John O’Shea is thinking no further ahead than Tuesday night’s friendly against Switzerland amid speculation he could become permanent Republic of Ireland manager after all.
The Football Association of Ireland’s director of football Marc Canham revealed last month as O’Shea was placed in interim charge that Stephen Kenny’s successor would be named in early April, and that an announcement had been delayed by “existing contractual obligations”.
That appeared to rule O’Shea out of the running – something leading candidate Lee Carsley has himself done since – although the way he has conducted himself during his temporary spell at the helm and the response of his players in Saturday’s 0-0 friendly draw with Belgium have prompted suggestions that he could do the job on a longer-term basis.
However, asked about the speculation ahead of the clash with the Swiss, the 42-year-old former Manchester United and Ireland defender told a press conference: “My remit was to focus on these two games.
“If my remit beforehand was ‘John, you’re the full-time new manager’, it might have been a different situation. The focus for me was ‘these two games, John, look after these games and see what happens then’.
“I am focusing on the last game against Switzerland. My focus has been on that right from the start when this process started.
“Two games, I am focused on that, get the best from the boys, bring this group together with the staff, getting the lads to know my staff as quickly as possible, and getting the bond together quickly, going into two games where you know you’ll face challenges, but two games where you know you can get good results too.”
O’Shea, who won 118 caps for his country during a distinguished playing career, has enhanced his reputation as a coach – he has had spells with Reading, Stoke and Birmingham as well as Ireland’s Under-21s and the senior team under Kenny – over the last week or so.
As things stand, he will be out of work again on Wednesday morning having left his most recent post at St Andrew’s in January following former team-mate Wayne Rooney’s departure as manager, and will be back on the market.
He said: “Let’s wait and see. Hopefully there will be a few things happening.
“But hopefully I will be going back for Easter holidays with my kids, so we’ll do something with them, get back into the swing of things with them and hopefully go to watch games and have a few conversations here and there.”
In the meantime, O’Shea will concentrate of the task of putting together a team to compete with Switzerland, ranked 19th by FIFA to Ireland’s 62nd.
That could mean a start for Southampton keeper Gavin Bazunu after Liverpool’s Caoimhin Kelleher got the nod on Saturday evening, while Lyon defender Jake O’Brien and Middlesbrough midfielder Finn Azaz, as well as Under-21s graduates Joe Hodge and Andy Moran, will hope for debuts.
Sheffield United go second after late turnaround, Plymouth continue good home form
Sheffield United staged a late turnaround to win 2-1 away to Bristol City and go second in the Championship, one point behind leaders Sunderland who play on Wednesday.
The game started slowly, with the hosts not opening the scoring until a 75th-minute Anis Mehmeti penalty after a foul on Sinclair Armstrong by goalkeeper Michael Cooper.
The Blades showed great character to haul themselves back into the game, with 18-year-old Ryan One scoring the equaliser in the 86th minute.
But things went up a notch in stoppage time when Robert Dickie was given a straight red card for a cynical foul on Callum O'Hare 35 yards out.
The drama wasn't finished yet and with seconds to go, Harrison Burrows smashed home a left-foot rocket to win the game for the Blades.
At the bottom of the table, Plymouth opened a four-point gap between themselves and the relegation zone with a 1-0 victory over bottom-of-the-table Portsmouth.
The victory means that Wayne Rooney's side have dropped just two points in their last five games at Home Park, having lost six on the bounce in all competitions away.
It is now four without a victory for Portsmouth, who have earned just nine points in their opening 14 matches back in the Championship.
Elsewhere, Middlesbrough responded to their 3-0 defeat at home to Coventry City last weekend by beating second-bottom Queens Park Rangers 4-1 on the road.
That was a first victory in three for Michael Carrick's side, who are one place below the play-off positions and trail only by goal difference.
QPR are four points behind fourth-bottom Preston North End, having failed to win any of their last 10 league games.
Al-Nassr 5-1 Al-Ain: Ronaldo on target in AFC Champions League win
Cristiano Ronaldo powered Al-Nassr to a convincing 5-1 triumph over Asian Champions League Elite holders Al-Ain on Tuesday.
The victory carried a sense of redemption for Al-Nassr as they avenged last season's semi-final defeat to the same opposition on their way to lifting a second title in the competition.
Talisca fired the hosts into a fifth minute lead with a well-taken effort from the edge of the box before Ronaldo poked home his 908th career goal just after the half-hour mark.
Visiting defender Fabio Cardoso then deflected Angelo's effort beyond Khalid Eisa to hand Al-Nassr a comfortable advantage at the interval.
Al-Ain did, however, pull one back early in the second half when Park Yong-woo's strike struck the post and went in off the back of Al-Nassr goalkeeper Bento.
But the result was put beyond doubt late on when Wesley curled home Al-Nassr's fourth, before Talisca notched his brace in second half stoppage time.
Data Debrief: Return of Ronaldo
After winning five Champions League across his glittering career, Ronaldo is now eyeing a first AFC Champions League crown with Al-Nassr.
The 39-year-old has six goals in eight appearances in the competition, with his goal against Al-Ain ending a three-game goal drought for Al-Nassr.
Ronaldo also registered a team-high expected goals (xG) tally of 1.25 towards Al-Nassr's 2.67 total, while also producing more shots (eight) and touches in the opposition box (nine) than any other player on the pitch.
Neymar suffers fresh injury blow
Neymar sustained a new injury as he was forced off during Al-Hilal's AFC Champions League Elite win over Esteghlal.
Aleksandar Mitrovic plundered a hat-trick on Monday to seal a 3-0 win.
But Al-Hilal's victory was soured by an injury to Neymar, who had to make way just 29 minutes after he came on as a second-half substitute.
The Brazilian, who has just returned from over a year out of action following a serious knee injury, was forced off with what appeared to be a thigh issue.
Indeed, Monday's appearance was only the 32-year-old's second for Al-Hilal since his comeback.
He has featured just seven times for the Saudi Pro League champions in all competitions since his big-money move from Paris Saint-Germain in 2023.
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