Northern Ireland: Michael O'Neill 'standout name' to become manager, says Stephen Craigan
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Michael O'Neill was selected as NI manager in late 2011 and vacated the position in November 2019
Stephen Craigan says former Northern Ireland boss Michael O'Neill should be top of the Irish FA's list of candidates to replace Ian Baraclough.
Baraclough was sacked on Friday after a 28-month tenure which yielded just four wins from 22 competitive fixtures.
O'Neill left his job as NI manager in November 2019 to take over at Stoke City but was sacked in August.
"Michael is the standout name. He would be your first port of call," argued 54-times capped NI defender Craigan.
O'Neill led Northern Ireland to their first tournament finals in 30 years at Euro 2016 and his side narrowly failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup, losing to Switzerland in a two-legged play-off.
"Michael's got a history with the team and the supporters. He would be the first one I would speak to, then work your way down from there," added Craigan in an interview for BBC NI's Newsline programme.
"He would galvanise everyone, he would absolutely be my 'go to' man and then it would be up to Michael to see whether he would like to take the job or not.
"He may feel a sense of unfinished business, he might look at the qualifying group for Euro 2024 and think Northern Ireland are more than capable of being competitive in that group, certainly challenging for second place.
"If it's something that floats his boat and he wants to get back into management quickly then why not."
Northern Ireland will face Denmark, Finland, Slovenia, Kazakhstan and San Marino in qualifying for the Euro 2024 finals, with fixtures away to San Marino and home to Finland first up at the end of March.
Should O'Neill not prove to be first choice or not willing to take the job, Craigan believes the Irish FA should "spread the net wide" in their search for a successor to Baraclough.
"If the Irish FA Board have been brave enough to do what they have done you'd imagine they have a plan of action, with a new campaign beginning in March," Craigan continued.
"I'd like to see someone from Northern Ireland get the job, someone who has represented the country, someone with a spirit and passion the supporters can relate to.
"You have to explore everyone, find out what they can bring and pick the best candidate.
"There are good young managers about - Stephen Robinson at St Mirren, Grant McCann at Peterborough, Michael Duff at Barnsley, but those guys would probably come at a cost. You'd have to buy them out of their contracts.
"That could be a stumbling block, with probably having to pay Ian off too.
"Neil Lennon has been successful in his managerial career and is available, David Healy, Tommy Wright, they have been mentioned as potential candidates too. You shouldn't rule anyone out."
'Results weren't good enough'
Craigan believes Baraclough's dismissal following a decision taken at an executive board meeting in Belfast on Thursday evening was "not a major surprise".
"In football management it's all about winning games, all about progression, all about keeping the supporters who turn up in big numbers happy.
"Ian's job was partly to integrate young Under-21 players into the squad and he did that but there has to come a stage where results are important and unfortunately they weren't good enough.
"There may be some relief among the players, not because they didn't like him, but because a section of the fans had turned against him and that can produce a negativity and affect the atmosphere inside the stadium during games."