O’Neill made 371 appearances and won the European Cup twice with Forest as a player
Stuart Broad hopes Martin O’Neill will be given time at Nottingham Forest to make his mark on the club.
England bowler Broad is a Forest season-ticket holder and has spoken to talkSPORT following the announcement of club legend O’Neill as their latest manager.
Aitor Karanka left the club on Friday and they have moved swiftly to find his replacement.
Forest are four points outside the play-off places in the Championship.
Broad will not be able to see his side under their new boss for a number of weeks, though, as he is with England preparing to take on the West Indies in a three Test series in the Caribbean.
“You just hope Martin O’Neill gets a good run at it,” Broad told talkSPORT. “A couple of years to build a side, a squad and a style of play he wants to play and that the fans can enjoy and hopefully win promotion.
“Fans at the City ground always expect quite high things and that is natural from the history of our club.
“Promotion, from a fan’s point of view, is not an absolute must this season, it is maybe a bit more expected from the hierarchy.
“O’Neill has a great track record of getting sides almost better than their potential. He’s obviously got a huge knowledge of the footballing world and of our club.
“I think the fans seem pretty happy with his appointment.”
The 66-year-old played 371 games for Forest and helped them win back-to-back European Cups.
Broad believes that regardless of what happens during his spell as manager, he will always be a club legend.
He added: “No I don’t think it will (affect his reputation as a club legend). Stuart Pearce is still a legend at Nottingham Forest. I think Martin O’Neill will see it as a great chance and opportunity.
“He’s been at Sunderland and Ireland and will look at the potential that Forest have got with some of the best players in the Championship, in my opinion.”
Listeners can catch all the action from the first Test in Barbados on talkSPORT 2 on January 23 from 2pm GMT.