Michael O’Neill has agreed to return for a second term as Northern Ireland manager after successfully concluding talks with the Irish FA.
The 53-year-old will take charge of the upcoming Euro 2024 qualifying campaign, succeeding Ian Baraclough who was fired from post October 21.
O’Neill became manager of Stoke City in November 2019 but also remained in charge of NI until his resignation in April 2020.
His appointment could be confirmed by the Irish FA as early as Wednesday.
O’Neill was fired from his work at the Championship side Stoke in August 2022.
The Potters had won one of their first five league games when he was relieved of his duties after almost three years at the helm.
Having been named NI boss at the end of 2011, O’Neill’s initial tenure saw him lead the team to the Euro 2016 final in France, the first time in 30 years that the country had qualified for a tournament. major.
In the final itself, he guided his side to the second round, beating Ukraine in the process but ultimately narrowly losing to Wales in the round of 16.
Northern Ireland subsequently narrowly missed out on a place in the World Cup final in Russia when they controversially lost 1-0 to Switzerland in a play-off in November 2017.
Two months later, O’Neill turned down an offer to become Scotland manager following talks with the Scottish FA, instead accepting a new contract to continue in charge of his native country.
Following his appointment by Stoke, he initially remained NI manager and intended to stay on for the Euro 2020 play-offs, which were scheduled for March 2020 only to be postponed by the Covid-19 pandemic.
With the play-offs delayed until at least the fall of 2020, O’Neill stepped down as international team boss on April 22, with Baraclough named his successor two months later.
The Irish FA are hoping O’Neill’s appointment can revive the national team’s fortunes after a relatively disappointing run of results under Baraclough who delivered just four wins in 22 competitive appearances.
Northern Ireland will face Denmark, Finland, Slovenia, Kazakhstan and San Marino in the next Euro qualifiers which start in March next year.
Analysis
Mark Sterling of BBC Sport NI
Something of a surprise choice ahead of other more experienced managers on his first appointment, Michael O’Neill was the heavy favorite among Northern Ireland supporters to return as boss almost from second Ian Baraclough a been sacked.
They have their Christmas present early and clearly don’t subscribe to the theory that in football you can never go back.
As he did when he took over from Nigel Worthington, the 53-year-old inherits a team that has fallen on hard times under a manager who has never won the hearts of the Windsor Park faithful.
What’s different this time, however, is that it doesn’t feel like the long-term project it did 11 years ago, when O’Neill had time to recover and build after poor results in the middle of the season. a shaky start.
An instant return is almost certainly what the Irish FA will be looking for. The unexpected, but extremely welcome opportunity presented to Northern Ireland by a Euro 2024 qualifying draw which offers genuine hope of reaching the final for the second time has been a major factor for the association that decided to rehire O’Neill. in the history of the country.
O’Neill proved his qualities leading the team on that joyful trip to France in the summer of 2016 and the IFA clearly thinks he is in the best position to repeat that feat. It’s a challenge he will no doubt get to work on immediately, with methodical preparation and attention to detail being hallmarks of his successful debut reign.
And what about the players? There is still a core in the squad who were first-time regulars with O’Neill, and it’s likely he will have had conversations with some of them before agreeing to his contract.
All eyes will now be on March and the start of these Euro qualifiers. He couldn’t do it again, could he?
