FORMER Republic of Ireland manager Martin O’Neill may have endured fierce criticism in his last year in the job – but Callum O’Dowda was full of praise for the Kilrea man as he prepares for Ireland’s Euro 2020 double-header against Denmark and Gibraltar this weekend.
O’Dowda was one of the brightest young Irish prospects during O’Neill’s five-year reign. After giving the Bristol City winger his competitive international debut, a second-half substitute against Moldova in October 2016, he featured regularly for O’Neill.
Speaking ahead of tomorrow night’s clash with familiar foes Denmark in Copenhagen, O’Dowda said: "I think with Martin it was more that he made me feel like a better player than I actually am,” said the 24-year-old whose season with Bristol City has been blighted by injury.
“That's what I noticed. I would be going out to training probably thinking that I was better than I was.
“So that's probably the best way to sum it up, really. Yes, he did get a lot of criticism, which I knew about.
“I think that you are going to get that when results are not going your way. But he was, in my eyes, a very good manager.”
O’Dowda’s healthy praise of O’Neill, now managing Nottingham Forest, is in stark contrast to Matt Doherty’s experience of the former Northern Ireland international midfielder.
Doherty, who’s coming off the back of an excellent campaign with Wolves, said O’Neill’s tactics were “bizarre” and that there was never a lot of coaching on the training pitch during his reign.
O’Dowda, who has attracted the attention of Leeds United, added: “I felt that Martin’s man-management skills were very good and he probably got the best out of me. My game against Poland [friendly in September 2018] is what I'm about, even though I was playing centrally and not wide, I thought it was one of my strongest games for Ireland.”
The English-born O’Dowda, who qualifies for Ireland through his late grandfather, missed the side’s back-to-back Euro 2020 qualification wins over Gibraltar and Georgia in March with a knee injury and is therefore expected to start on the bench in the Danish capital tomorrow night, with Conor Hourihane’s impressive form and a lack of match practice knocking him down the pecking order.
