Football: O'Neill tries the serene approach

There were definite signs of new year resolution about Martin O'Neill's pitch-side performance on Saturday.

The Premiership's most visible manager - facing a Football Association misconduct charge over a confrontation with the referee Jeff Winter - kept such a low profile during Leicester's comfortable FA Cup win over Northampton that observers behind the dug-out were beginning to wonder whether he had taken the day off.

Normally, the excitable Ulsterman is on his feet throughout - bellowing encouragement, railing against perceived injustice and practically kicking every ball. The fourth official at Leicester matches commonly winds up hoarse from telling O'Neill to step back from the touchline.

The prospect of being confined to a mere seat in the stand - a possible penalty if the FA's disciplinary commission sides with Winter - fills O'Neill with dread, although he has other reasons for wishing to represent himself at the forthcoming hearing. He was a law student with ambitions to become a barrister before football offered an alternative career and used to attend major trials - the Black Panther and Yorkshire Ripper among them - as a spectator.

O'Neill's outspokenness became a national issue during last season's FA Cup after referee Mike Reed awarded the penalty that put Leicester out against Chelsea. In contrast, Saturday's man in charge, Alan Wilkie, saw fit to award not even a freekick against Leicester during the whole 90 minutes. "The referee was excellent," O'Neill said, tongue almost protruding through his cheek, "and I've told him so."

He did not reveal whether a vow of self-restraint was among his new year pledges but knows what it would take to keep him in check. "There is a simple way to stop me jumping up and down and that is to win 4-0 every week," he said.