Colin Sheridan: O’Neill and Coleman united by an Irishness football still badly needs

Long after tactical systems evolve and television money transforms the sport yet again, football will still fundamentally belong to personalities.

Seamus Coleman with his wife Rachel Cunningham and children on the pitch after his final home game for Everton. Pic: Peter Byrne/PA Wire.

Martin O’Neill and Seamus Coleman are separated by generation, by temperament, and by the shape of their careers. One was fiery, combative, intellectually restless. The other is understated, grounded, almost stubbornly ordinary in how he carries himself. Yet this weekend, as both men again found themselves in the headlines, it felt impossible not to view them as part of the same Irish sporting tradition.

On Saturday, O’Neill, dramatically guided Celtic to arguably the most improbable Scottish Premier League title they’ve ever won. Their rivals Hearts spent 226 days at the top of the league table, Celtic? Just one. Turning to O’Neill to reverse their fortunes seemed desperate because the noise around him in recent years had been less about glory and more about decline. His difficult final years with the Republic of Ireland left behind an uncomfortable narrative: that Martin O’Neill had become a relic. That football had evolved beyond him. That his methods, his confrontational edge, even his personality belonged to another era.