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. Tellingly, a number of those had also complained to the club’s hierarchy about his predecessor, Aitor Karanka, and this has been a recurring theme for Forest during 20 years of drift outside the top division: players turning against the manager and, in O’Neill’s case, the people in charge reluctantly concluding that the damage was irreparable.

On Days Like These: The Incredible Autobiography of a

This is a tidy little book, it charts the progress of a man who I am sure will be fondly remembered as a football genius by my generation. For a complicated man, he played a very simple game. He was as good at tactics as anybody but that’s not how he is considered. He is considered a motivator, a shouter or a charmer. He knew the game inside out. He told us things tactically during games that stood the test of time. He would say something to you on a Monday, contradict himself on a Friday and you would believe both.”Mr. O’Neil takes us on a journey that includes his childhood, his professional football career and then his professional management history. 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.

Pan Macmillan to publish Martin O’Neill’s long-awaited

O’Neill remains youthful in body and mind. If his days in the dugout are indeed over, he quite rightly refuses to fully concede as much. “Could I manage at the top level? I don’t think those things leave you. The spirit, the determination, the passion and drive … My last breath on this earth is when those things will leave me.” Martin’s capability relies on being an international contemporary illustrator by keeping his old school technique his strong point of recognition. The relationship between O’Neill and the Irish football media during a five-year international tenure remains a source of fascination. We shall return to that later. It would be unfair, as some have suggested, to depict O’Neill’s memoir as a score-settling exercise. Yes, there is occasionally acerbic comment – one would surely expect no less – but an extraordinary career which scaled playing heights under Brian Clough before touching managerial greatness at Celtic and Leicester is depicted with an entertaining tone. There is self-deprecation throughout. But most of all he should head to Paradise, home of the Scottish Champions and where his work as a football manager is most appreciated.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.

On Days Like These: The incredible autobiography of a

Instead he went to Aston Villa, with sixth-placed finishes in each of his last three seasons, but he then had a poor spell in the managerial wastelands of Sunderland and five years with the Republic of Ireland that divided opinion. Martin O’Neill speaks honestly about the decision to retire as a player, and making the transition to manager. He recalls finding early success with Wycombe Wanderers, and the move to the Premier League with Leicester City. He talks about his years with Celtic, where the team won seven trophies and reached the UEFA Cup Final in 2003, and at Aston Villa, where he achieved three consecutive top six Premier League finishes. He also speaks about managing the Republic of Ireland, and working alongside his mercurial assistant, Roy Keane. Written with O’Neill’s trademark honesty and humour, 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. 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.Nottingham Forest made history at home and abroad without those involved ever knowing how fabled their run was. “You were on this ride,” O’Neill says. “You are going to West Ham and expecting to win, whereas the previous year trying to beat Bristol Rovers was a struggle. I don’t think we realised it was special until it was over. The night we lost to the Bulgarians [CSKA Sofia in 1980] in the European Cup, you thought: ‘Wow, that’s it.’ 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.