O'Neill distances himself from England job (From The Northern Echo)

O'Neill distances himself from England job

8:00am Thursday 9th February 2012 in Sunderland AFC News By Scott Wilson

MARTIN O'Neill last night distanced himself from the vacant England position after watching his Sunderland side book a place in the fifth round of the FA Cup courtesy of an extra-time win over Middlesbrough.

Stephane Sessegnon's stoppage-time strike booked the Black Cats a fifth-round tie with Arsenal a week on Saturday – the club's first appearance at that stage in eight years – after a hard-fought encounter at the Riverside.

Lukas Jutkiewicz cancelled out Jack Colback's first-half strike, and Middlesbrough can be more than satisfied with their efforts against their Tees-Wear rivals.

But Sessegnon struck in the final seven minutes of extra-time to secure Sunderland's ninth win in 13 matches under O'Neill and further bolster the Northern Irishman's burgeoning reputation.

O'Neill is a 16-1 shot to replace Capello, who sensationally resigned from his position as England manager yesterday evening, but the Sunderland boss insists he has no interest in succeeding the Italian and has instead backed favourite Harry Redknapp for the post.

“I said a couple of days ago when someone threw that up that if there is anyone to succeed Fabio Capello, Harry Redknapp has earned that right,” said O'Neill. “He will be the next England manager and he deserves it.

“There's been a call for an English manager and Harry's achievements at Tottenham in the last couple of years have been outstanding. He's done exceptionally well and the result today at the court case (when Redknapp was found not guilty of tax evasion) will be a great relief to him.

“I'm really disappointed (about Capello's resignation) because he's earned the right to take the team to the finals. He's got them there in the first place and is a splendid manager.”

O'Neill is not so bad himself on the evidence of Sunderland's performances since he replaced Steve Bruce, but the two cup ties with Middlesbrough have been as tough as any of the games the Black Cats have played in the last two months.

Last night's replay was as tight as the original match at the Stadium of Light, but O'Neill felt his side edged things and deserved to set up a fifth-round tie with Arsenal a week on Saturday.

“It was really hard work,” he said. “But I thought we deserved to go through. We conceded a goal when we were probably at our most comfortable and then the game can go either way in the last half-an-hour of normal time.

“It was an exciting enough game without maybe a lot of chances being created. I'm obviously very pleased to still be in the competition and I thought we deserved to be so.”

Middlesbrough more than played their part in an enthralling replay, with Jutkiewicz's first goal since his January move from Coventry deservedly restoring parity at the start of the second half.

Phil Bardsley came close to grabbing a winner for Sunderland with a 72nd-minute shot that hit the base of the post, but Marvin Emnes came close to winning it for Middlesbrough in extra-time with an effort that was blocked by Michael Turner.

“The over-riding emotion is disappointment,” said Boro boss Tony Mowbray. “Somewhere along the line I'm sure the statistic will be used to say that we still haven't won since Boxing Day.

“When you go to extra-time, then you want to come out winning the football match. It's not really a consolation that we have done okay in the game. We didn't win it.”

Nevertheless, Boro's performance in the two games against Sunderland augurs well for their chances next season if they were to secure promotion to the Premier League.

“There's never been a doubt in my mind that if we were to find a way of getting out of this league, we could compete in the Premier League,” said Mowbray. “As Norwich and Swansea are showing this year, the Championship teams that have gone in are doing okay.”

The biggest positive from a Boro perspective was probably the performance of 19-year-old striker Curtis Main, who looked perfectly at home as he made his first start for the club less than a year after his release from Darlington.

“If he wasn't ready to play, he wouldn't have been on the pitch,” said Mowbray. “He's out there because he's done well enough in the development squad. He deserved an opportunity.

“I think he is an asset-rich player. But he's also a boy that left Darlington a year ago on a free transfer. He has a lot of qualities though and hopefully we can mould those assets. I'm delighted he's held his own against a Premier League defence.”