MX23RW : Wednesday, November 27 21:53:56| >> :600:456734:456734:

Jonny Evans pays tribute to "unbelievable" NI boss Michael O'Neill

Jonny Evans pays tribute to
© Reuters
O'Neill joined Stoke last week.

Jonny Evans has backed the Northern Ireland Football Association to get it right in the hunt for Michael O'Neill's replacement.

The Leicester defender is confident his country will remain on track despite O'Neill joining Stoke.

But the manager will still take their final Euro 2020 qualifiers against Holland on Saturday and Germany next week and any play-off in March.

Motherwell boss Stephen Robinson is favourite for the job and Evans expects the next appointment to be correct.

"It allows the IFA to take their time now, I'm sure they'll pick the right man for the job," he said.

"They made an unbelievable appointment in Michael and he's spoken before about how they gave him time and backed him during a time of transition and difficulty at the start.

"What the IFA have done over the last few years has been first class and I'm sure they'll pick the right man."

O'Neill was appointed in December 2011 and took Northern Ireland to their first major tournament in 30 years when they reached Euro 2016, making the second round.

Last year O'Neill turned down the Scotland job but replaced Nathan Jones at Stoke last week, winning his first game 4-2 at Barnsley on Saturday.

It lifted Stoke off the bottom of the Sky Bet Championship and Evans revealed his respect for his international boss.

"Everyone is very happy for him, what he has done at international level has been amazing," he said.

"He has been a constant through my international career, I've been working with him nearly eight years.

"He's always been that one manager to bounce off and has been incredible for my career and for a lot of the lads with Northern Ireland.

"We owe him a lot and I'm sure everyone sent him a congratulations text and it's even better to have him with us through the rest of the campaign."

ID:378675: cacheID:378675:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:3286:
Restore Data
Share this article now:
Northern Ireland manager Michael O'Neill on October 10, 2019
Read Next:
The runners and riders to replace Michael O'Neill as Northern Ireland manager
>
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool1210112481631
2Manchester CityMan City127232217523
3Chelsea126422314922
4Arsenal126422112922
5Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton126422116522
6Tottenham HotspurSpurs1261527131419
7Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest125431513219
8Aston Villa125431919019
9Fulham125341717018
10Newcastle UnitedNewcastle125341313018
11Brentford125252222017
12Manchester UnitedMan Utd124441313016
13Bournemouth124351617-115
14West Ham UnitedWest Ham124351519-415
15Everton122551017-711
16Leicester CityLeicester122461523-810
17Wolverhampton WanderersWolves122372028-89
18Ipswich TownIpswich121651323-109
19Crystal Palace121561017-78
20Southampton121110924-154


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!