lookwhaticando Posted 31 May 2007 Posted 31 May 2007 Worthington set to be NI manager Nigel Worthington will be unveiled as the new Northern Ireland manager on Friday, BBC Sport understands. The 66-times capped former defender is the Irish Football Association's choice to succeed Lawrie Sanchez who resigned to take charge of Fulham last month. The 45-year-old has previously managed Blackpool and Norwich City and has just completed a spell in temporary charge of Championship side Leicester City. It is unclear if the appointment goes beyond the Euro 2008 qualifying series. Worthington's first game in charge will be against Liechtenstein at Windsor Park in August. Northern Ireland are in with a chance of qualifying for a major championship for the first time in over 20 years. They head Group F on 13 points following the superb victory against Sweden in March. IFA president JIm Boyce confirmed on Wednesday that "considerable progress" had been made towards installing a new manager and the IFA Executive is expected to be asked to ratify the appointment on Friday morning, ahead of a media conference. Worthington began his career as a left-back with Ballymena United in the Irish League in 1979 and went on to play at full-time professional level for Notts County, Sheffield Wednesday, Leeds United, Stoke City and Blackpool. He spent ten years at Sheffield Wednesday and was a member of the Owls side that won the League Cup and promotion to the top flight in 1990-91. Two years later, Worthington and his teammates were losing finalists in both the League Cup and FA Cup. His international career included a spell as captain under manager Bryan Hamilton. He managed Blackpool from 1997 to 1999 and was at the helm at Norwich City from 2000 to 2006, guiding the Canaries to promotion to the Premiership in 2003-2004. The Carrow Road club was relegated the following season and Worthington's reign ended after a poor run of results in October, 2006. He was appointed caretaker boss of Leicester earlier this year but failed to secure the permanent appointment.
Master Fox Posted 31 May 2007 Posted 31 May 2007 Fair Play, Good Luck Wortho. Yeah, good luck Nidge. We love you.
Dr The Singh Posted 31 May 2007 Posted 31 May 2007 Yeah, good luck Nidge. We love you. Who's 'we'????
Manwell Pablo Posted 31 May 2007 Posted 31 May 2007 Quite alot of pressured position this, top of the group with 13 points Lichenstein, Latvia, and Iceland as you first three competitive fixtures, the Spanish Swedish and Danes all struggling for consistant form, they could be out of sight by the time they have to play those three teams again. I Doubt NI will get a better chance at qualifying for a major tournament than this for awhile
Father Ted Posted 31 May 2007 Posted 31 May 2007 [topic=http://home.skysports.com/list.aspx?HLID=469650&CPID=219&title=Worthington+set+for+N.I+role&lid=&channel=Football_Home&f=rss&clid=117]http://home.skysports.com/list.aspx?HLID=469650&CPID=219&title=Worthington+set+for+N.I+role&lid=&channel=Football_Home&f=rss&clid=117[/topic]
Mort Posted 31 May 2007 Posted 31 May 2007 Good luck Wortho... always remember your time here and what you did for us, put to bed the living nightmare of the Levien/K*lly era... (touch wood )
Barry Trotter Posted 31 May 2007 Posted 31 May 2007 Really happy for him, felt kind of sorry for him when he missed out on the Leicester post.
James. Posted 31 May 2007 Posted 31 May 2007 Good luck Wortho... always remember your time here and what you did for us, put to bed the living nightmare of the Levien/K*lly era... (touch wood ) Seconded. He did more positive for the club in those few weeks then Kelly achieved in the whole time he was here.
The Stig Posted 31 May 2007 Posted 31 May 2007 Wouldn't be happy if I was a NI fan but good luck to Mr W
lookwhaticando Posted 31 May 2007 Author Posted 31 May 2007 So, I wonder if he was ever first choice for MM? As time has passed since his initial appointment, I've wondered that myself. My interpretation is now a little like this: With five games to go, it wasn't a good time to nick someone else's manager from under their noses. That would take time, most of all... time we didn't have. So, we picked up the available candidate with a good record in this division (the best recent, available record?) He wasn't the clear first choice for the role permanently at the time, or he'd have been appointed permanently. Now... perhaps Mandaric had a first choice in mind all along, but you don't just ignore candidates with a record such as Worthington's. Since he was available, give him a crack of the whip... I reckon, then, that Worthington's record got him a foot in the door - and if he could do special things with just five games, he'd put up a challenge to any other candidates in Mandaric's mind - including any preconceived favourites. Obviously, Worthington failed to do anything seriously special in five games (apart from get tonked by Wolves... of all teams). My own conclusion is that Worthington was never really the first choice, but he was the best person available at very short notice - and that's all that mattered at the time.
Joe. Posted 1 June 2007 Posted 1 June 2007 I think he'll do a decent job for them. Northern Ireland are probably in one of the strogest positions they've ever been in to qualify for a major tournament and I think he could possibly keep them going. Good luck to him
Ultra Posted 1 June 2007 Posted 1 June 2007 I wish Worthington every success. Perhaps if he had been able to convert just ONE of the three home defeats into victories, it could well have turned out differently for him here. But managing his country will be a big honour for him and he probably thinks things have worked out for the best. Maybe we shouldn't expect an international recall for Gareth McAuley any time soon, though..
Dr The Singh Posted 1 June 2007 Posted 1 June 2007 Good luck to him, but it's only a short term deal until november, it might turn into another 'leicester' for him, and be looking for work again!!!
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.