The postponement of the Euro 2020 play-offs means he will focus on Stoke now but his achievements deserve wider recognitionMichael O’Neill’s exit as Northern Ireland manager was inevitable and just one more, minor piece of fallout from the crisis afflicting football, but that does not diminish the significance of Wednesday’s announcement. A transformational, some might argue miraculous, reign is over and, while the now exclusively Stoke manager insisted he is “not the type of person who wants to do a lap of the pitch”, wider acclaim and recognition are precisely what he deserves.The image of O’Neill leaping through the air and hailstones at the Stade de Lyon remains vivid almost four years on. That joyous eruption had been caused by...
Stoke’s attraction to O’Neill is obvious – he maximises resources by creating an environment players relishOne of Michael O’Neill’s final acts as the Northern Ireland manager emphasises why the lure of club football was always going to prove too strong eventually. O’Neill used to adopt self-deprecating humour when explaining how seeking out international players from the nether regions of the game had become normality. A trip to Blackpool v Peterborough in League One where the reason for attending, Jordan Thompson, went unused summed up a scenario whereby O’Neill had created national heroes from the unlikeliest of backdrops. There was time for the 50-year-old to attend Celtic’s League Cup demolition of Hibernian later the same day; none of the 36 players...
Yaya Touré is no Johan Cruyff but they are mild compared to the keeper who caused chaos for Celtic and against StokeIt is getting to the stage where we are going to have to accept Yaya Touré is no Johan Cruyff. Shame, really, because the Ivorian had the right idea. Whether served with an upturned bowl of steaming hot bile or a platter of cold hard truths, the revenge of the jilted footballer can be an entertaining force. None of the sport’s great orators, from Bill Shankly to Claude Puel, has ever given a team talk as inspirational as a well-nurtured grudge.In 1910, the magnificent Leigh Roose set an example that may never be matched but we will get to...
Big-spending Nottingham Forest will hope they can do a Wolves but the English second tier remains unpredictable Related: League One 2018-19 preview| Ben Fisher Related: League Two 2018-19 season preview | Ben Fisher Related: Number of clubs sponsored by betting firms is ‘disturbing’, say campaigners Related: Football League 2018-19: 20 things to watch out for this season | Jacob Steinberg Continue reading...
A wake is in store in Swansea, Klopp faced with a juggling act and a swansong for Conte and Benítez?Sign up now to The Fiver, our daily football emailThis feature, you will note, is called ‘10 Things to Look Out For’ rather than ‘10 Things to Look Forward To’. Thank goodness for that, because there might not be much to look forward to at the Liberty Stadium on Sunday. The match between Swansea and Stoke is likely to be a wake, with both clubs wondering how the hell they got into this mess. A number of players will be making their last appearance for both sides, seeing no contradiction in the belief that they are far too good to play...