What awaits interim boss Lindsay in NI job?

It was announced on Wednesday that Kris Lindsay had been appointed as Tanya Oxtoby’s successor as Northern Ireland boss on an interim basis.

Lindsay, who was previously a first-team coach when Gail Redmond was interim NI manager in 2023, will take charge for the World Cup 2027 qualifiers in March away to Switzerland and at home to Turkey.

The former Dungannon Swifts manager certainly has a lot to sort out between now and their first qualifier on Tuesday, 3 March, which is in only 34 days’ time.

BBC Sport NI looks at some of the issues the incoming interim boss will look to address before qualifying begins.

Appoint a captain

Magill will miss the full World Cup qualifying campaign as she is expecting her first child [Getty Images]

Lindsay has an early big decision to make in naming an interim captain in the absence of regular skipper Simone Magill.

Magill, who succeeded Marissa Callaghan as her country’s captain in October 2024, will miss the entirety of this World Cup qualification campaign as she is expecting her first child.

There are a number of players who have worn the armband in recent years when Magill has been absent through injury.

The experienced Nadene Caldwell was captain in the two-legged Nations League play-off defeat by Iceland in October.

Laura Rafferty and Sarah McFadden, when they have been fit and included in the squad, were also named skipper on a few occasions under Oxtoby.

Jackie Burns and Rebecca McKenna, who are two of the first names on the team sheet alongside Lauren Wade, have all also captained the side on special occasions such as celebrating their respective 50th caps.

Although it is a young squad, there are evidently a number of experienced and consistent performers who could lead the team out against Switzerland.

Lindsay could also adopt the approach that men’s manager Michael O’Neill has gone for in sharing the armband around for this double-header.

Find a consistent striker

Kascie Weir celebrates scoring — Weir scored on her first Northern Ireland start against Romania in April 2025 [Inpho]

Northern Ireland not only lose Magill’s leadership abilities for this campaign, but also her knack for being in the right place at the right time to score goals.

The 31-year-old has won 95 caps and has scored 25 goals, putting her second in the NI women’s goalscoring charts behind Rachel Furness.

A direct replacement will be hard to come by but there are some young options for Lindsay to choose from.

For the home leg of the Nations League play-off against Iceland, Oxtoby went for Glentoran duo Kascie Weir and Emily Wilson up front.

Weir at 19 is an exciting prospect who netted the winner against Romania, while Wilson can also operate out wide but has been a constant goal threat for the Glens in recent seasons when playing through the middle.

Kerry Beattie, who has found form at Aberdeen, was on the bench for both legs in October and is playing regularly in Scotland.

Lindsay may also further strengthen the pool of forwards by choosing to recall Cliftonville’s Caitlin McGuinness, who has not been in an NI squad since 2023 but has found the net regularly for the Reds.

Choose backroom staff

Lindsay was a part of Gail Redmond’s backroom staff during her interim spell in charge of NI women in 2023 [Inpho]

He may only be in charge for two games but Lindsay will want to have the right staff around him to ensure his side can hit the ground running.

Oxtoby had a sizeable backroom staff and a number of assistant coaches during her tenure.

The first was Stuart McLaren, who left his role in April 2025 with former Wales international Loren Dykes then being involved in a number of camps alongside her role as first-team coach at Bristol City.

Oxtoby added Laura Heffernan, manager of DLR Waves in the League of Ireland Women’s Premier Division, to her backroom team for the play-off against Iceland and it will be interesting to see if her and Dykes’ services are retained by Lindsay.

For Lindsay’s brief spell as Dungannon Swifts boss, he had Chris Wright as his assistant but he is currently working as head of NIFL phase at Portadown.

Lindsay may wish to call upon the likes of Redmond, who is the current NI women’s under-17 and under-19 manager and another former interim manager in Andy Waterworth, who is director of elite player development at the IFA, for assistance for the two games given they have both been involved with the senior women’s side before.

Get domestic-based players up to speed

Nadene Caldwell — Caldwell was one of nine players who play in the Women’s Premiership that were included in the Northern Ireland squad in October [Getty Images]

A challenge that all Northern Ireland women’s managers face at this time of year is getting domestic-based players, who are presently only undertaking pre-season, ready for international games.

While those that play in England and Scotland are in the thick of their seasons and playing regularly, those that ply their trade in the Women’s Premiership have been without competitive action since October.

There were nine domestic-based players in the last squad who will have had to be doing their own training on top of pre-season with their clubs to be considered fit and sharp enough for for selection.

The 2026 Women’s Premiership will not start until April so Lindsay may have to include some more fitness and technical work to make sure players who play in the Women’s Premiership that are selected can make an impact.

Shore up the defence

Laura Rafferty — Lindsay will hope to have key defender Rafferty back fit for the March double-header [Getty Images]

Lindsay faces a baptism of fire with a first game away to the group’s top seeds Switzerland and then a home game against in-form Turkey four days later.

Against the Swiss, who featured in last summer’s Euros, in particular, NI will want to try and stay in the game as long as possible.

Starting to keep clean sheets again will be a key aim in these two games and the campaign as a whole.

NI only managed one clean sheet in their eight fixtures in 2025, in a 1-0 win over Romania at Windsor Park in April.

They conceded 15 goals across those games, including two or more in five fixtures.

NI had to field a makeshift back four in the two legs against Iceland because of a spate of injuries and suspension, but Lindsay will hope to have Rafferty and Ellie Mason back to full fitness and able to solidify their defence.

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