O'Neill looks back on Rovers career

By Glenn Mason

Michael O'Neill will look back on his time as Shamrock Rovers manager with great satisfaction despite a disappointing finish to their European campaign and a less than amicable parting.

O'Neill's three years in charge came to an end in Tallaght on Thursday night with a 4-0 anti-climactic defeat to Tottenham Hotspur in the Europa League.

The game was the 60th of a campaign that has seen the Hoops claim back-to-back titles, win the Setanta Cup and progress further in Europe than any other Irish club.

They looked a jaded team at times on Thursday, but O'Neill believes they have done themselves proud to be competing at that level.

He said: "We were playing against better players and better teams it is as simple as that. I thought we did quite well in the early part of the game.

"The goal obviously set us back and I thought we had a wee period where we look deflated. Obviously we conceded again on the back of that.

"There have been times in the games here where we have matched the opposition for parts of the game, but that's never been enough. Against that level of opposition, if you are not at your maximum, you are going to lose goals and that was the case tonight."

O'Neill is confident that he left the club in a better position than when he arrived from Brechin City and few could argue with him after such a financially rewarding season.

He said: "The three years have been fantastic for the club. I think the season before I came here the club finished seventh and 42 points behind Bohemians, who were the champions that year.

"In the three years we have managed to come runners-up and win the league on two occasions. We won the Setanta Cup and we have made big strides in Europe.

"People will look at the Europa League group and see that we didn't win a game, but the reality is that to compete at this level we were never going to have the players. To get to that level we will never be able to afford that type of player.

"It is disappointing when anything comes to an end. Hopefully, the people here and the supporters, who were magnificent tonight, appreciate the three years. I have certainly enjoyed it and hopefully I have left the club in a better state than what I found it in."

Rather than dwell on the circumstances of the parting of ways, O'Neill focused on what the team has achieved and the top European sides that they have brought to south Dublin.

"I would rather look at the facts of the three years," he said in response to a question about the manner of his departure.

"I would rather look at the league titles and the 16 European games that we have had. We have had Juventus, Real Madrid, Tottenham Hotspur, FC Copenhagen, Belgrade to name just a few.

"That level of opposition to come here to Tallaght to play is really the important thing for me. How things end isn't that important to me at this moment in time."

O'Neill believes it will be "very difficult" for a League of Ireland side to repeat Rovers' feats of this season in reaching the group stages of a European competition.

"The League of Ireland is not progressing, let's be honest," he said bluntly. "The clubs financially are finding it very difficult. I don't think that's going to change in the short-term future of the league.

"Things have to be done properly as we did it here with Shamrock Rovers, on a strict budget and strict wage scale. You will have some momentous nights like we had in Belgrade. You'll have some big occasions that will come around every so often, but there is no club here that is really capable to build towards a long-term European plan."

The IFA has included O'Neill on the shortlist for the vacant Northern Ireland manager's job and he is due to be interviewed in the near future.

However, he is still unsure about what the future holds for him and his assistant Jim Magilton, who is also on the IFA's shortlist.

"I don't think it's any secret that I am to be interviewed for the Northern Ireland position," he said.

"There is a shortlist of three to four candidates for that position. I'm now in a position where I am not tied to a club so if there is a vacancy that comes available I am in a position to apply for that vacancy.

"I have never applied for a job while I have been here at Shamrock Rovers and I have never been interviewed since I have been here.

"There is no immediate short-term career plan. We'll see what happens in the next few weeks and take it from there.