Martin O’Neill confirmed by Nottingham Forest as new manager

martin,o'neill,nottingham,forest,nffc,manager
Martin O'Neill is the new manager of Nottingham Forest (Picture: @NFFC)

Nottingham Forest have confirmed Martin O’Neill is the new manager at the City Ground.

Reports claimed 66-year-old O’Neill was signed as manager yesterday (Monday January 14) and the club posted confirmation of his signing this morning.

This comes after former manager Aitor Karanka left the club on Friday (January 11) following speculation surround the future of his job.

First-team coach Simon Ireland took charge of the Reds at the weekend and said his side were affected by Karanka’s departure after losing 2-0 away at Reading.

‘Miracle Man’ O’Neill joins the Reds in ninth place in the Championship and four points off the play-off pace.

The Northern Irishman had a successful career in a 10-year spell at the City Ground, which included honours of two European Cups, a First Division title and two League Cups.

O’Neill was a regular in the Northern Ireland squad and captained his country at the 1982 World Cup in Spain before taking up coaching.

During his management career, O’Neill had successful spells at Wycombe and Leicester City where he lifted silverware with both teams as well as securing promotion with Leicester to the Premier League after beating Crystal Palace 2-1 at Wembley in 1995/96.

He then took charge of Celtic where he won seven titles and reached the UEFA Cup final in 2003 where the Bhoys lost 3-2 in extra-time to Porto in Seville, Spain.

O’Neill then had spells at Aston Villa and Sunderland before taking over as Republic of Ireland boss in November 2013, leading the country to Euro 2016 qualification which included a 1-1 draw with then world champions Germany before beating them 1-0 in Dublin.