Michael O’Neill will seek Roy Hodgson’s advice when planning for next summer’s European Championship finals, albeit prior to December’s draw in case Northern Ireland land in the same group as England.
The Northern Ireland manager has revealed preparations for France were under way before Thursday’s 3-1 defeat of Greece secured a first appearance at a major tournament in 30 years, and that Hodgson was one of the first to congratulate him on the achievement.
O’Neill’s team complete their outstanding qualifying campaign in Finland and the manager, who allowed his squad a drink or two after the Greece win, will select his strongest available side. “We want to win the group, add to our goal tally and keep the momentum going,” he said. “I’ve told the players 23 points would be an amazing tally and that no team drawn from pot five has ever won their group.”
But having left preliminary plans for Euro 2016 to the Irish FA’s administration manager, David Currie – “I didn’t want to get ahead of myself,” explained O’Neill – the manager admits his thoughts have turned towards next summer. The Irish FA has three bases under consideration and, having not featured on the competition stage since the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, O’Neill plans to tap into the England manager’s experience despite their potential rivalry next summer.
“There’s a lot in terms of preparation and I’ll pick the brains of people like Roy Hodgson who have been to major tournaments before,” said the Northern Ireland manager, who visited Ireland’s training camp before the rugby World Cup on a fact-finding mission. “Roy sent me a lovely message, complimenting all the players and the players he’s worked with within the squad. He’s worked with five of our squad [Steven Davis, Aaron Hughes, Gareth McAuley, Chris Baird and Chris Brunt] and wished them all the best.
“He didn’t offer advice but I will ask. You want your preparation to be as good as possible. Roy’s had experience of major tournaments with Switzerland and England so it would be foolhardy of me not to try to tap into that knowledge. I’ll maybe drop him a text and request that. He’s always been very forthcoming with guidance and advice if I’ve ever wanted it. I’ll maybe have to do it before the draw because they might not help us if we’re in the same group.”
O’Neill set his squad a target of 18 points before the qualifying campaign, calculating that would guarantee a place in the play-offs. Despite surpassing that tally with a game to spare, the manager insists there can be no let-up against fourth-placed Finland given the limited playing time between now and the Euros.
“I told the players earlier today that the preparation starts now,” he said. “We’ll hopefully have another game in November and the next time we’re together is March. After that is whatever we organise leading into the tournament. It is not a lot of football in relation to the players proving themselves and getting themselves on the plane. Finland is an important game for them individually. It’s the first stage in our preparation for the tournament.”
Northern Ireland’s visit is the last competitive fixture at Helsinki’s Olympic Stadium, venue for the 1952 Games, before it is demolished to make way for a new €200m, 50,000-capacity arena. O’Neill will have seven-goal Kyle Lafferty, Chris Baird and Conor McLaughlin available after suspension but Jonny Evans has not been risked having missed the Greece game with a hamstring strain.
“We want to win the game and the players all want to play,” added O’Neill. “Gareth and Ollie [Norwood] are the only two players that can play the 10 games and it is nice for players when they look back to say they played in all the 10 games. I wouldn’t deprive them of that. I will pick the strongest team we have.”
