O’Neill declines to answer questions on Northern Ireland future

O’Neill has juggled the roles of Blackburn boss and Northern Ireland manager since arriving at Ewood Park in February

Sat, 02 May, 2026 - 17:03

Ian Parker

Michael O’Neill admitted he has enjoyed the buzz of club football as he declined to answer further questions on his Northern Ireland future after Blackburn’s Championship campaign ended in a home defeat to already-relegated Leicester.

O’Neill has juggled the roles of Rovers boss and Northern Ireland manager since arriving at Ewood Park in February, but while he was successful in steering Blackburn to safety, the 56-year-old has said a long-term job share is unsustainable.

Although O’Neill has not given a direct answer on where he sees his future, those Blackburn fans who want him to remain in charge have heard all the right noises from him.

This week he said the “conditions have to be right for all three parties”, referring to the Irish Football Association, Blackburn and himself, adding that conversations so far have been “very positive”.

O’Neill would not answer direct questions on his future after Saturday’s match as he said his main priority was taking a week off, but he spoke glowingly of his time at Blackburn.

“They’ve made me and my family feel extremely welcome,” O’Neill said. “My wife, my daughters love coming here to the games, so it’s been a real positive experience. It has been draining at times. I’m not going to lie.

“When you’re in that bottom situation, every manager will tell you that…you’re just trying to get your team to a position of safety and obviously it took us to the 45th game, but thankfully we managed to do that.” This has been O’Neill’s first taste of club football since he spent just shy of three years at Stoke between November 2019 and August 2022, a spell that proved a temporary break from the job of Northern Ireland boss he has otherwise held since 2011.

“You enjoy it when it’s going well,” he said. “But yeah, I’ve enjoyed the day-to-day element of working with the staff. I don’t have staff that I work with on a daily basis in my international job. My staff just come in for the camps.

“Basically I suppose I’m a sole trader, I work on my own and go to games on my own and have conversations with the relevant people and keep in touch with the players.

“Here you’re walking into a staff that’s here every day, you’re working with the analysts, you’re working with the medical team and obviously the coaching staff and people above me in the club.

“It does have a different feel to it in terms of that and from that point of view it is enjoyable.” Former Northern Ireland captain Steven Davis has been a key part of O’Neill’s Blackburn set-up while also part of his international staff, with the 41-year-old still in the early days of his own coaching career.

“He was an excellent support for me throughout the time because we’ve both been living in a hotel for the best part of three months so we spent a lot of time together,” O’Neill said. “I think we realise now that we probably quite like each other because we had no choice.”