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jamiejah
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| Post subject: Patronising,"who us" "well myebe a wee bit&qu |
The Scotsman
Sat 19 Mar 2005
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Job well done, but it's still time O'Neill left
TOM LAPPIN
MARTIN O’Neill always gives the impression that his latent irritation is bubbling there beneath the surface, just waiting for an opportunity to erupt. When it does, there is usually a degree of justification. So you could forgive him his impatience at the regularity with which his name is linked with every managerial vacancy that opens up in England, as if being in charge of Celtic was a kind of temporary holiday stint to pick up some pocket money before a proper career opportunity arrives.
Perceptions from north and south of the border are always going to be somewhat polarised. In Glasgow there lingers a warped notion that being in charge of one of the Old Firm clubs is still one of the great jobs in European football. In England there is the patronising attitude that it must be a little like being the boss of Watford or Rotherham, an endless round of dreary fixtures in ugly provincial backwaters, except without the regular defeats.
The truth falls between both camps, although in recent years the English perception has been a little closer to reality, if only because the competition in Scotland is trailing away like half-hearted Red Indians giving up chasing a speeding mail train. An ambitious manager can certainly not realistically assume that having their office at Parkhead or Ibrox marks the pinnacle of their management career, if that was ever the case (even the great Jock Stein said farewell to Celtic Park, albeit driven by his board’s ingratitude; and Graeme Souness ended his trophy-studded reign at Ibrox when Liverpool beckoned).
That said, O’Neill is entitled to feel riled at the notion that he would jump at the chance to manage Manchester City, even more than the suggestion that he would be eager to join Tottenham Hotspur. City, saddled by debt, have a squad made up mostly of willing journeymen, with one young star whose departure is inevitable, with a loyal but demanding fan-base who will always make harsh comparisons with their powerful neighbour. O’Neill is entitled to respond that he can get all that already without having to bother changing jobs.
Celtic fans get touchy when English observers suggest that staying at Celtic Park would signal a lack of ambition on the manager’s part, but there is a degree of reasoning behind the argument. These days, ambition at Celtic would have to go beyond the remit of a club manager, and encompass a national role restructuring Scottish football. O’Neill has put on a decent show, but its scope has stretched the limitations of its tiny theatre.
Realistically O’Neill can do no more, the extent of his challenge amounting to keeping up the high standards he has set himself, in the face of decreasing resources. Celtic won’t replace Henrik Larsson. Neil Lennon, Chris Sutton, and in the longer term John Hartson will move on. Celtic’s young prospects have only half-credible promise at this point, and O’Neill has been at Celtic long enough to know that the fans won’t wait patiently for them to reach maturity. Even emulating the heady 2003 evening in Seville would seem to be unrealistic. The pragmatic analysis is that O’Neill’s Celtic reign has crested the summit and the only vista is a grassy downward slope.
In short, the expectation is that if O’Neill wishes to take his career to a new level he will have to move on to an environment where the rewards for managerial talent are less straitened.
This is again where English and Scottish opinions diverge. In Glasgow O’Neill is deservedly idolised, for his reinvigoration of a Celtic side that had stuttered through the Venglos and Barnes seasons, and for an articulate intelligence that knew how to say the right things at the right time.
In England he is respected for that same intelligence, and for an ability to make middling players perform above themselves. His ability to manage at the top level is still regarded as unproven. Which may explain why his name is grist for the same rumour mill as that of Gordon Strachan, another boss with a winning personality but more of a battling draw when it comes to managerial achievements.
The assumption up here is that O’Neill will be tempted away by Manchester United and nothing below that level. It is conceivable that, should United end up potless this season, Sir Alex will be ushered away to spend more time with his wine-cellar and his investment portfolio. It is conceivable that the Irish "Murphia" among United’s shareholders will urge that O’Neill is offered the job. It is equally conceivable that the hard-nosed commercial interests within the club will press for a candidate with more experience of dealing with the plethora of world-class footballers already on the books at Old Trafford.
In which case O’Neill might have to plot an alternative course. Ambition is inextricably linked with age, and managers now have an appoint-by date. O’Neill’s former adversary Jose Mourinho has become the wunderkind of European football by winning a couple of European trophies and is threatening a third while still in his early forties. When annoying youngsters come along with their prodigious achievements, it’s only human to start making iniquitous comparisons.
O’Neill is more than a decade older than the preening Portuguese prince. If he wants to move up to that level, you have to wonder whether he can afford another year becalmed in Scotland’s stagnant loch.
It might be time for irritation to give way to ruthless decisiveness.
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