It is soon expected to be announced that former Villa and Sunderland boss, Martin O'Neil is to be named as the new manager of the Republic of Ireland, along with ITV pundit and former Ipswich boss, Roy Keane as his assistant.
The country failing to qualify for the World Cup in Brazil at the end of the season lead to former manager Giovanni Trapattoni leaving his role. This will be O'Neil's first ever managerial role in international football.
Hiring an Irish management team is the key to this appointment, O'Neil will understand the culture and tradition of Irish football and will have a drive to see the team do as well as they can, he knows they want to be competing in international tournaments.
There have been questions as to his managerial ability after his last stint at Sunderland, after a great start, turned sour and he was relieved of his duties, however you only have to look at the decline at Villa after he left to see just how much of an impact he can have at a club.
An advantage for the Irish FA is that the pair are both out of work and so could step straight in to the job with no compensation due, unlike there would be had they decided to appoint Mick McCarthy to the role.
One thing to consider is as to whether the Republic of Ireland even have a squad which is capable of competing at a high level, their best players are all reaching an age where they are past their best and it does not seem that new talent is being brought in to the squad to replace them, perhaps that is something that O'Neil will have to look at if he is looking to make this a long term project.
When O'Neil started at Sunderland, they went on a terrific run, a long honeymoon period, that would be of no use to Ireland who need someone for the long run to develop them as a team in order to make sure they qualify first for the next Euro's and then for the 2018 World Cup in Russia, this has to be a target for them.
Martin O'Neil is a very optimistic person, even when his Sunderland side were struggling in a relegation battle with a very tough run in, he was very upbeat about his sides chances, he has confidence in his own ability which in itself makes the players feel more positive and confident going in to games.
I feel that O'Neil will make a decent manager for Ireland, while the players available to him will make his task very difficult, I think he has enough experience to bring the best out of the Republic of Ireland and so is the correct choice for the job.
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