Ireland boss due to break his silence soon
against Manchester United at Old Trafford tonight. Instead, his next appointment as Irish manager is likely to be the UEFA Nations League draw in Lausanne on Wednesday week. He verbally agreed last October to continue as Irish manager but nothing was signed off and he was technically free to talk to interested parties following the play-off loss to Denmark in November. He spoke to both Everton and Stoke, and the fact that he engaged with two Premier League clubs despite his ‘agreement’ has raised questions about whether or not his heart is in the job at all. He had the opportunity to shed light on the situation on Friday night when he attended the Soccer Writers’ awards dinner in Dublin, but chose not to. According to reports last night, he will bring clarity to the situation shortly. That he remains as Ireland manager is little short of astonishing, however. On Saturday, he attended the West Bromwich Albion-Brighton game and was fully expected to walk away from Ireland for another crack at Premier League management. At that point he was back in the race after ruling himself out on Friday, only to later learn that Flores has gone cold on the job. Though the weekend, O’Neill was the only target in the Stoke viewfinder and it seemed as if Peter Coates, the Stoke chairman, had landed his first preference to succeed Mark Hughes. ‘If I was Stoke City, I’d be clamouring to appoint him,’ said Ireland striker Jon Walters, still a folk hero at the club. While Darren O’Dea, the Ireland defender, was closer to the mark. ‘The thing that I’ve heard and read about is that the length of contract Stoke are possibly offering is a stumbling block,’ said O’Dea, ‘If I’m being honest; I see him going to Stoke as a short-term thing.’ It appears Stoke were of a similar view and dug their studs in. Maybe O’Neill asked for too much, knowing he was in a strong position after the refusals of Rowett and Flores. Either way, his reputation as Republic of Ireland manager has been damaged by events and it will require plenty of bridge-building, and a winning return as manager to convince the sceptics.