Martin O’Neill has declared he’s fully committed to the Republic of Ireland team for the remainder of the Euro 2016 qualification campaign.
O’Neill was the heavy favourite for the Leicester City manager’s job last week, with some bookmakers suspending betting on his appointment.
The club opted for Claudio Ranieri instead, and O’Neill has today said returning to the Premier League was never an option, due to his commitment to the Irish job.
“I have a commitment here and this is what I want to do. When John (Delaney) asked me (to take job), I said we would take it up until the end of our involvement in the Euros. We’re halfway through, or still slightly over halfway, in this competition. We desperately want to get to France and the commitment is there 100%.”
However, O’Neill was full of praise for the club he managed between 1995 and 2000.
“Leicester are a very good club, a really good club. It may not be the club that I had before. I was a manager at the old Filbert Street and they’ve since moved grounds and their escape was absolutely fantastic. This is yesterday’s news, it’s gone now. Leicester have appointed a manager with an excellent pedigree and I wish him all the very best.”
Despite declaring his intention to see out his contract, the Ireland manager was coy about his future beyond the country’s involvement in Euro 2016.
“That conversation will be for a future time,” O’Neill said when asked if he wants to remain in the job past the current campaign.
“I said to you sometime ago that if I thought there was general progress on the side and also the infrastructure that I would re-look at it and see where we are. The FAI would have thoughts on that themselves too.”
H/T Irish Independent.
