On Days Like These: The Incredible Autobiography of a Football Legend

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MO’N: I think that’s spot on because there was always a question of him playing up in Scotland and he could only do it there. Henrik Larsson, among some phenomenal games he played for Celtic, was fantastic in the Uefa Cup final against Porto. MO’N: Absolutely. Not only that, when I came to Distillery, I played about five or six reserve games and while there was an improvement in each of the games, I was still a far-cry from being in the first team. I wish I hadn’t fallen out with Robert Chase at Norwich because I’d two spells as a player there, very short spells, and a short spell as manager. So Norwich City will always be dear to my heart. Celtic, of course, was great and my wife says Glasgow was her favourite place.

MO’N: I think I should’ve taken a little bit more time out. You’re being interviewed immediately after a game, either a win or a loss. When you win, it’s not a problem. Of course, when you lose, you accept the criticism – absolutely. But after Denmark it was really disappointing especially having drawn in Copenhagen [in the first leg]. O’Neill is effusive in his praise of Keane, who has not managed since departing Ipswich in 2011. Bert Johnson, O’Neill’s youth coach at Forest, imparted advice which he believes applies to Keane. “You get a reputation in life for being an early riser and you can lie in bed all day,” he says. Billy Bingham made O’Neill the first Catholic captain of Northern Ireland, which represented a seriously bold move in the early 1980s. “Billy said: ‘We get the results, everything will take care of itself,”” O’Neill recalls. “As it did. To be well beaten in Dublin, it seemed from this distance anyway, that it was a moment they were waiting for. And after that it was kind of downhill. MO’N: My 19 games with Nottingham Forest doesn't even get a mention in the book that came after the Republic of Ireland job. I probably didn’t anticipate the Ireland part of the book to be as short, not at all. And I’ll take note of that. But I absolutely loved it. It was a privilege managing the team, it was great and, of course, we had the success in France in 2016…We sit by the Ukrainians all the time [at draws and meetings] and that’s nice because we’ve become good friends with them. But we would like to sit by the Croatians and the Czechs a bit more.” A really fine footballer. Terrific. What he knew about management, you could box in a thimble. We all might have some sort of ego but it can’t all be about you.” BC: I read an article during Euro 2016 where you said losing the 1970 Hogan Cup final felt as bad as losing the Uefa Cup final with Celtic in ’03. That statement really delves into your DNA, that Gaelic thread in you and how much it meant in your formative years. BC: With Ireland, you had a quite limited squad but you can’t come out and say: ‘Well, we’re not very good, are we?’

Football Association of Wales chief executive (and FAI old boy) Noel Mooney explaining the benefits of Wales changing their name to Cymru, but completely forgetting poor old Cyprus.MO’N: That is true. I wanted to do it myself. I’ve been offered a number of times for ghost-written things and then I found out that some ex-players don’t even read their own autobiographies, so to write it myself, at least I achieved that. I suppose there was some sort of cathartic aspect attached to it all as well. But once Roy was involved, they were going to hit the headlines. I never thought them as being major, major incidents. I always thought we could quell them at the end of the day. MO’N: No, I wouldn’t. I saw it on the TV a couple of years ago. It must have been highlights and they were into extra-time and I just switched it off. Somebody said to me: ‘Do you want to see the highlights of Vitor Baia going down with an injury?’ That’s all too clear on the day. I don’t need a TV to remind me of it. As he takes you through this momentous journey, it’s not difficult to be impressed with everything that he has achieved and it seems that he has done it with minimal collateral damage. So often you see public figures climb to the top of the mountain stepping on people as they go but O’Neils generous and warm personality makes for a winning account of triumph over adversity when facing very difficult odds. MO’N: Seamus Coleman might have been the only player playing in the Premier League at the time. There were a lot of Championship players playing in the side and therefore the most important job was to actually motivate players to play as strongly as possible for as long as possible over the 90 minutes to actually overcome obstacles – obstacles of playing better teams. Just qualifying for the Euros in 2016 is something that I cherish.

As a manager, O’Neill took Wycombe Wanderers to the football league for the first time, led Leicester City to two League Cups, and his tenure at Celtic saw them win seven trophies and their glorious run to the UEFA Cup Final in 2003. Martin led Aston Villa to an unprecedented three consecutive top six Premier League finishes and he oversaw the Republic of Ireland reaching the Euros in 2016, when they made it to the second round for the first time in their history.MO’N: I certainly wouldn’t dismiss it. I think there is perhaps ageism in the game. There is no such thing as a perfect job. I do not have anybody working for me, so you have to get yourself out there and I’ve perhaps hidden behind COVID for the last couple of years. If an opportunity came along and they were asking me to do it, I would have to give it serious thought.