Former Aston Villa manager Martin O’Neill is reportedly on the brink of a surprising return to management at the age of 72, potentially taking the reins at Rapid Bucharest.
O’Neill, who has enjoyed a distinguished coaching career with several high-profile roles, hasn’t been seen in the dugout since his departure from Nottingham Forest in June 2019. However, his hiatus from the game has not dampened interest from abroad.
European reports, spearheaded by Fanatik, suggest that O’Neill was thought to have hung up his managerial boots until Bucharest showed interest. It is claimed that the seasoned manager, who has also led the Republic of Ireland national team, could be in position before the week is out.
With only a few games left in the Romanian Liga 1 season, O’Neill would need to make an immediate impact. Rapid Bucharest ended the league in second place but lost seven of their eight play-off matches, reports the Mirror.
Recently appointed as the head of the League Managers Association, O’Neill won two European Cups during his playing days with Nottingham Forest, but his tenure there as a manager lasted just six months.
In a recent interview with The Telegraph, he expressed regret over accepting the job, hinting that it was likely his last role in professional football.
“I had no idea when I left Forest that it would be my last job in management. I had turned it down a number of times previously and felt like I had to take it when it was offered again. I took it far too personally, in the sense I was angry about it. I took it too seriously.
“Instead of going on [in management], I’ve never been much of a networker, I’ve never been part of an agency, someone going out there looking for jobs for me. And of course, people start to look at your age too.
“In an industry, the changes that I’ve noticed taking place, the owners and CEOs want to run the show. I was a manager of football clubs. I wasn’t a head coach and that is what people are looking for now. They can dictate to the head coach who comes in and who might not, to a large extent.
“Do I regret going to Forest? Yes, absolutely. If I’d known we would win the last three games of the season and I would be called in a week into pre-season training to be told the way I was running the football club was not the way they wanted to run it which is how they put it I wouldn’t have taken the job in the first place.”
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