Martin O'Neill last night finally signed his contract to remain as manager of the Republic of Ireland. His doing so ahead of the UEFA Nations League draw today met the deadline set down last week by John Delaney, and as Delaney had forecasted, O'Neill made himself available to the assembled media at today's draw in Lausanne.
That meant he once again came face-to-face with RTE's Tony O'Donoghue, with whom he has endured a fairly difficult relationship over the last couple of years.
Speaking to the media last week, John Delaney confirmed that O'Neill reflected on his position after the 5-1 playoff defeat to Denmark, in spite of his having reached a verbal agreement with the FAI on a new contract ahead of the final two World Cup qualifiers in October. O'Donoghue asked O'Neill to confirm this, while also asking whether O'Neill was taken aback by the reaction to the Denmark defeat, as newspaper reports close to O'Neill had claimed.
It was here that things took a turn for the tetchy.
Martin O'Neill gives his reaction to the Republic of Ireland's Nations League draw and addresses recent speculation about his future #RTEsoccer pic.twitter.com/cLC1SiDARB
— RTÉ Soccer (@RTEsoccer) January 24, 2018
