MICHAEL O’Neill is astute enough to pick the right job for him. That is the opinion of Ken Ferguson, the man who handed him his first management job at Brechin City, as the 48-year-old ponders an approach from the SFA to be the next manager of Scotland and finds himself linked with glamour club jobs on both sides of the border.
After guiding the country triumphantly to the last 16 of Euro 2016, Northern Ireland failed at the final hurdle to reach the World Cup in Russia.
It is all a far cry from the days back in 2006 when Ferguson got wind of the fact that Mixu Paatelainen’s assistant at Cowdenbeath was interested in the Brechin post and decided he was the man for Glebe Park.
Read more: Michael O'Neill will interview the SFA about the Scotland job - it won't be the other away around
“I would like to see Michael get the job he deserves - whether that is a big club in England or Scotland, or the Scotland national team job,” said Ferguson. “I am on the SFA congress so I have to watch what I am saying but you have to say he ticks the boxes, he has been successful at international level, lives in Scotland and knows the Scottish-based players very well. But one thing I do know is that Michael will make the right decision from the offers which come along. He is very astute – he will make the right decisions for his career path.”
It emerged yesterday that the SFA had indeed made an approach for the Northern Irishman as they seek to replace Gordon Strachan and if his interview is anything like his one at the old Apex Hotel in Dundee there should be only one outcome. “We were looking for a manager and had been through most of our interview process when it became known to us through a nod and a wink that Michael might be interested.
“We felt we should have that chat with him, got that organised in Dundee and had a good meeting,” he added. “The first thing that grabbed our attention was how well prepared he was. He knew our squad inside out, he knew the weaknesses and strengths of all our players and that maybe took us back a wee bit. Let’s just say was a good interview.
Read more: Michael O'Neill will interview the SFA about the Scotland job - it won't be the other away around
“Gary Twigg, who Michael picked up from Hamilton [he also went on to play for O’Neill at Shamrock Rovers] was a big signing for us but Michael’s time wasn’t an immediate success. We didn’t get off to the best of starts and I remember one diehard supporter accosting me in a petrol forecourt saying we had to get rid of him and he had only been in the job about six months! But Michael just needed to build his own team, get his own dressing room, which he duly did, and from then on it was all success.
“One of the biggest attributes for a manager at our level was understanding what part-time football was all about, especially if you had come from the full-time game. Part time is in name only, the manager’s phone doesn’t stop ringing. He was aware of that, he understood the limitations of a club our size. But he fully anticipated the ambitions too. If he felt there was something in the club which wasn’t his remit, he was quick to tell us. But he was lovely guy, who got on well with the fan and the players. To be fair, where Michael has gone can’t be attributed to his time at Brechin, it is the man himself, his quality and his successes which have got him to the level he is at just now.”
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