MARTIN O'Neill has described how he believed he was treated as an "outsider" while managing the Republic of Ireland football team.
He also said he believes the knives were out for him after a painful World Cup play-off defeat at home.
O'Neill, who managed the squad for five years from November 2013, enjoyed some success with his controversial assistant Roy Keane, guiding the side to the 2016 European Championships.
But O’Neill, who is set to publish his memoirs ‘On Days Like These’, believes the beginning of the end was the 2018 World Cup play-off against Denmark when his team lost 5-1 at home.
“The Denmark result became a point for the Dublin media to throw everything at you in terms of criticism,” O’Neill said in an interview with the Belfast Telegraph.
“It was kind of storing up a little bit.
"The truth is this, there was a number of times I was called ‘the Northerner’ or ‘the outsider’ and I was treated in many ways the same way as (Giovanni) Trapattoni eventually became, one of those figures you tend to hate."
O’Neill, who is originally from Kilrea, said his assistant Keane was sceptical the manager might be considered an "outsider" but, as time went on, the former Manchester United midfielder became convinced it was true.
"At the end of the day, I’m maybe not blameless," he said.
"I think they felt I had an arrogant streak about me. I think that’s been called a few times, but that’s absolutely and utterly far from the case."
O'Neill was replaced by Mick McCarthy in November 2018 following relegation to the third tier of the Nations League.
