martin o'neill

[tali122]

is it possible for martin o'neill to become england manager- as a catholic he isnt going to sing the national anthem or recognise the union jack is he? although jack charlton managed the republic it was easier for him as there werent any allegances and wouldnt this make o'neill very unpopular amongst catholics?

[gary baldy]

What!!!!!!!!!!!!!!????????
Is this a joke?

[curiosity]

Why do you think catholics don't sing the national anthem?

[paddy_36]

I don't see how it makes the slightest bit of difference what his religion is.

[Toureman]

You might aswell bring religion into football, it's caused enough trouble everywhere else!

[noxlumos]

Well depends how strongly he cleaves to his roots really.Of course it's possible, probable even, but as to the strength of the man's politics I really don't know. I can imagine there would be problems for him from certain quarters and as a Catholic form the North I don't recognise the current state of affairs either but I'd not realistically hold it against him if he took the job and I think possibly although there might be a bit of snarling about him, most Catholics in the North would be proud our boy done good.

[hopalong]

Why should this be a problem? Does that mean a England Catholic footballer wouldn't be choosen to play for England becasue he's a Catholic?

[ronnie963]

well non of the football plays know the words to the national anthem anyway so he can just stand next to them

[Lonnie]

All future England managers should be made to swear allegience, on pain of death. Yeah.

[KebabMeister]

They discussed this possible problem on Sky Sports on Sunday morning. They decided that he'd be professional about the England job since he's accepted an OBE/MBE or whatever so I think that tells us what sort of good guy he is.

[lodekka]

Forgive my ignorance, but what gets played before Northern Ireland matches if it isn't GSTQ?

[noxlumos]

God save the Queen does get played before football matches in the North, but it's a cause of great division and can sometimes be hijacked somewhat by Protestant Unionists to make a point discouraging Catholics Republicans from attending. Sectarianism within sport in the North is still fairly common although not as rife as it was. Genrally now if you attend a match you can carry team colours and no other flags etc which has calmed it all down a bit, but it's still present and recently there was a move to try and get the UK Anthem silenced before games which resulted in the perdictable political row.It's still in place at the moment though.

[paddy_36]

Martin O'Neill must be more aware than anyone of the problems of sectarianism in football. He was manager at Celtic for long enough, and the atmosphere at Old Firm games is tense, to say the least.

[Lynn_M]

<PRE>He wouldn't have to sing the national anthem. It would be enough if he simply stood to attention whilst it was being played; as it was done by the players untill fairly recently.</PRE>

[priceyclause]

I dont really see why it would have any effect. Im a catholic: went to catholic schools, go to church every week and to be honest, ive never ever thought of the national anthem or the union jack as offensive. If anything im proud to be linked with them...

So in answer to your question: it shouldnt make any difference