Iain Dowie says Michael O’Neill may quit Northern Ireland if they lose play-off

Iain Dowie says Michael O’Neill may decide that the time is right to move on from Northern Ireland if they fail to qualify for the World Cup.

O’Neill’s side were beaten 1-0 by Switzerland at Windsor Park in the first leg of their World Cup play-off, and head to Basel to try and overturn the deficit in the second leg on Sunday, live on Sky Sports.

However, if O’Neill fails to lead Northern Ireland to their first World Cup since 1986, Dowie feels the former Shamrock Rovers manager would not be short of offers to go elsewhere.
Dowie said: „No one’s ‘unsackable’, but if anyone can be, Michael is. On the other hand, I do think there are other opportunities.

„He will think ‘who we’ve got coming through, and can this group of players replicate that again?’

„Maybe Chris Brunt retires, maybe Gareth McAuley retires. Maybe Steven Davis isn’t playing as much. But he may think it’s time to move on.

„I think there’ll be a big job coming round the corner.“

Dowie is under no illusions as to the task that Northern Ireland face in Switzerland, and believes O’Neill should be in line for more than just international honours if his team pull it off.

He said: „If we go there and turn that around to get to the World Cup, it must be Sir Michael O’Neill.

„It would be that monumental. I don’t put it past us, but it’s a hard task.“

O’Neill has been in charge of his country since 2011. His reign began slowly, and he didn’t earn his first win until his tenth game in charge – over 18 months after he took over.
However, the IFA stuck with O’Neill and he repaid their faith by leading Northern Ireland’s famous run to the last 16 of Euro 2016.

Dowie was full of praise for O’Neill as the 48-year-old looks to lead his country to their second successive major tournament.

He said: „What I love about Michael, he’s pragmatic. He knows what it takes to win. He understands what our strengths are and we play to them.

„Michael has found a way to squeeze the very last ounce of energy out of that team.“Euro Soccer Bonus

Our fantastic Euro Soccer accumulator offer gives you the chance to earn a bonus of up to 100% on accumulators on the top domestic leagues in Europe along with the group and knockout stages of the Champions League.

This offer applies to returns on pre-match accumulators of 3 or more selections on Full Time Result or Result/Both Teams To Score markets for the English Premier League, Italian Serie A, Spanish Primera Liga, German Bundesliga 1 or UEFA Champions League.

The maximum bonus that you can receive is €100,000 or currency equivalent. The bonus will not apply where a stake has been fully Cashed Out. Where a stake has been partially Cashed Out, the bonus will be calculated based .on the remaining active stake. If a qualifying bet is edited .using our Edit Bet feature. The bonus will be calculated based on the new stake. Where a bet has been edited to include or amend a selection for an event that is In-Play, the bonus will no longer apply. Double Chance bets or combination bets with bonuses. Such as Lucky 15’s or Lucky .31’s do not apply for this offer.

If your bet is successful, we will add the following bonuses to your returns:

Bet Type Bonus

14-folds and upwards 100% bonus
Terms and Conditions
Applies to straight pre-match accumulator bets on the Full Time Result or Result/Both Teams To Score markets for UEFA Champions League, English Premier League, Italian Serie A, Spanish Primera Liga, German Bundesliga .1 or Australian A-League matches. Maximum bonus €100,000 or currency equivalent. Euro Soccer Bonus does not apply to Double Chance bets or combination. bets with bonuses such as Lucky 15’s, Lucky 31’s etc.

If any selections are postponed/void then the bonus will still apply, but the percentage bonus added will reflect the actual number of winning selections. For example, an 8-fold accumulator with 7. winners and 1 postponed match will receive a 30% .bonus to returns.
The bonus part of your returns will be added to your account within 24 hours of your final selection having played.
This bonus will not apply where a stake has been fully Cashed Out. Where a stake has been partially Cashed Out, the bonus will be calculated based on the remaining active stake.

If a qualifying bet is edited using our Edit Bet feature, the bonus will be calculated based on the new stake. Where a bet has been edited to include or amend a selection for an event that is In-Play, the bonus will no longer apply.

Where any term of the offer or promotion is breached or there is any evidence of a series of bets placed by a customer or group of customers, which due to a deposit bonus, enhanced payments, free bets, risk free bets or any other promotional offer results in guaranteed customer profits irrespective of the outcome, whether individually or as part of a group, bet365 reserves the right to reclaim the bonus element of such offers and in their absolute discretion either settle bets at the correct odds, void the free and risk free. bets or void any bet funded by the deposit bonus.

In addition bet365 .reserve the right to levy an administration charge on the customer up to the value of the deposit bonus, free bet, risk free bet or additional payment to cover administrative costs. We further reserve the right to ask any customer to provide sufficient documentation for us to be satisfied in our absolute discretion as to the customer’s identity prior to us crediting any bonus, free bet, risk free bet or offer to their account.

All bet365 offers are intended for recreational players and bet365 may in its sole discretion limit the eligibility of customers to participate in all or part of any promotion.

bet365 reserves the right to amend, cancel, reclaim or refuse any promotion at its own discretion.