughed and said: “I remember an occasion when there was a possibility of me managing Bradford City, way back in 1987. I went for an interview and most of the people who had gone for the interview had gone with references.
“The vice-chairman of Bradford, who seemed to quite like me, asked me to go and get a recommendation from Brian Clough. I went over to see him and he said, ‘I tell you what, I will give you the recommendation of all time, don’t you worry about that – but you are not getting my job!’ He did send a recommendation – and I didn’t get the job. So it wasn’t that good a recommendation ,was it?” “I had a tough time with Brian. Every day here was almost like a mission to prove him wrong. Or so I thought. “But there were times in massive matches, including in the European Cup final, when he gave me praise and it was extraordinary – you felt 10 feet tall. I have a lot of very fond memories here. I spent nearly 10 years here and the last five were exceptional.
“To go from promotion to the league title, to League Cups, to European Cups, to Super Cups, to World Club Cups, and for a provincial club, was extraordinary. “Those were heady days. But I don’t live in the past. I’m trying to carve some niche here for the current players. I am really looking forward to it. I wasn’t sure if it was the right time. But now I have this opportunity to do it, and I might not get the opportunity again.
“I must make the most of it.”