Motherwell midfielder Liam Donnelly says it’s a compliment that new Northern Ireland boss Ian Baraclough is being likened to Michael O’Neill.
Baraclough’s studious and passionate approach to the game has drawn swift comparisons to the recently departed O’Neill who stepped down in April.
No doubt the Englishman, who was Under-21 head coach from 2017, will put his own stamp on things when he steps into the dugout for the first time in September.
But Donnelly, who captained the U21s under Baraclough, understands why the Irish FA will have drawn positive parallels between the old boss and new.
“I’m sure Ian will do things his own way and won’t necessarily want to be compared to Michael all the time, but I’m sure those similarities came into the IFA’s consideration,” he said.
“The association obviously wanted continuity and to continue on the success of the last few years and there are a lot of similarities.
“I’m sure Ian will want to be his own man, but it’s a compliment to be put in that bracket and be compared to Michael after how well he did.”
Donnelly, now 24 and fresh from his best club season ever at Fir Park where he scored 11 goals in 29 games, enjoyed playing under Baraclough during his time as U21s manager.
On his watch, no fewer than 10 players - Jamal Lewis, Jordan Thompson and Gavin Whyte included - graduated from the underage panel to win senior caps.
“When Ian came in, he said if you do well with the U21s, you’ll get a chance of being in the senior squad and that was instilled in us,” said Donnelly, who has been capped twice at senior level.
“I don’t think there were any players in that squad who didn’t enjoy playing under him.
“We enjoyed working with him in training and he’s also a really good guy off the pitch. He always had a good relationship with all the lads.
“He has his way about going about things in training and leading up to the games he always studied the opposition and how they play.
“He would look closely at how we could exploit that and play to our strengths, which helped us get a lot of good results.”
One of those was a stunning 2-1 Euro qualifying win over a star studded Spain U21s in Albacete in September 2018.
Donnelly, who still holds the record as Northern Ireland’s most capped U21 player with 24 appearances, and Shayne Lavery were on target in a famous victory.
“I broke the previous caps record of 21 against Spain so it was a special game,” he said.
“We knew Spain would have a lot of possession, but Ian set us up really well and we actually went into it with a lot of confidence and belief.
“We were so well organised and had a great defensive shape. It was a massive result and a great game to be involved in.”
