Northern Ireland fans will be delighted that O’Neill has agreed to continue in his role as manager, especially given the foundation he has laid for possible future success.
He had said that he would “return to the status quo” for Northern Ireland’s June fixtures when asked about his future in March, but then said in April that a decision was still to made, which would have set alarm bells ringing.
Thankfully, for all parties, a decision has been made swiftly, allowing O’Neill to work towards preparing his NI squad for June’s friendlies and the upcoming Nations League campaign, while Blackburn now have plenty of time to appoint a permanent boss ahead of the 2026-27 campaign.
O’Neill, like in his first spell, inherited a struggling Northern Ireland side from predecessor Ian Baraclough and while they missed out on qualifying for Euro 2024 and this year’s World Cup, he has certainly shaped them into a more competitive and attractive side.
The average age of O’Neill’s starting team for the defeat against Italy in their World Cup play-off in March was just 22.5 years – the country’s second youngest on record since World War Two.
Add in three key players in Conor Bradley, Dan Ballard and Ali McCann, who were missing for the game and the age profile remains the same, demonstrating the high ceiling this youthful but talented team has to grow.
With O’Neill remaining in the role, belief will really start to grow that he can guide the team to another European Championships as he did after a period of building with his squad in 2016.
The Irish FA would have known that the job would have been much more attractive now to potential candidates than before O’Neill returned in 2022, but will be pleased that he has decided to stay on for the next qualifying campaign and there won’t be any upheaval before the Nations League starts in September.
