Packie Bonner: Martin O’Neill deserves shot at World Cup

Packie Bonner believes that, if Martin O’Neill wants it, he should be given a shot at leading Ireland to the 2018 World Cup — even if his team, as many are now predicting, fails to make it to the Euro finals in France next year.

“The unfortunate bit about this is that the expectation (of qualification) is there, especially when it goes to two automatic qualification places and one through the play-offs,” says the Irish goalkeeping legend.

“So the play-off would be the objective and if you don’t get there it’s seen as a failure.