Michael O’Neill has hailed World Cup hero Jimmy Nicholl as a key driver behind Northern Ireland ’s resurgence during his time as national boss.
The vastly experienced Nicholl, who turns 64 later this year, was installed as O’Neill’s No2 in March 2015 and proved an inspired appointment in the senior set-up.
The former Manchester United defender, who won 73 caps and starred at the 1982 and 1986 World Cups, was by O’Neill’s side at the Euro 2016 finals in France.
He was also in the dugout as Northern Ireland reached the 2018 World Cup play-offs and secured a playoff berth for next summer’s Euro 2020 tournament.
O’Neill said: “Jimmy was brilliant for me as assistant manager because he had a real feel for what was happening around the hotel or around the camp.
“That was experience on his part. He was the oldest member of staff bar one of the kitmen, but he could converse with a 17 or 18 year old player if necessary.
“He had a brilliant sense of humour and an ability to mix across a broad spectrum of people.”
Nicholl’s old school instincts and social skills were crucial in helping cultivate a buoyant team atmosphere within the set-up.
O’Neill told BBC in a recent interview that his assistant knew when to remove him from the hothouse atmosphere of a team hotel.
“He could sense when I needed time away,” he said. “He would say ‘we’ll have a walk’ and we’d go away for an hour, maybe have a pint of Guinness and walk back.”
And he told SportNI’s Curious Coaching podcast: “Everyone would listen to Jimmy and everyone liked him as well, which is really important.
“You can’t have everyone (going on) about standards, standards all the time. It takes a little bit of the human aspect of it as well.”
