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

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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. Some had made it clear behind the scenes that they did not enjoy working with him and that the atmosphere had deteriorated to the point they held little hope of it being a successful season. He has worked as an illustrator and artist for two decades and regularly exhibits his personal collages, sketchbooks, and prints. He is also a visiting lecturer across the UK. Martin lives and works on England’s South East coast with his wife and two daughters. Martin recognises that his days at Leicester City, where he won the League Cup, happened around a half a mile away from the club’c current home at Filbert Street. Martin might choose to post his next video from The City Ground in Nottingham, or even Villa Park where he did much better than their recent boss to say the least. He might even make the short hop across the Irish Sea to Dublin where he managed the Republic or up to Belfast where he played for the six counties. O’Neill’s memories of a “mesmeric” Clough remain vivid, from the moment of their initial meeting in the winter of 1975. Clough instantly promoted O’Neill to the first team but was not of a mind to fawn. “Hey, you: Stop putting your mate in the shit. You look like a boy who would put your mate in the shit,” was the message in an early training session.

On Days Like These: The incredible autobiography of a

Early on, I would have taken a bit of criticism but not nearly as much as Billy for making the choice. He never told me about it, he never said it bothered him. He was prepared to go for it when for an easier life he could have bypassed me.” O’Neill’s sympathisers might legitimately question whether Forest’s squad exist in a culture of excuses, pointing out that Karanka’s methods were also questioned by some of the team and that the same happened to another old favourite, Stuart Pearce, and various others during the churn of managers, post-Clough. Yet it is also true that part of O’Neill’s job was to bring the players together and improve the team, albeit with only an 18-month contract. In that regard, Forest have decided it has not worked out.

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.” Martin O’Neill is widely regarded as one of the most respected figures in football with a career spanning more than 50 years. A key part of Brian Clough’s legendary Nottingham Forest team in the ‘70s and early ‘80s, he represented Northern Ireland more than 60 times and led them to the 1982 World Cup. Unfortunately for the decision-makers at Forest, it is nearly 25 years since O’Neill had that golden period at Leicester City where he transformed a second-tier side into one that secured four top-10 finishes in the Premier League and reached three League Cup finals, winning two. O’Neill subsequently won seven trophies with Celtic, as well as reaching a Uefa Cup final, and was talked about for a long time as the best qualified man to succeed Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United. O’Neill made it clear before taking the job that he regarded it as unfair to be branded a “dinosaur” and, to give him his due, he experimented with various formations since inheriting the team. Again, though, the style of play has not always been pleasing on the eye. 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.

Martin O’Neill: ‘I deserved criticism. But it was an absolute

As for his critics in the dressing room, they grew to dislike his ideas. There have been complaints that his training methods were uninspiring and that, tactically, the squad were unsure about how he wanted them to play. Over the last week, as he led them on a series of punishing runs, attitudes have hardened. Yet the truth is a nucleus of senior players were unconvinced from the start.

Graham Rawle is a writer, artist, and designer. He has produced regular series which include ‘Lying Doggo’ and ‘Graham Rawle’s Wonder Quiz’ for The Observer and ‘When Words Collide’ and ‘Pardon Mrs. Arden’ for The Sunday Telegraph Magazine and ‘Bright Ideas’ for The Times. He is a Visiting Professor in Illustration at the Norwich University of the Arts where in 2012 he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate for services to design. He lives in London. The only disappointment was that as his career progresses, particularly into management in the premiership, he doesn’t go into more depth when describing many of the characters in the dressing room, the make-up of the club and the characters involved. I just really felt like I wanted more from this period.