Ian Baraclough: New Northern Ireland boss gets thumbs up from Paddy McNair
- Published
Ian Baraclough was Northern Ireland's most successful U21 manager
Northern Ireland midfielder Paddy McNair says the appointment of Ian Baraclough as the new senior manager "just seems right".
The 49-year-old succeeds Michael O'Neill after impressing as U21 boss.
"It's great to see him get the job - he knows all the lads really well and they always speak really highly of him," said the Middlesbrough player.
"Everyone's happy. He has taken training sessions and he will be a good replacement for Michael."
"The pathway from U21s to the seniors is massive - he also knows the lads younger that the U21s and how important it is to bring new faces in to compete with the senior players," added McNair, who has won 34 caps.
"He's done a great job with the U21s and we're happy to have him on board."
Club experience
The Englishman had spells in charge of Scunthorpe United, Sligo Rovers and Motherwell before being named NI U21 manager in 2017.
Baraclough was appointed senior manager on an 18-month contract to take the squad into the forthcoming Euro 2021 play-offs, plus the Nations League and World Cup qualifying campaigns.
He will take charge for the first time in September with Nations Cup games against Romania and Norway before facing Bosnia-Herzegovina away on 8 October in the vital Euro 2021 play-off semi-final.
Paddy McNair made his senior Northern Ireland debut in 2015
McNair believes that having a familiar face in the dugout, and not the usual 'getting to know you' phase that a new manager usually brings, is a big advantage going into the play-off.
"He's knows all the lads pretty well so I don't think that side of things will be a concern," said the 25-year-old.
"Our last game was in November - that's quite a big gap so we'll have those two games in September for a couple of games and then the really big one in October.
"It was gutting not to be able to play it in March (due to the Covid-19 pandemic) and now we've got a good four to five months to prepare for it."