Martin O'Neill's return to management this week adds some light to a tragic few days in football after the passing of Gary Speed. The Northern Irishman, aged 59, is perhaps the best coach in British football to have been out of work and his return to the big stage with Sunderland after a year-long hiatus will be welcomed by all.
A man with a magic touch, we've arguably been denied true and elongated exposure to his capabilities with a top-class English side and with his best days still hopefully ahead of him, these truly are exciting times for the old-school work-from-the-bottom-up success story.
Having taken Wycombe Wanderers through a meteoric rise from the conference up into division three and then league two in just two consecutive seasons in the early Nineties, O'Neill narrowly missed out on a third successive promotion before heading for Norwich.
His spell there ended early after a disagreement over transfers but the Canaries' loss was Leicester City's gain. He won two League Cup finals in 1997 and 2000 and floated the club in the top half of the Premier League after having gained promotion in 1996. That Leicester side gave birth to the likes of Neil Lennon, Emile Heskey and Steve Claridge.
But it was at Celtic where we first had a true glimpse of O'Neill's ability at the top. Here he won three league titles, three Scottish Cups, one League Cup and a Uefa Cup runners-up medal. Under O'Neill, Celtic won a record seven consecutive Old Firm derbies and set a British record for consecutive wins with 25. But the dream was unfortunately cut short as he left to care for his cancer-stricken wife.
Lastly at Villa, he reached sixth position in the Premier League for three consecutive seasons and reached — but lost — the 2010 League Cup, leaving after a dispute over transfer funds.
The great thing for Sunderland is O'Neill has a class and proven track record for achieving with limited resources, in both a player and financial sense. He truly is an ideal appointment for their stature but the breaking point comes when the club doesn't meet him half way. How long will it take to reach that threshold?
In talk of who can succeed Fabio Capello at England or Alex Ferguson at Manchester United, O'Neill is a name that should be mentioned far more often than it is. The depth and range in his CV is unparalleled and deserves much more respect. You only hope that someone will be looking at Sunderland's scores with an ulterior motive, because O'Neill's is a name that hasn't been given the break it so thoroughly deserves.