![\"O'Neill](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/GettyImages-542987834-scaled.jpg\")
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\n O\u2019Neill managed Northern Ireland to the last-16 stage of Euro 2016 (Alex Grimm \u2013 UEFA\/UEFA via Getty Images)<\/p>\n
IFA chief executive Patrick Nelson called O\u2019Neill\u2019s Blackburn appointment a \u201cprogressive move\u201d and insisted \u201ceverything remains on track\u201d for the nation\u2019s World Cup play-off preparations. Many of their supporters, however, are sceptical.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of fans disagreed with how the IFA presented this,\u201d Northern Ireland fans spokesperson Gary McAllister tells The Athletic. \u201cWe are not qualified to make judgments on how this will have an impact, but it certainly is unusual.\u201d<\/p>\n
McAllister says the speed of the appointment \u201ctook most fans by surprise\u201d, and there had been no expectation that O\u2019Neill would receive a job offer at club level: \u201cThe reaction has been mixed. There is quite a bit of negativity, but mainly, nobody is sure how it will play out, and a lot of it is purely speculative.\u201d<\/p>\n
From Northern Ireland\u2019s perspective, O\u2019Neill feels he has done everything necessary to prepare for next month\u2019s play-off. He has already visited Bergamo, the city in northern Italy that will stage the tie.<\/p>\n
In Blackburn\u2019s Championship match tonight (Friday) against Lancashire neighbours Preston North End, they will face three Northern Ireland internationals: left-back Jamal Lewis and midfielders Jordan Thompson and Ali McCann. Northern Ireland are well represented in England\u2019s second tier; Oxford United, for example, who Blackburn visit on March 11, have four players from the country in their squad.<\/p>\n
The response among Northern Ireland fans to O\u2019Neill\u2019s decision to try to juggle the two jobs has been far from unanimous.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe has got us into another play-off and this won\u2019t change any of our spirits going to Italy,\u201d says Daniel Anderson, who has travelled to Northern Ireland away matches for over a decade. \u201cMichael has been, by a distance, our best manager in my lifetime.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe deserves to manage his way, on his terms. If he thinks it will benefit us, who are we to disagree?\u201d<\/p>\n
What has the Blackburn reaction been?<\/p>\n
There is also a degree of scepticism among Blackburn\u2019s weary fanbase.<\/p>\n
However, a victory for O\u2019Neill in that opening match at QPR helped lift spirits. They are 20th in the table, a point and place above West Bromwich Albion, who sit in the highest of the three relegation spots.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are concerned that his eyes are not going to be completely on Blackburn Rovers,\u201d Neil Liver, from the club\u2019s Supporters\u2019 Coalition, tells The Athletic. \u201cWe\u2019re fighting for our lives, in a relegation battle, and in an ideal world, you\u2019d want the manager on the training ground every day working with his players.<\/p>\n
\u201cHowever, I think we\u2019re such a circus of a club at the moment that one win suddenly changes the picture around it and people are more accepting of the circumstances.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"O'Neill](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/GettyImages-2261128910-scaled.jpg\")
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\n O\u2019Neill oversaw Blackburn\u2019s win at QPR last weekend (Jonathan Brady\/PA Images via Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Harrison Richmond, from fans\u2019 media channel Rovers Xtra, agrees.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe has experience in the Championship with Stoke City, when he kept them up a few seasons ago, but I still feel like we should have got a manager that is fully committed to the team,\u201d he says. \u201cThat said, Mark Hughes managed Wales and Blackburn at the same time and got us results. After O\u2019Neill\u2019s first game in charge against QPR, there\u2019s been a positive feeling around.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf he keeps us up, fans would likely want him to step away from the Northern Ireland role (should they miss out on the World Cup) and commit to us full-time on a contract.\u201d<\/p>\n
Richmond\u2019s biggest worry is when O\u2019Neill will head off to oversee at least that March 26 game against Italy, as that\u2019s also a crunch time in Blackburn\u2019s calendar. If Northern Ireland win in Bergamo, they will then face either Wales or Bosnia & Herzegovina in a play-off final on Tuesday, March 31.<\/p>\n
Around those two dates, Blackburn meet second-placed Middlesbrough at home on Saturday, March 21, before playing twice over Easter weekend \u2014 Birmingham City away on Friday, April 3 and West Brom at home on Monday, April 6 in a potentially crucial game at the bottom of the Championship.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe won\u2019t have much input in that time and won\u2019t get to train and implement his style of football,\u201d Richmond adds. \u201cOur relegation rivals will have that time to regroup and try to sort things out. He will return for the final run of games before the season ends without having spent much time training with the squad.\u201d<\/p>\n
Richmond is also concerned that coach Davis will be departing for Northern Ireland\u2019s trip to Italy as well, leaving Damien Johnson to step up, although he welcomed the return of former Blackburn player Phil Jones to the club as part of O\u2019Neill\u2019s coaching setup.<\/p>\n
Blackburn are confident their players will be fully prepared for every fixture between now and the end of the season. They feel O\u2019Neill\u2019s experience from the international stage of working with players in a short space of time to get results suits their current predicament. They also noted that when O\u2019Neill leaves for the Italy game, several of their players will be away on international duty, too, and the rest of the squad will likely have a few days off.<\/p>\n
The disillusioned Blackburn fans have far bigger concerns than O\u2019Neill\u2019s short-term hire, though.<\/p>\n
Ewood Park attendances have dipped, with some supporters staying away as a show of protest at how the club are being run. Despite the sale of key players in recent years, including now England midfielder Adam Wharton, there has been minimal reinvestment into the training ground, stadium or playing squad. Though Blackburn did spend \u00a33million ($4m) in January on Danish striker Mathias Jorgensen, who scored twice in that QPR win, and it is also true they have been unlucky with injuries this season and have had two matches abandoned due to bad weather when they were leading (they took four points from those rearranged fixtures).<\/p>\n