Herculean task faces Worthington

New manager Nigel Worthington accepted that qualifying for UEFA EURO 2008™ would be a greater achievement than Northern Ireland reaching the 1982 and 1986 FIFA World Cup finals.

Major challenge
On Friday, Worthington - who won 66 caps for Northern Ireland and was formerly in charge of Leicester City FC - was confirmed as the successor to Lawrie Sanchez, who stepped down last month to take charge of Fulham FC on a permanent basis. Comparing the current squad to the one that reached two World Cup finals under Billy Bingham, Worthington said: "I don't mean this disrespectfully but in those days we had top division players and at the moment we have got a handful of Premiership players and a lot of [English second division] players. But they have got big hearts and with that never-say-die attitude anything is possible. There seems to be a desire back in the green shirt and to me that was a key reason for taking the job."

Club ambitions
Worthington's appointment for the remaining six qualifiers in Group F has been largely welcomed by Northern Ireland fans but they may be concerned that at his desire to return to a club post. "I would love to do club management and the [Irish Football Association] know that," he said. "But I am fully committed to the Northern Ireland national team for the next six games no matter what happens. If all goes well then we can look at it further and if it doesn't we can go our separate ways. But I am young enough and I have got the energy and the drive to want to do club management."

Ongoing task
Worthington, who will be assisted by Southampton FC coach Glynn Snodin and Fred Barber, goalkeeping coach at Bolton Wanderers FC, said that he would only "tinker" with the playing approach put in place by his predecessor Sanchez, which helped take Northern Ireland to the top of Group F with home wins against Spain and Sweden. "I will try and carry on the good qualities Lawrie has put in place," said Worthington. "I am high on discipline and I want the players to play with passion. I am very proud to be taking this role because when your country comes calling in such circumstances you look forward to the task. There was not much selling to do."