Michael O'Neill: Former NI boss tells successor to focus on relationship with players

Michael O'Neill has advised his successor as Northern Ireland manager that building relationships with the players will be crucial to success.

O'Neill was speaking on Radio Ulster's Sportsound after having ended his eight-year Windsor Park reign on 22 April.

The Irish Football Association are yet to name the 50-year-old's replacement.

"I think the most important thing is getting to know the player," said O'Neill.

He added: "Get to know them as people as well so that you can build a relationship.

"It's not easy - I did find that a little bit difficult. I had come in, these were big players, and I hadn't managed in England at that point and it took me a bit longer to do that because maybe I didn't have the self-confidence."

O'Neill believes that, beyond forming a bond with the squad, there is no need for his successor to make wholesale changes.

"I think that's a big part of it and once you have those relationships with the players, there's not a lot there that needs to be changed," he added.

The Stoke City boss' replacement in the Windsor dugout will, of course, be inheriting a vastly different landscape to that of O'Neill when he took the job in December 2011.

At that point, Northern Ireland had won only two of their previous 24 games, meaning the former Shamrock Rovers boss was tasked with transforming the fortunes of a squad severely lacking confidence.

And O'Neill talked about how he focused on changing the 'culture' within the Northern Ireland squad, acknowledging the contributions from his staff including former Manchester United defender Jimmy Nicholl.

"In football, it's very difficult to have a positive culture if you're not winning games," he explained.

"In the early years, it was difficult. I found that the culture within the group of players was not as good as what it could have been.

"However, the past six years, it's been excellent.

"I think the IFA are keen to have continuity and I think it's important for whoever comes in to not change too much in that respect."

O'Neill's reflections on overseeing a sea-change with Northern Ireland were echoed by Aaron Hughes, who in 2012 was persuaded by the coach to reverse his international retirement.

Hughes quickly re-established himself in the national team set-up before becoming the country's first outfield player to earn 100 caps and featuring at Euro 2016.

And Hughes admits that coming out of retirement was made easier by the power of O'Neill's proposal.

"A lot of things he said resonated with how I felt things could be better," said Hughes.

"Initially, that's why I retired because mentally I'd had enough of it.

"Coming away from my club for 10 days to grind out two games, get nothing for it, the same old every week and then try to race back to club football to play Manchester United or Arsenal at the weekend.

"Having that conversation with him, he offered a little bit of hope and optimism."

Hughes, who retired in 2019 after earning 112 caps, recalls feeling the "shift in mindset" during an away game in Russia.

Although Northern Ireland lost, Hughes felt as though the performance marked a change in attitude.

"Historically, we'd go out there with the greatest intentions, go 1-0 down after 10 minutes and then it was just backs to the wall.

"But there was a calmness and a shift in mentality that as long as we could keep each other in the game, we could get a set-piece and walk away with a 1-1 draw.

"It was a game that sticks out in my mind as when it started to turn for me, you could see things were beginning to work."