O’Neill is set to return to Nottingham Forest
Martin O’Neill is set to be appointed as Nottingham Forest manager replacing Aitor Karanka, who left the club last week.
Forest are currently in ninth place in the Championship, four points off sixth-place Derby County.
News of O’Neill’s appointment broke on Monday morning. The 66-year-old played for Forest for 10 years under Brian Clough, helping the team win two European Cups and the league title.
Martin O'Neill poised to become the new manager of Nottingham Forest. More to follow . . . #nffc
— Daniel Taylor (@DTathletic) January 14, 2019
Club have spent the last 48 hours talking to MON, in Birmingham and London, and deal now pretty much done.
— Daniel Taylor (@DTathletic) January 14, 2019
The Derryman has been out of work since leaving his role as Republic of Ireland manager in November.
O’Neill was Ireland boss for five years and oversaw their qualification for Euro 2016, the largest European Championships in history which featured 24 of the 53 Uefa nations.
However, the team’s form fell off a cliff over the final year of his tenure.
Ireland were hammered 5-1 by Denmark in Dublin in the second leg of their World Cup play-off and lost 4-1 to Wales in their opening fixture of the UEFA Nations League.
According to The Guardian, there are – as yet – no plans for Roy Keane, O’Neill’s assistant with Ireland, to join him at the City Ground. Steve Guppy, who worked as a coach alongside O’Neill at Ireland, is likely to join his backroom staff at Forest.
The 66-year-old’s last job in club management was with Sunderland. O’Neill left the post in March 2013 with the club winless in eight games and one point above the relegation zone in the Premier League.
Before that, O’Neill experienced success with Celtic, where he helped end Rangers’ dominance of Scottish football, and Leicester City, when he helped them secure their status in the Premier League and win two League Cups.
He was also Aston Villa manager between 2006 and 2010, when the club spent heavily in the transfer market and finished in sixth place in three consecutive seasons.
