Biography: Martin O'Neill began his career in Northern Ireland, winning the Irish Cup with Distillery. This is a tidy little book, it charts the progress of a man who I am sure will be fondly remembered as a football genius by my generation. What the reader gets is very high-level account of his career, brushing over the nitty gritty with whole seasons get summed up in a paragraph and years in a matter of pages. He talks about his years with Celtic, where the team won seven trophies and reached the UEFA Cup Final in 2003, and at Aston Villa, where he achieved three consecutive top six Premier League finishes. Martin O’Neill speaks honestly about the decision to retire as a player, and making the transition to manager.

So often you see public figures climb to the top of the mountain stepping on people as they go but O’Neils generous and warm personality makes for a winning account of triumph over adversity when facing very difficult odds. I was hoping he would take the Sunderland job when he was last in the frame for it because I think he could still make a super manager.With all that considered, I was looking forward to an in-depth account of his career in sport, however I felt a bit let down by this. And his stint in charge of Aston Villa saw them achieve three consecutive top six Premier League finishes and reach the 2010 League Cup final. As he takes you through this momentous journey, it’s not difficult to be impressed with everything that he has achieved and it seems that he has done it with minimal collateral damage. O’Neil takes us on a journey that includes his childhood, his professional football career and then his professional management history.

Martin O’Neill has delivered a sublime and superb book that is honest, insightful, funny and detailed. He talks about his pride in captaining his country and the elation he felt when Northern Ireland qualified for the 1982 World Cup. O’Neill earlier had brief interaction with the famous Villa custodian Doug Ellis, who castigated the Irishman for using Martin Laursen as a late substitute during a draw at Arsenal.On Days Like These, which charts five decades in football, signs off with a withering take-down of Keith Andrews, Stephen Kenny’s assistant with Ireland. On Days Like These is an insightful and captivating autobiography, and a must-read for all fans of the beautiful game. But Martin O'Neill makes for a delightful tour guide through his own time on and off the pitch, with the Nottingham Forest glory days raked over for the finer details, as is his experience in more recent times with the Republic of Ireland. The chapters on his time as a player for Northern Ireland and boss of the Republic of Ireland are page turners.

He demonstrated a unique ability to harness all the best attributes of his mentor with a more understanding approach to players that took him from lower league management right to the top end of the game. Photograph: Marc Aspland/News Licensing Martin O'Neill’s last job in football was at Nottingham Forest in 2019 and he has not given up hope of managing again.

Martin O'Neil is a serial winner who as a player blossomed and suffered under Brian Clough's abrasive style of management.

For all that, I'd still recommend 'On Days Like These', as you get a clear insight into one of the sharpest minds in football. O’Neill’s autobiography ‘On Days Like These’ is an entertaining read filled with fascinating stories, biting humour and searing honesty on the author’s wonderful football life. It covered his early years as a Roman Catholic growing up in Northern Ireland and following his dream of becoming a professional footballer in England.

He reveals what it was like to play under Clough during the glory years, and their incredible journey from the second division to winning the First Division championship, two League Cups and back-to-back European Cups. A year later the hammering at the hands of a Christian Eriksen-inspired Denmark ended another World Cup dream. O’Neill had been a high achiever in Wycombe and Leicester before taking on iconic status for Glasgow’s green half. So you can imagine what it may be like when, for the most part, at international level you are facing opposition who are superior to you. It gets too similarly paced toward the managerial side of life and a brief, short sentence structure soon follows in what becomes a highlights reel.