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British managers abroad: will Gary O’Neil sink or swim at Strasbourg?

RACING TO THE TOP?

Some British managers who have chanced their arm on the continent have won trophies and the adoration of supporters. Others have at least provided the Daily with plenty of content. For every Bobby Robson, there’s a Tony Adams, or to meet somewhere in the middle, Steve McClaren – who can deliver you a league title while still making an arsche of himself in TV interviews. What fate awaits Gary O’Neil, quietly ushered into the vacant hot seat at Ligue 1 Strasbourg after Todd Boehly called up Liam Rosenior for the real job? Like Rosenior, he starts his tenure with a tricky away day in the cup; hours before Chelsea play Charlton, O’Neil will take the reins for a Coupe de France tie at fourth-tier Avranches.

The Normandy outfit play their home games close to Mont Saint-Michel, a mazy tourist hotspot that has often befuddled English visitors. It’s a daunting start for a manager whose last competitive game was more than a year ago. Like Rosenior, O’Neil is a relatively young English coach with ambition, experience and a harsh sacking on his CV. Still, he feels like an odd fit in the BlueCo machine – a tracksuit manager unlikely to discuss performance ceilings and marginal gains. “I don’t like the word ‘philosophy’,” O’Neil told Big Website back in June. “In the jobs I’ve gone into, we’ve had to be incredibly adaptable.”

Having been linked with pretty much every vacancy in the Championship this season, he also pulled out of a return to Wolves in November, a decision nobody could hold against him. Leaving England for the first time since a brief loan spell at Cardiff in 2004, O’Neil is finally joining a club on a relatively stable footing, seventh in Ligue 1 and Tin Pot’s top seed. In his first interview, he tried his best to reach out to the fans. “Every decision I make won’t be about me, it will always be about Strasbourg,” he claimed – words most supporters might struggle to believe, given this week’s other events. Fans already unhappy with their 120-year-old club being absorbed into the BlueCo pipeline were left incensed by Rosenior’s departure – “another humiliating step in Racing’s subservience to Chelsea,” according to the supporters’ federation.

There is a huge risk-reward element to O’Neil’s unexpected move; on one hand, immediate expectations are high and he cannot count on fans’ support. On the other, he may be a couple of half-decent seasons away from becoming the next Chelsea manager. He would be wise to heed the tale of Emmanuel Emegha, the RSC captain bound for Stamford Bridge next summer, whose comments about the club earned him a suspension and drove a wedge between Rosenior and the team’s hardcore followers. Emegha, who may now face an awkward reunion with his former manager in six months’ time, also told reporters he had thought Strasbourg was in Germany. By at least knowing which country he has moved to, O’Neil is off to a better start than some.

LIVE ON BIG WEBSITE

Join Niall McVeigh from 7pm GMT for hot Afcon quarter-final MBM coverage of Cameroon 0-0 Morocco (aet; 0-1 on pens), while John Brewin will be on deck at 7.30pm for Wrexham 0-0 Nottingham Forest (aet; 1-0 on pens).

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“People have worked tirelessly, given everything to the club since the reformation to build it up to where it is now. The people make it really, really special. It’s a football club that puts its arms around the players and the community” – Macclesfield forward Danny Elliot tells Sam Dalling what makes his club special in this behind-the-scenes look at preparations for the lowest-ranked FA Cup side’s plum home tie with holders, Crystal Palace.

RECOMMENDED PLAYING

Big Website has kicked off a new chapter in puzzles with the launch of its first daily football game, On the ball. It’s now live in the app for IOS and Android … so what are you waiting for?

FOOTBALL DAILY LETTERS

Back on a cold December day in 2001, I sat at Hillsborough and watched in despair as Sheffield Wednesday got absolutely shellacked by Norwich City, losing 5-0 at home. A couple of days after the game I sat down and wrote a letter (ask your parents, kids!) to our manager, Terry Yorath. I wasn’t rude, just desperate: I said I thought he ought to know that I’d been watching Wednesday for 17 years and that was the worst I’d ever seen us play. And you know what: he wrote me an actual letter back. He said he was sorry, that the club valued my support, and that he was trying hard to change things. He didn’t really change things (though we escaped relegation to League One by a point), but he did care enough to write to me, and I’ve never forgotten that. A gentleman” – Adam Gutteridge.

Re: yesterday’s Football Daily. OK, my Kevin Keegan story. I was working as a roving hotel reviewer with a license to bill at Chewton Glen, that pompous, overrated, ridiculously expensive gaff in Hampshire. On completing my monkfish tail with – can’t remember what, precisely, and my notes are for some reason illegible, but I’m pretty sure there was pig involved and it was more than somewhat splendid – I spotted our man on another table. So I sent him a note via waiter, a thing I hadn’t done before or since. ‘Fulham. Great getting there, less fun being there. Thanks for all the fun.’ Because it was. Receiving the note, he asked the waiter and looked over. ‘So often the way.’ Such wise words. That’s it. Get well Kev” – Mark Dawson.

Re: yesterday’s Memory Lane (full email edition). Back in 2003, Pompey were winning 1-0 (Sheringham), when Robert Pires dived. Thierry Henry scored the resulting penalty. Dejan Stefanovic later had his yellow card rescinded – replays showed no contact but it finished 1-1. This was Arsenal’s ‘Invincibles’ season. They owe us and Sunday’s FA Cup tie is as good a time as any, to make good. We definitely need cheering up” – Ben North.

Your photo of that Arsenal v Middlesbrough match (yesterday’s Memory Lane, full email edition) reminded me of one of the truly great match reports published in the Irish Times on 12 September 2005. It was a case of a spell-checker gone rogue that led to descriptions of players ‘Cyst Fibreglass’, ‘Alexander Help’, ‘Jose Eyes’, and ‘Solo Tour’ doing their best to overcome Mark Scrawnier in goal. I think all at Football Daily can appreciate the joys of not having an editor around!” – Patrick Fahy.

If you have any, please send letters to the.boss@theguardian.com. Today’s winner of our prizeless letter o’ the day is … Patrick Fahy. Terms and conditions for our competitions, when we have them, are here.

ROAD TO WEMBLEY

We’re following Port Vale in the FA Cup and they’ve had a tumultuous time of it since we reported on their 1-0 win over Bristol Rovers in the second round. The Valiants lost three and drew one in League One, sinking further into the sloppy stuff at the bottom, much to the dismay of super-fan and club president Robbie Wiliams. A 5-0 shoeing at Huddersfield was the final straw and Darren Moore was told to clear his desk, with flamin’ Jon Brady in as his replacement. The former Hayes stalwart, and proper Australian, made quite the impact as Vale triggered giddy new-year celebrations at Vale Park by hammering Blackpool 5-1 on 1 January. They face League Two Fleetwood in Friday night’s cup tie, which will be cold, wet and (potentially) wild. Vale! Vale! Vale!

NEWS, BITS AND BOBS

Fifa has created a “clear disparity” between disabled fans and those without disabilities through its ticketing strategy for the Geopolitics World Cup, a charity has claimed. “It appears many disabled fans are set to face higher, unavoidable costs to attending than non-disabled supporters,” says Level Playing Field. “This ongoing uncertainty over accessible ticketing is wholly unacceptable.”

Antoine Semenyo has collected a shiny new tracksuit after completing his £62.5m move from Bournemouth to Manchester City. The 26-year-old winger will be in the squad for Saturday’s FA Cup third-round tie against Exeter City.

What’s worse than a Tottenham manager drinking out of an Arsenal cup? How about a West Ham boss embracing his former players after they’ve just driven a nail in the club’s relegation coffin. Nuno Espírito Santo’s friendly embraces with former Nottingham Forest colleagues after the 2-1 home defeat have not gone down at all well with the Hammers’ hierarchy.

Gabriel Martinelli will face no retrospective punishment for shoving the knacked Conor Bradley off the pitch near the end of Arsenal’s 0-0 draw with Liverpool and has since apologised to the full-back, who left the game on a stretcher. “I really didn’t understand he was seriously injured in the heat of the moment,” sniffed Martinelli on some social media disgrace or other. “I want to say I’m deeply sorry … sending Conor all my best again for a quick recovery.”

David Moyes is fuming after an FA panel upheld Michael Keane’s red card for pulling the hair of Wolves’s Tolu Arokodare. “[I’m] hugely surprised,” he gasped. “I’m probably more angry with the panel … I know who the three are and I’m amazed they in some way didn’t overturn it.”

Arsenal head coach Renée Slegers has made a long-term commitment to the WSL club by inking her name all over a new contract until 2029.

And Manchester United supporters group The 1958 has called for a vote of no confidence in the club’s ownership model, calling Big Sir Jim Ratcliffe “an incompetent clown”. Toot toot!

STILL WANT MORE?

Great news for reserve goalkeepers – it’s FA Cup third-round weekend. Here are 10 things to look out for.

Liam Rosenior’s appointment at Chelsea must be a tipping point for black coaches, writes Samuel Okafor.

Smart, independent and in demand … but would Oliver Glasner be a good fit for Manchester United, asks Ed Aarons.

Andy Hunter on the one-year anniversary of David Moyes’s return to Everton.

Before the quarter-final ties, Osasu Obayiuwana says Victor Osimhen’s volatile temperament risks harming Nigeria’s Afcon quest.

John Brewin on Antoine Semenyo’s circuitous rise from schoolboy rejection to the elite surroundings of Manchester City.

And Jonathan Liew sat through Arsenal’s goalless draw with Liverpool and heard the very real sound of the Emirates Groan again.

MEMORY LANE

18 April 2004: Martin O’Neill is congratulated by Celtic fans after sealing his third Scottish league title with the club. He’s back at the interim wheel after Wilfried Nancy’s rapid sacking and will hope for another resurgence that could lead to a fourth Premiership crown on his list of honours.

OVERBLOWN SNOW?

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