The last 12 months have seen some phenomenal managerial transformations.
In most normal years, Slaven Bilic’s debut season in charge of West Ham would have been one of the Premier League’s big stories, though Claudio Ranieri’s instant impact at Leicester has put that well and truly in the shade.
Harry Redknapp has managed Bilic and seen his teams line-up against Ranieri-managed opposition, but the former Tottenham and West Ham manager has singled out another manager as his star performer of the last year.
BT Sport expert Harry Redknapp, who was speaking ahead of the return of the UEFA Europa League on BT Sport, told JOE he believes Northern Ireland boss Michael O’Neill has done a better job than anyone else around.
“That was the best job, without a doubt,” Redknapp said.
“When you talk about the coach of the year, for me he should win it. It’s not like he’s at Barcelona or he’s managing Bayern Munich – what he’s done there is just incredible.
“To win the group as they did is just a fantastic achievement.”
Northern Ireland began their Euro 2016 qualifying campaign in the fifth seeding pot, alongside the likes of Georgia and Azerbaijan, but ended up winning a group that included Euro 2004 champions Greece, as well as Romania and Hungary.
But despite the odds being stacked against them, O’Neill’s team lost just one of their 10 qualifiers and topped the group with 21 points, just one fewer than world champions Germany picked up in their campaign.
Northern Ireland have been drawn in Group C for the tournament proper, alongside Germany, Ukraine and Poland.
BT Sport is your home of unmissable live football from the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, Barclays Premier League and the Emirates FA Cup. Watch Fiorentina v Spurs in the UEFA Europa League exclusively live on BT Sport Europe Thursday 18 February from 6pm.
