Tag: Ireland

Former Leicester City manager is happy to see them winning the league

Martin O’Neill is the current coach of Republic of Ireland but the Northern Irish manager has a very extensive managerial career that has seen him taking charge of a number of clubs including: Celtic, Grantham Town, Norwich City, Aston Villa, Sunderland and Leicester City.


The 64 year old manager took charge of Leicester City from 1995 until 2000 and during this period of time, he snatched the Football League Cup and also won the Football League First Division play-offs during the season of 1995-96.

These titles were fairly significant for Leicester City as they were notable accomplishments that Martin O’Neil sealed during his time coaching the English club but Claudio Ranieri has taken things to a completely new level as the Greek coach guided Leicester City to a Premier League win as he marked his name in the history-books of the club.

Republic of Ireland’s Martin O’Neill had a few things to say concerning the historic season of his former club, Leicester City as the Irish manager said: ‘’It is absolutely extraordinary. The team has lost three games. That, in itself, is a fantastic achievement. Leicester City has shown the way, shown how it can be done and great credit to all of them. To the players, the manager who has been terrific, the back room staff that have assembled the team. It’s been a team effort from start to finish.” Continue reading Former Leicester City manager is happy to see them winning the league

IRELAND PLAY NETHERLANDS NEXT

Republic of Ireland will face Netherland next in another friendly before the regional tournament in France this summer. The Irish team played a 2 – 2 draw with Repre of Slovakia at the Aviva stadium of March 29th 2016.

Head Coach of the Irish team, Martin O’Neill played with just a striker in the Tuesday friendly as the squad had multiple injuries at the same time. Martin had ruled out the team’s skipper Robbie Keane due to a knee injury. Kevin Doyle, another attacking option for The Wolfhounds, was on the sidelines after he recently went through surgery to repair his shin.

Aside Kelvin Doyle, other key players for The Wolfhounds, Jonathan Walters and Daryl Murphy also missed the match. Before the match, the spokesman for the Irish FA commented on the injuries.

The spokesman said: “Jonathan Walters, Daryl Murphy, and Kevin Doyle will be unavailable for the second of two March games following on from last Friday’s 1-0 win over Switzerland. Murphy and Doyle both picked up injuries in that game, while Walters was not risked. Murphy and Walters have now returned to their clubs for assessment and management of injuries. Doyle will remain with the Ireland squad for ongoing medical management following surgery on a shin injury sustained in the first half of the Switzerland game.” Continue reading IRELAND PLAY NETHERLANDS NEXT

Martin O’Neill wants to have his contract with Ireland extended

Republic of Ireland ensured their spot for the 2016 Euro’s after having secured triumphs over: Georgia, Gibraltar, Germany and Bosnia-Herzegovina. The team of Martin O’Neill collected 5 wins and 3 draws in the qualification phases and it was enough for Republic of Ireland to book their place in the next rounds of the European competition.

The current contract of Martin O’Neill as the head coach of Republic of Ireland runs through the 2016 Euro’s but and the Irish manager has voiced his desire to continue being in charge of the national side beyond what his contract has written.

He said: “Absolutely, I am open to it. We had a conversation after Scotland and John was very supportive, felt as if this is the way we want to go forward and that was very pleasing to hear. “I saw John Delaney on Friday and he said that we would sit down over the next couple of weeks which we intend to do.”

John Delaney is the Chief Executive of the Football Association of Ireland and Martin O’Neill stated that he has already held discussions with him regarding the possibility of having his own contract with the national team and considering how well things have been going for Ireland, there is a realistic possibility of Martin O’Neill staying in charge of Republic of Ireland beyond the 2016 Euro’s.

Republic of Ireland was pitted in group E along with Belgium, Sweden and Italy. The Italian outfit are the favorites on finishing at the top spot but the 2nd spot is expected to be tightly contested between the remaining teams. Continue reading Martin O’Neill wants to have his contract with Ireland extended

Republic of Ireland have once again failed to impress under new manager Martin O’Neill

Republic of Ireland have once again failed to impress under new manager Martin O’Neill after getting only a 1-1 draw in the recent game against Scotland.

This was seen as an important match for the national team and its manager O’Neill. For a long period of time after his appointment, the former Aston Villa manager was unable to get any competitive action due to the presence of major international tournaments. Now, though, Ireland have an opportunity to be part of a major tournament themselves. The national team are involved in the Euro 2016 qualifying matches.

It has not progressed well so far after the Irish find themselves significantly below the qualification places after a string of poor results. Ireland have simply not been able to find the back of the net consistently in order to win matches. The team are two points behind Scotland, who occupy the final qualification spot, and even the Scots do not have a berth in Euro 2016 confirmed since the third placed team will have to go through the play-offs. O’Neill reckons that the intensity has been lacking from the team in recent games and the upcoming match against England will serve as a perfect recipe to kick up the players. Continue reading Republic of Ireland have once again failed to impress under new manager Martin O’Neill

Robbie Keane best Days are Over

At the age of 34, Robbie Keane’s best days are over as he is now reaching the twilight years of his career with maybe a few more seasons left in him before eventually deciding to stop his playing career and hang up his boots.

However, even at his elevated age, Martin O’Neill believes that the veteran attacker is the best option that Republic of Ireland has in order to find their goals.

Robbie Keane is the oldest player in the entire Republic of Ireland squad and the head coach, Martin O’Neil believed that Robbie Keane would stop performing at a high level after he decided to make a switch from Tottenham Hotspur over to the MLS side Los Angeles Galaxy but Martin O’Neil has now backed and supported once more Keane.

Martin O’Neil expressed his support towards Robbie Keane as he spoke during a press conference and the manager said: “When he went to America, there was a feeling that Robbie may have run his course with Ireland. Looking from a distance and without giving it any fantastic consideration at the time, I thought maybe that was it for him. I considered his Premier League days to be over and his international career as well, but then he said he wanted to carry on playing for Ireland when I came into the job; watching him training, his enthusiasm is there is abundance.’’ Continue reading Robbie Keane best Days are Over