Roy Keane: It may have been 'personal' from the Irish media towards Derry man Martin O'Neill

Roy Keane believes the Irish media may have been unfair and ‘personal’ in their dealings with Martin O’Neill, particularly near the end of his tenure as Republic of Ireland manager.

The County Derry man was the latest guest on the Stick to Football podcast, and his former assistant divulged his opinion on the final period of O’Neill’s time as the Boys In Green boss.

O’Neill was asked about his time in charge of the Republic of Ireland, reminiscing about the highs of beating Germany in the qualification for the European Championships in France in 2016 but also the lows of losing 5-1 to Denmark in the play-off for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

O’Neill said: “I think the press lads in Dublin, which I never really got on with, I think—and I know I have said this before, and they are saying this is nonsense—but I felt a bit of an outsider. I’m from Northern Ireland and had been a Northern Ireland player and captain of the side.

“We tried to qualify for the World Cup; we got to the play-off; we were fourth seeds in the group, so we got to the play-offs; we actually got through to the play-offs; we play Denmark; we draw in Copenhagen, and we have to win in Dublin. We scored first, and we missed two good chances to go three in front. 

“Because we had only drew 0-0, the away goals were going to count at this stage. they hit us just before halftime, Erikson had a blinding game and he scored a hatrick and the first interview I do afterwards the fellow, who was primed anyway to tell you the truth, he says ‘is this not a sackable offense?’ and my last year was really difficult.

“I’m not blameless in these situations; sometimes I don’t help myself.

“It just got a bit messy at the end.”

While Keane and O’Neill believed that the fans and crowds that went to the Aviva Stadium and abroad were fantastic in their support for the squad, the Cork native does believe that by the end of their tenure as manager and assistant coach, the media opinion had soured towards the former Aston Villa manager.

Keane said: “You (O’Neill) asked me at the start; I can’t remember how long we had been there, maybe six months or a year, and obviously you had one or two issues with the media, and you said to me, ‘Is it personal?’ and I remember going, ‘Naw,’ particularly the Irish fans would be fair. Towards the end I said, ‘I think you were right’.”

O’Nell mentioned in the podcast that he had considered leaving his role at the end of the Euro 2016 campaign upon the expiration of his contract but was convinced by Keane to sign on for the 2018 World Cup qualification campaign.

Throughout his tenure he appreciated the support of the Irish fans and hoped he showed them that through his efforts on matchday.

O’Neill said: “The crowds came in droves to the games, and I felt we would have to try and get the very best out of them (the Republic of Ireland team) for a couple of days work, and with respect we weren’t the most skilful side, but you are trying to qualify for a competition.”