O’Neill may be ready and available but is he right man for the job?

The men in the frame to become the next Republic of Ireland manager:

MARTIN O’NEILL

Why: A man who once compared Ashley Young to Diego Maradona knows the value of making his players feel good about themselves. Arguably the only manager so far to coax consistency from James McClean since he left Derry, O’Neill’s reputation as a motivator is well established. As recently as last summer, Simon Mignolet raved about O’Neill’s ability to find those few key words that burnish a player’s belief.