Catholic Ulster, icon of Nottingham and Leicester: a criminologist who brought Celtic back to the summit finally found himself at home – January 16, 2019



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"Football 24" tells the story of the legendary player and coach Martin O'Neill, who had directed the English title Nottingham Forest the day before.

Home, home again

I like to be here when I can

. Pink Floyd, Breathe (Resume)

Tuesday, Nottingham Forest, English, announced that the new head coach of the team would be the Irish Martin O'Neill. Thus, during the coach's 33rd year of career, the title specialist finally found himself in the region where he was destined. At City Ground Stadium in West Bridgford, in the southern suburbs of Nottingham. And here they whisper that the native of the Killeri of Northern Ireland was to rule the local forest in the summer of 1993 …

Martin O'Neill at the head of Nottingham Forest

O 'Neill was born in 1952 and became the sixth child of a happy Catholic family, who lived in Northern Ireland. His life seemed to have been painted in advance: his father was one of the founders of the local branch of the Gaelic Athletic Association and his brothers in the 58th won the Ulster Gaelic Football Championship – the symbiosis of rugby and football. He also played with Martin, but at Belfast College in Saint Malachy he finally had to choose and O Neill preferred football.

Transit through the Dustiller semifinal (two goals in the Northern Ireland Cup victory in 1970/71 and Barcelona goal 15,000 pounds in October 1971 he was in Nottingham.) Belfast Royal Law School was to bid farewell, however, the Forest match this season was far from ideal, and two goals (in 17 games), the novice O 'Neill was not saved from the start to the second division The champion suddenly became Derby County under the direction of Brian Clough, who later became a key figure in Martin's career.

Martin O'Neill and Brian Clough

No matter Nottingham suspended in the English "quagmire", though, in January 1975, the eccentric Clough had not become a club.For a year and a half, The Forest celebrated its back in the first division and then won the championship, almost the most sensational of the history of the & # 39; England. The miracle continued the following season, when the "foresters" won the Champions Cup and became different in the championship. Finally, the third season after his return to the elite, the "red" finished in 5th place in the English championship, but have not had equality again in Europe. The role of Martin O'Neill in the golden period of the forest was preponderant. And almost half a hundred matches in the three most successful seasons of the club's history – an extraordinary testimony. He was always in the right place and at the right time, he was not interested in the fight as such, it was important for him to go out with her as a winner. He was the coach's first assistant directly in the game and already had then the glory of "field analyst". Not surprisingly, Clough fell into compliments when the Irish proved their management status and hinted that he was confident in the future of his goalkeeper.

I have always known that this Irishman would be an excellent coach. He constantly questioned something and generally looked more like a graduate of a solid university than a football player.

However, the relationship between O'Neill and coach Clough was far from ideal. Havbeck has always had his opinion and has never been ashamed to express it, whereas for the coach, there were only two kinds of opinions – that is to say, that he was the only one in the world. ;is wrong. But in those years, these difficult relationships between the two cult characters in Nottingham Forest's history have been forgotten. Martin O'Neill repeatedly reminded this time warmly and Brian Clough still had time to see the first trophies of this Irishman with claims up to one degree. And he could really become a scientist. O 'Neill has retained his interest in law even in his professional career. His admiration for criminology is so great that he visited several noisy processes in Britain, among which so-called. Yorkshire Derrick and the serial killer Rosemary West

In 1981, Martin moved to Manchester City and went a year later as part of the Northern Ireland team for the Cup. world. The Spanish mundial was rich in sensations. In particular, "The White and Green Army" with O Neill in the captaincy (by the way, the first among the Catholics) remarkably left the first place of the group, leaving no strong Yugoslavian . On the field, Ulster was reduced to the semifinals: draw with the Austrians (2: 2) and defeat the French with Platini, Jerez and Roshto (1: 4). This tournament was the peak of a career for our hero and in three years he had to hang his boots because of a knee injury.

"Will Grigg is on fire" As a player from Northern Ireland, the star of a popular success

Career coach, Martin O'Neill, debuted with a modest Vico in August 1990. Throughout the season, the Wonderers claimed to leave the Conference for the Football League, but eventually gave in to Colchester because of the difference between the goals scored and the missed balls. But already in a year, Wick has exceeded in the class with +15 points of the main competitor. And then, dazzling for the season, made a promotion again. This modest club progress has been proven by two facts: O "Neill is a coach who can reach a maximum with less talented players and this specialist should continue to strengthen himself.

The Irish were therefore in Norwich. But with the "canaries", he only worked six months and, after being dispersed in views with President Robert Chase, he was in Leicester. There, Martin O'Neill managed to bring the "foxes" to the playoffs of the championship, from where he went with the team to conquer the submarine. Leicester immediately jumped to the 9th stage after the season and won the first major trophy in 26 years – the League Cup. Two years later, the team was back in the final and one year later, it won its second victory in a decisive match. In the league, Leicester did not fall below 10th place for four seasons in all four seasons.

O Neal with the 1999/2000 Cup League

This is undoubtedly the success of a young coach and even with a budget Limited, O'Neill has risen to the top of the UK's most promising professionals. Celtic was the hardest club interested in working with him. In Glasgow he was called "Celts" in order to end the Rangers' hegemony in the end. Irish, Catholic and Celtic – a story apart. Is it possible that a Catholic from Northern Ireland, Martin O'Neill, refuses a club in which songs sing songs in the IRA 's honor? Unlikely.

The Rangers managed to take advantage of the five-year disqualification of English clubs due to the Eysel tragedy and, in the late 80s, laid a solid foundation for their future victories, while Celtic won only four only one title in the 1990s (during the 1997/98 season). ) The rest of the gold was taken by "blue". To start the millennium (word at the time very fashionable), the Celtic bosses were looking otherwise, so they invited O "Neill to the post of head coach.

He became Scottish champion on the first attempt, and then repeated it twice more. Celtic Park was an Irishman on his plate, but the habit of not wasting anyone 's finances made him a bad joke. Since Celtic was an absolute favorite in his country, his greatness was also scattered throughout Europe. "Celtic" has not managed twice to pass the group stage of LCH and only during the 2002/03 UEFA Cup have been close to triumph.

Treble O 'Neill at Celtic during the 2000/01 season . 19659008] Porto became his rival during the final in Sevilla, and on the day of the match against his hometown, the Roman Emperor Trajan, there were so many Celtic fans that not everyone would be able to. host the local Olympic tribune. However, the Scots did not resist, although they fought like gladiators. After 0-2 during the match, the "Celts" equalized the position in the second half thanks to duck Henrik Larsson and transferred the game in overtime. But there, the future star of RFPL Derlei presented the first European triumph of Jose Mourinho …

In May 2005, Celtic announced the departure of Martin O'Neill. He decided to take care of his wife, Geraldine, who discovered lymphoma. By that time, O'Neill had already become the most successful coach of the "Celts" since the legendary Jock Stein and has always entered the folklore of the local Bhoys. When Sir Alex Ferguson first considered leaving Manchester United, he lobbied for the appointment of O-Neal at home. He was interested in Liverpool, but ended up choosing Rafa Benitez …

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Back to work, the Irish could in a year. In August 2006, he enjoyed a deserved rise and led the ambitious Aston Villa. There was no more money for the transfer and little by little, O'Neill formed a team that fought hard for the top 4. Agbonlahor, Ashley Young, Milner and others – all these types became real stars at that time. In the Premiership season with the Irish, the villains ranked 11th, then 6 times and 6 times for the first time in ten years. The 2009/10 season was particularly encouraging: Birmingham was only 6 points behind the top 4 at home (8 draws at the local stadium) and was looking for revenge next year. It seemed that the picture of the master O. Neill was missing from the last smear …

And on August 9, 2010, it was learned that the Irish had left Aston Villa. In the end, club leaders decided not to invest strong funds to fight, but Martin O'Neill left. This decision has become fatal for Birmingham. Villa finished in the middle of the table, then found himself three times over the starting area after the season and, in the 2015/16 season, without any luck, flew to the championship, where he can not return.

Meanwhile, O Neill had a negative experience at Sunderland (a beloved childhood club with Celtic) to eventually lead the Irish team in 2013 – an incredible honor for a native of the North of the emerald island. Under the patronage of no less legendary Roy Keane, "Aston Martin" for 2 years brought Aire to the final leg of Euro 2016. At the Continental Forum, the Irish left the tough group (Italy, Belgium, Sweden) and were respectful of the host and the finalist – France – in the 1/8 final. Ireland even opened an account in the match (Brady already had a penalty in the second minute), but under the sign of the "tricolor", he did not resist and went home.

Roy Keane and Martin O'Neill

The headquarters of O. Neill received new contracts and missions – to bring the team at the 2018 World Cup in Russia. The difficult qualifying teams with Wallis, Serbs, Austrians did not stop and "The Green Army" qualified for the playoffs. True, there was a cataclysm named Eriksen – one of Tottenham's leaders after 0: 0 in Copenhagen almost did not independently destroy the Irish in Dublin, 5: 1 and the hat trick of Christian. The federation decided that this tragedy was not a sentence and proposed to O'Neill a contract for two years.

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But say goodbye earlier. The Irish lost twice to Wales and faced Denmark 0-0 in the UEFA Premier League season. They flew to Division C. The fans have asked for retirement, clearly forgetting that the current generation of Irish footballers can hardly be called "gold". In November, Martin O'Neill left the coach of the national team. And the bad guys have even talked about finishing the coaching career of a 66 year old specialist. Even so, even in the submarine, only three specials are older than him …

O. Neill Out

In December, Martin gave an interview by The Telegraph . , not hiding what will not appear.

I feel really young, I am ready and affiliated with youth for many years of my coaching career. I do not think age has affected it. I'm ready to go home.

Did the Irishman have a new job in a month? Last week, the Nottingham Forest bats decided to end their cooperation with Iitor Karanka and started looking for a new director. I did not have to look long. None of the coaches on the planet are better able to work with "foresters" than O Neill. In the Nottingham Forest, Joe Kinner and Gary Megson, Billy Davis and Steve McLaren, Alex McLeish and Stewart Pierce have lost many British experts. But if someone is destined to interrupt Forest's enchanted circle of failures with a return to the Premier League, then that's O. Neill.

Martin O'Neill finally at home

Currently Nottingham is the ninth in the championship after scoring 39 points in 27 games. But in winter, all the fighting in the first division starts only. At the end of the season, there were 19 rounds and the "foresters" are behind the dam area by only 4 points. The forest has good potential: the captain of the Romanian national team, the Panthillimon church, known for his performances in Tottenham and central defender Hallie Michael Dawson, his seasoned midfielder, Jack Colbeck (formerly Newcastle) and Claudio Jacob (ex-West Bromwich), the future boy of Benfica, Joao Carvalho, and still murderer at the level of "quagmire" veteran Lewis Grebban.

It seems that the only thing missing from these players is a bit of self-confidence. During his career, Martin O'Neill did not invent the bike, but simply "extracted" a maximum of existing artists, forcing them to demonstrate the best footballer of their lives. From the outside, he seemed to have done nothing for it. According to the old sculptor appeared during training on Friday, giving most of the powers to the assistants. Clearly, players who do not have the greatest intelligence of football have their own ideas. He has made every effort to alleviate the outside pressure of the team and, within the team, has full confidence that all goals are achievable. That's what Nottingham Forest needs now. The "foresters" must return to the top. Do not meddle with Martin O'Neill

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