O'Neill backs Scott to be successful manager
9:10am Wednesday 26th September 2012 in Latest Sport By Andy Carswell
MARTIN O'Neill believes Keith Scott has the attributes needed to succeed as a manager.
Scott, who played under the Ulsterman when he was in charge of Wycombe Wanderers, said this week he is interested in applying for the post O'Neill used to hold.
Blues are currently without a manager following the sacking of Gary Waddock on Saturday and former Windsor boss Scott said he wants to take over.
Asked if he thought Scott would make a good manager, O'Neill said: "Yes I do. He's got that enthusiasm and drive. I do think that he can do well. He has that determination, he wants to do it.
"He knows the game and he's really, really keen. I think that enthusiasm, above everything else, is so vital. You don't want to be going into this game in a half hearted fashion.
"You look at Sir Alex Ferguson, who's the example to us all. He's 70 years of age now and he's got that same enthusiasm now as he did when he started out in management.
"If you don't have it, the players will see through you very quickly."
O'Neill said he never really thought about which of his players would go on to become successful managers.
He said: "It's not something I ever really thought about because they were all young, so management wasn't something they would have been considering.
"When Brian Clough was managing us at Nottingham Forest there were one or two players who I thought would have made really good managers and turned out not to do so, and there were other people I felt would never fancy management and they did and did fine."
For now Gareth Ainsworth is in temporary charge of Wanderers but O'Neill said he didn't know enough about his management credentials to form a view on how he would get on.
He said however: "All I will say to him if he's been handed the job - it's a great old job and I'm sure he will want to try and make the most of it."
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