Manager amused by Ibrox speculation
“Who wants it moving? Scottish fans? Do they?” said O’Neill yesterday. “But (Scotland boss) Gordon (Strachan) has also been manager at Celtic so I don’t know why they would want to shift it.”
Reminded that the home of Celtic has a capacity that is 10,000 greater than the home of Rangers, O’Neill replied: “Exactly. And you know what the Scottish FA are like, same as us. Surely to heavens they would want extra money.”
Meanwhile, O’Neill has revealed he hoped to be able to finalise Ireland’s summer schedule before the squad departs Dublin tomorrow but is prepared to wait a little longer if needs be.
Already confirmed are games in Dublin against Turkey on May 25 and against Italy in London, at Craven Cottage, on May 31 but a final decision has not yet been taken about playing one or more games in the United States in early June, despite a premature announcement by the Portuguese FA and the MetLife Arena in New Jersey of a proposed game between Ireland and Portugal at that venue on June 10.
This week, FAI boss John Delaney made clear that unless another friendly can be arranged in the States, on June 5, the game against Portugal will probably not go ahead.
“I was hoping to be able to tell players before we leave what we have in store for summer,” O’Neill confessed yesterday, adding that, while he looked forward to the opportunity of having the players together for the matches against Turkey and Italy in May, he also needed to take into consideration the need for them to have a good break at the end of a long season.
Hence, the big question mark now hanging over the Stateside trip.
The important issue, O’Neill stressed, “is to have the players as ready as possible for September time”.
Meanwhile, the latest withdrawal from the squad for tonight’s friendly against Serbia is Damien Delaney.
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