O’Neill learns grass may not be greener elsewhere

Man Utd 3 ... Stoke 0: Martin O’Neill may well be reflecting today that he has dodged a bullet by turning down Stoke City after the side he would have taken to Old Trafford last night were beaten 3-0 by a Paul Pogba-inspired Manchester United to leave them in serious relegation trouble.

Ireland manager O’Neill has been at the centre of Stoke soap opera for the last week with the will-he, won’t-he story ebbing and flowing by the day.

But it was Paul Lambert who sat in the director’s box at Old Trafford as manager-to-be for the Potteries side, not O’Neill - finally putting an end to speculation that he and assistant Roy Keane were ready to ditch international football in favour of the Premier League.