FAI prioritise Euro 2016 qualifiers as search begins

John Delaney said yesterday that the FAI’s aim is to have a long-term replacement for Giovanni Trapattoni in place for the start of the European Championship campaign, However, the organisation declined to say what their plan for the concluding games of the current World Cup qualifying campaign is despite Ireland’s seeding for the Euro 2016 still hanging in the balance.

The association hasn’t ruled out the new man being in place by then but with it seems unlikely unless a swift decision was made and a candidate, like Martin O’Neill, who is available immediately because he is currently unemployed, was approached.

Previously, the association has turned to internal candidates to act as caretakers. Following the departure yesterday morning of Trapattoni, his assistant Marco Tardelli and fitness coach Fausto Rossi, the only surviving member of the management team is goalkeeping coach Alan Kelly and it is possible that he could put in charge – as his father, Alan senior was for one game against Switzerland 33 years ago – although it seems unlikely.

Although the process for the Euro 2016 draw, which is scheduled to take place in Nice on February 23rd, like the qualification system, has yet to be confirmed, the seedings are set to be based on Uefa’s own national team ranking list.

With 54 teams competing due to the addition of Gibraltar, it seems entirely possible that a system involving nine groups of six would be adopted with two teams from each progressing automatically along with a best third-placed team up and the four play-off winners.

Ireland, on the strength of second-placed finishes in their last two campaigns as well as their appearance in Poland, are presently 19th on the list but with the likes of Slovakia, Norway and Turkey very close behind. With France qualifying automatically as hosts, the difference between Ireland's current position and dropping one place to 20th would be the difference between being seeded to qualify for the expanded finals directly and being seeded to make the play-offs.

Unlikely to rush
The association is unlikely to rush into an appointment on the basis of the ranking points but it is hard to imagine that they gave no thought to who would take charge in the event that Trapattoni has not been replaced.

Whatever else they have to contend with over the coming weeks and, if their track record is anything to go by, months, finance should not, in any case, be a major stumbling block for the FAI as they search for a successor to Giovanni Trapattoni with John Delaney revealing yesterday that the position will continue to be part funded for at least the duration of the coming European Championship campaign.

“Denis O’Brien has confirmed that he will continue to stick with this project for the next two years at least,” said the association’s chief executive. “We have the firepower to go to the market to try and get ourselves a manager.”

Recruitment process
Quite how they go about doing that has yet to be determined with the organisation's board due to meet, over the coming days, in order to decide on a recruitment process and set out a time frame for completing it.

Aside from O’Neill, Delaney has acknowledged that the likes of Mick McCarthy, Brian McDermott, Chris Hughton and even Roy Keane could come into the reckoning and he spoke positively about the style of football the team played previously under McCarthy.

In the meantime, the players have, for the most part, been expressing their disappointment at the news of the Italian’s departure with team captain Robbie Keane issuing a statement last night in which he said that he wanted: “To acknowledge the tremendous job that Giovanni Trapattoni did for the past five years for the Republic of Ireland national team. In my view he has been a credit to the country and has carried himself with dignity as befitting a man who has given so much to world football.

“It is always sad to see people go but we are all aware it is a part of professional sport. I personally want to thank him for what he has done and wish him well.”

Various other members of the team tweeted about the news with some being more effusive in their tributes than others. Despite his occasional problems, Shane Long’s message: “Legend of the game and took Irish football to the next level, thanks for everything Mr Trapattoni,” amongst the warmer ones.

Rather more coolly, meanwhile, Stephen Reid said: “Trappatonis gone then . . . Can’t argue with the job he done qualifying for the Euros and play-offs in his reign . . . But has come out with some stupid comments at times and communication could have been a lot better.”

The debate about the significance of that issue continued even yesterday with Delaney, who said no player had complained to the association about the situation, playing it down.

He also sought to suggest that the payoff agreed with Trapattoni and his assistants had involved “no substantial cost to the association”. Delaney said that it was untrue that the manager’s contract had been due to run until June 1st of next year although it was not clear whether he was simply playing with words as even Trapattoni admitted he wasn’t sure whether it was May 31st or the next day and O’Brien may have stumped up to meet the payoff bill too.