Celtic icon reveals failed approach from Premier League champions

Former Celtic manager Martin O’Neill has revealed that Leicester City failed in an attempt to try and bring him back to the club for a second stint.

The ex-Aston Villa and Sunderland boss was managing the Republic of Ireland national team back in 2015 when his former club came calling after the shock mid-summer departure of Nigel Pearson.

O’Neill had managed Leicester for five years between 1995 and 2000 and is remembered fondly for transforming the fortunes of the club during this first tenure. 

The 72-year-old guided the Foxes to promotion through the Championship play-offs in 1996 and was able to lead the tea to three consecutive top-half finishes after their promotion as the likes of Emile Heskey, Matt Elliot, Neil Lennon and Steve Claridge all thrived in a team which reached three consecutive League Cup finals whilst also lifting the trophy on two occasions.

O’Neill also enjoyed great success during his five-year stint at Celtic between 2000 and 2005. During his time at Parkhead he spearheaded the Hoops to three league titles, three Scottish Cups and one League Cup. Against the odds in 2002/03 he also guided the Hoops to famous victories over Celta Vigo, Stuttgart, Liverpool and Boavista before falling short against Jose Mourinho’s FC Porto in a tightly-fought 3-2 defeat in the UEFA Cup final.

After England’s loss to Spain in the Euro 2024 final, O’Neill joined broadcaster Clive Tyldesley to discuss the future of Gareth Southgate before his departure was announced on Tuesday afternoon.

It was during this interview, that he sympathised with Southgate for some of the criticism he had received  and drew parallels between his time at Republic of Ireland when some of his family members had urged him to take the Leicester offer.

The two-time European Cup winning defender said: “Listen, I'll draw, I suppose, some sort of parallel,“I was the manager of the Republic of Ireland, and taking a fair amount of stick early on, even in proceedings, you know, when we'd only drawn with Scotland in a game in our qualifying group, and this was about halfway through the qualifiers. Not from the fans, but I'm talking about really from the journalists, you know, about, oh, we should have been doing much, much better.

“The Republic of Ireland are not going to qualify. And I had a chance then, during that summer of 2015, to manage in the Premier League, but I didn't want to do it. I felt as if a year into the job, and I'm only halfway through this competition, I didn't really want to fail, whereas my family were saying, no, no, take the job, better pay, better, all of those particular things.

“It was Leicester City asked me, you know. Leicester City eventually made Ranieri their manager and went on to win the league, so I don't think they've been too displeased about it. But my point was this, that my family were saying, well, do you really want the sort of attacks that you've had, and you've only been in the job a little while at the time?

“But I thought, no, listen, I want to see it through. And, of course, qualifying for the Euros, for the Republic of Ireland, is a wee bit, I suppose, like England actually reaching the final of the Euros itself. For us, that was one of the great moments of my career and our trip in France was terrific.

“What I'm trying to say to you is this here, that there is a point where you think you've had, you've just about taken enough of this, really, and it's coming from all angles. It's coming from press guys that you're not sure about, and it's coming from ex-players who actually, with respect, didn't go on to fulfil their potential, if you can call it that there, in the finals of competitions, at the stage, with equally as good of players as England have had now.”

Other than one 19-game stint with Nottingham Forest in 2019. O’Neill has been out of football since leaving Republic of Ireland shortly after their failure to qualify for the 2018 World Cup. The former Celtic boss is now often seen as a pundit on TalkSport alongside the likes of ex-Crystal Palace owner Simon Jordan and former Sky Sports News presenter Jim White.