O'NEILL'S RETURN TO LEICESTER A GODSEND FOR THE FAI

Rumours are emerging this afternoon that the Football Association of Ireland are happy to allow Martin O'Neill to vacate the Irish manager role to return to Premier League management with his old club Leicester City. Perhaps this is the best arrangement for both parties after an uninspired two years in charge at the Aviva Stadium.

D. Ray Morton, 10th July 2015.

Martin O'Neill looks likely to step down from the Ireland job after only joining in 2013

This afternoon, The Guardian are reporting that a bookmaker has halted bets on Martin O'Neill becoming Leicester City's new manager after the sacking of Nigel Pearson over a week ago. This means that he will vacate the Irish manager job likely leaving Roy Keane in charge of their failing European Championship qualification campaign.

Since O'Neill took over in 2013, his tenure in charge has seemed utterly uninspired. Irish fans expected O'Neill's tactics to be conservative but they felt he would bring an air of authority to the team after the shambles of Giovanni Trapatonni's last World Cup qualifying campaign. We got the conservative tactics part but we never got the inspiration. O'Neill completely failed to get anything positive out of his willing, albeit limited, squad. It all felt a bit like Paul Lambert at Aston Villa. Decent manager, terrible situation.

Failing to convince Jack Grealish to play for Ireland aside, O'Neill persisted with a deeply negative 4-5-1 system as Scotland, our main rivals in qualification, went with attacking football which ultimately outdid us over two close fixtures. Currently Wales are ranked 10th in the FIFA world rankings. Ireland are not even in the top fifty. This would have been unthinkable some years back but we really have been overtaken. We live in an era where the small teams of Europe are emerging, yet Ireland stays stuck in the mud. This is across the board too. Last night, Cork City FC were knocked out of the Europa League by an Icelandic (Iceland themselves looking a good shout for Euro 2016 qualification) team. The League of Ireland has never been considered hugely competitive but being outdone by minnows like KR Reykjavik was an unwelcome extra kick in the teeth.

Back to Ireland and O'Neill though. The current campaign, let us face facts, is done. Keano will preside over a series of dead fixtures but is unlikely to stay on as a permanent manager. The FAI will have a lot of time to come up with the new guy. They have to get this right or else Ireland will continue to sink. We will be 4th seeds in the draw for the World Cup qualifiers after the Euros. This is a pretty terrifying prospect. Thinking hat on, John Delaney.

HOW TO IMPROVE THE EUROPA LEAGUE

UEFA's second major club tournament, the Europa League, could use some modifications to become a true meritocracy and to raise the profile of the competition in general. Here are a few suggestions.

D. Ray Morton, 26th February 2015.

With this season's Europa League champions guaranteed a spot in next season's Champions League, the status of UEFA's "B" tournament has increased quite a bit. Now clubs like Liverpool and Tottenham and Italian sides who notoriously underachieve at what is perceived as a waste of time, have something more to play for.

There are a few inconsistencies in the format that need ironing out. First of all, the group stage is way too over-bloated. The sheer amount of groups alone is absurd. To remedy this, more pre-qualifier rounds should be scheduled so that the group stages fall in line with the eight group layout of the Champions League.

Secondly, the round of 32 is overkill. To avoid this, do not allow teams that finish third in their Champions League groups to enter the Europa League at all. Why should a team that finishes third in a group get the consolation prize of another tournament rather than, say, teams that get knocked out of the Champions League in the round of 16? This safety net has to go and the competitions must be kept separate.

Finally, in order for teams to truly be awarded on merit, runners up prizes need to go. This means teams that lose domestic cup finals but still get into the competition would be discounted. Should a cup-winning team already qualify for Europe through league position and happen to triumph in a domestic cup, the next spot should go to the next highest league team, not cup final losers.

The same goes for the Europa League final itself. Say, for example, this year's final is Wolfsburg vs. Everton and the German side triumph. Wolfsburg will likely qualify for the Champions League via league position in Bundesliga, therefore that leftover Champions League spot would not go to Everton who will likely finish well off the Premier League European spots. It should be given to a team that did it via performance in their domestic league, Germany rather than England in this example perhaps. How UEFA should decide this is their choice but they have come up with creative ways in the past to give sides European appearances, like the Fair Play award.

Traditionally, the European Cup was the big one but the Europa League's precursor, the UEFA Cup, was not far behind in terms of achievement. Many considered the UEFA Cup harder to win because it would feature several teams from the top leagues and not just one. It has been a long time since UEFA's secondary tournament has been held in such high regard but some functional changes could bring a lot of that excitement back.

IVAN RAKITIC IS RED HOT PROPERTY

D. Ray Morton, 2nd June 2014.

Ivan Rakitic was the star of Sevilla's Europa League triumph and was named player of the competition

Sevilla's Ivan Rakitic may be one of European football's hottest properties right now. Having guided his side to Europa League glory, the Croatian international is on the radar of several major clubs in need of a creative midfield presence. Rakitic offers the characteristics of a classic Balkan playmaker in spades. His playing style has been compared to legendary schemers like Zvonimir Boban and Dragan Stojkovic. According to his father, Luka, the top three Spanish clubs of Atlético Madrid, Barcelona and Real Madrid are hot on his trail and hinted that Barça may be his preferred choice should an offer materialise.

His buyout clause comes to about €40m though it is believed that his contract features a reduction of that price were an offer made by a "big club" which could mean reducing his cost to about €25m. With Cesc Fabregas being put up for sale and Xavi now 34 years old, Barcelona will be looking for quality to add to their midfield options. Atlético's Koke may be their number one choice but the Croat would be a fine alternative. Rakitic has a good head on his shoulders, genuinely loves the game and would fit into Barça's possession-based, communal philosophy. This is a guy who owns a minor Swiss club, NK Pajde (Croatian for "Buddies"), as a hobby such is his passion for football.

Many eyes will be on his exploits at this month's World Cup. His Croatian midfield link-up with Luka Modric should keep Brazil on their toes in the tournament's opening game on June 12th. He brings a lot to the table tactically. He can play anywhere across the midfield, in the hole or even as a second striker. He is deadly from long range, retains the ball very well and is highly technical. Last season, in 41 starts, he scored 13 goals and made 12 assists at club level between league and European appearances. At 26 years of age, he is just coming into his prime and, given the right push, can be one of the Europe's best playmakers in the years to come.

Premier League clubs will cast glances at him but there does not seem to be a realistic deal to be made there. Chelsea are already stacked full of attacking midfielders and a manager that distrusts players without defensive priorities as mentioned here in yesterday's article in regards to Eden Hazard. Though Rakitic is versatile and adaptable, he is not exactly a player that excels in the nitty-gritty side of things. Very much an artist as opposed to a destroyer. Manchester City can offer riches but this alone would not interest Rakitic one would think. The allure of a Barcelona or a Real Madrid cannot be matched by Sheik Mansour's wheelbarrows full of cash.