Northern Ireland expected to name O'Neill next week

NORTHERN IRELAND are set to name their new manager next week, with Michael O’Neill the heavy favourite to succeed Nigel Worthington.

O’Neill, who ended a successful stint as Shamrock Rovers manager last week, is understood to be the first choice of the Irish Football Association (IFA), who had narrowed the field to a shortlist of three.

Iain Dowie and Jim Magilton – who assisted O’Neill at Rovers – were the other men to be interviewed for the post.

The role was not expected to be filled until January, but it is understood an announcement can now be expected before the end of the year.

The interviewing panel, led by IFA president Jim Shaw and chief executive Patrick Nelson, must present their recommendation to the board for ratification and plan to do so on Tuesday or Wednesday of next week.

Worthington earned €540,000 a year, the biggest salary ever offered for the job, but his successor can expect a figure closer to half of that.

O’Neill, 42, called time on his stint with Shamrock Rovers after last week’s Europa League defeat to Tottenham. During his time in Tallaght, he won back-to-back league titles and became the first manager to take an Irish team into the group stages in Europe.

His previous managerial job was in Scotland with Brechin City and he was strongly linked with Hibernian before former Bohemians manager Pat Fenlon was installed at Easter Road.

Former Republic of Ireland underage manager Seán McCaffrey has been appointed as Dundalk’s new manager.

The 52-year-old has agreed a one-year deal at Oriel Park and will immediately set about building a squad for the 2012 season.

McCaffrey will be assisted by Darius Kierans, who joined the club last January as an assistant to Ian Foster, and former Dundalk player, John Whyte, who has been helping out with the club’s underage teams since July.

New Hibernian boss Fenlon unveiled his first signing since his move to Edinburgh yesterday as former Sligo Rovers striker Eoin Doyle was reunited with the Dubliner.

Doyle, 23, was a schoolboy player at Shelbourne during Fenlon’s spell as boss and scored 25 goals for Sligo last season.