O’Neill could have been ‘Chosen One’

As the faithful and the unfaithful look to the skies above Old Trafford today, it’s sobering to think that Martin O’Neill could have been ‘The Chosen One’, the man to manage Manchester United when Alex Ferguson retired.

But that was all of 12 years ago, when Ferguson indicated he would step down at the end of the 2001/2 season. O’Neill was widely believed to be a frontrunner to succeed Ferguson at the time but when the United manager had a change of heart and decided to extend his tenure at Old Trafford, the question of the succession was put to bed for more than a decade.

Now, with the picture radically altered, it’s David Moyes who finds himself in what has rapidly become the most unenviable job in football, while Martin O’Neill continues to get to grips with the international game as manager of the Republic of Ireland.