James McClean has reflected on how Martin O’Neill ‘wasn’t big on tactics’ in his autobiography.

McClean, who earned over 100 caps for the Republic of Ireland national team, was a key member of the squad which enjoyed a successful 2016 European Championships under the watch of the current Celtic boss.

Now over a decade on, his comments are timely. Debate surrounds O’Neill’s role at Celtic, with some believing him to be a figurehead for the more tactically influential Shaun Maloney.

Of course, McClean has no knowledge of day-to-day setups at Lennoxtown, but his account of O’Neill’s Ireland tenure is clear: tactical instructions weren’t his thing.

James McClean on Martin O’Neill: ‘He wasn’t big on tactics’

McClean said in an excerpt from his autobiography, The Walls: “The problem was the new profile of the squad. The Euro 2016 team had an old-school core. It was a team of men.

“Martin wasn’t big on tactics. He would say the game hadn’t changed as much as people thought. It was still 11 versus 11, and he trusted good footballers to sort problems out on the pitch.

“But we had an influx of mainly Championship players into the group. Younger lads who had come through in an environment where they were heavily coached and had everything mapped out for them. Tactics, tactics, tactics.

“They couldn’t understand Martin’s way of doing things. It was like: ‘What’s this? Why aren’t we doing more?’ They also weren’t as capable of handling criticism either.”

Given that this was ten years ago, it’s fair to say that football has only continued moving in a certain direction in the time since. Of course, last season’s league and cup double proved that O’Neill can still provide that same success.

However, with the team’s tactical issues this season being acknowledged by senior players, he and his coaching staff will need to find tactical solutions, whichever brain they come from.