Martin O'Neill has admitted that he needs to "have a real think" about whether to stay on as Republic of Ireland manager for another campaign.
The 65-year-old saw his side's hopes of reaching the 2018 World Cup come to an end in the most disappointing of circumstances on Tuesday night, going down 5-1 to Denmark in the second leg of their playoff qualifier following a goalless opening 90 minutes.
O'Neill verbally agreed a contract extension in October that would see him through until the end of the Euro 2020 campaign, but the experienced boss is now considering reneging on that deal following this crushing setback.
"Do you know what, I'll have to have a real think about it," Sky Sports News quotes him as saying. "The disappointment obviously is very, very strong tonight because we haven't been able to do it, but I have to commend the players on getting this far.
"I'm really disappointed, obviously, we were well beaten in the end. We got off to a really good start and had a chance maybe to make it 2-0 and we probably needed that. But the two goals we conceded in a couple of minutes knocked us for six."
Assistant manager Roy Keane is in a similar position, having also verbally agreed a contract extension with the Football Association of Ireland last month.
Daniel Lewis
