Former Leicester City boss Martin O’Neill set to make shock return to management with new club

Former Leicester City manager Martin O’Neill is on the verge of a surprise return to management at the age of 72, taking the reins at Rapid Bucharest.

O’Neill, who has held several high-profile posts during his illustrious coaching career, has not been seen in the dugout since his departure from Nottingham Forest, a club that holds his soul. However, his break from football has not deterred interest from abroad.

European reports, led by Fanatik, suggest the Northern Irishman was believed to have hung up his managerial boots until Bucharest showed interest. Speculation claims the experienced coach, who has also managed the Republic of Ireland and Aston Villa national team, could be in place before the end of the week.

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With only a few games left in the Romanian League 1 season, O’Neill should make an immediate impact. Rapid Bucharest finished the league in second place, but lost seven of their eight play-off matches, reports the Mirror.

Recently appointed head of the League Managers Association, O’Neill won two European Cups during his playing days with Nottingham Forest, but his tenure there as manager lasted just six months.

In a recent interview with The Telegraph, he expressed his regret at taking the job, suggesting it was likely to be his last role in professional football.

“I had no idea when I left Forest that it would be my last job in management. I turned it down a few times before and felt I had to take it when it was offered to me again. I took it way too personally, in the sense that I was upset about it, I took it way too seriously.

“Instead of going further (into management), I was never very interested in networking, I was never part of an agency, someone looking for jobs for me. And of course people start looking at you. age as well.

“In an industry, the changes we’ve seen happen, owners and CEOs want to run the show. I was a football club manager. I wasn’t a head coach and that’s what people are looking for now. They can dictate to the head coach who comes in and who doesn’t, to a large extent.

“Do I regret going to Forest? Yes, absolutely. If I had known we were going to win the last three games of the season and I would have been called in a week at pre-season training to be told how to run the football. The club wasn’t the way they wanted to run it, as they said, I wouldn’t have taken the job in the first place.”

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