Michael O'Neill turning down Scotland isn't a shock: Gordon Strachan

The Scottish Football Association had targeted the former Brechin City and Shamrock Rovers manager after the departure of Strachan following failure to reach to 2018 World Cup.

MORE: Michael O'Neill rejects Scotland to stay with Northern Ireland - and here's whyO'Neill held talks with the SFA last week, but decided against the move to Hampden Park.

Asked on TalkSport if he was surprised by Edinburgh-based O'Neill's decision, former Coventry, Southampton, and Celtic boss Strachan said: "In a way, no.

"When I met Michael, first of all when I starting coaching him at Coventry, he always asked questions, was always willing to take information, but at the end of the day he was his own man.

"There was a lot to be thinking about, a lot to be done - he lives in Scotland and he could have been swayed - but he has had a look at it and for whatever reason, I don't know, he has decided to stay with a group of people that he has worked very well with for the last five years.

"Sometimes you get so long to think, there is so many things come into your thinking and you think well, it seems like a good idea at a time, but the longer you have to think of it you think maybe it is not such a good idea."