A MEETINGS of the FAI's managerial selection board is tomorrow expected to approve the names of the candidates for the first round of interviews in the process of appointing Jack Charlton's successor.

Senior officials were still tight lipped yesterday on the names under review but they emphatically rejected suggestions that some candidates had already been approached.

Reining in speculation was always going to be difficult at this particular phase of the exercise but officials are clearly concerned at the potential risk of some of the recent publicity. In particular, they are anxious not be seen to be breaching convention and approaching candidates without first obtaining the permission of club chairmen.

It was on this precise point that they experienced one of their more embarrassing moments in the run up to Charlton's appointment to years ago. In their anxiety to speak to Brian Clough they omitted to consult the chairman of Nottingham Forest and were then promptly refused permission to pursue their interest.

A similar lack of good grace could prove just as costly now, but they hope that as a result of tomorrow's meeting of the six man board, everything will be put in place for a number of visits to England next week. Despite reports to the contrary, officials insist that no such missions have already taken place.

Although Joe Delaney, a member of the selection board, was at Old Trafford last Saturday for Manchester United's scoreless draw with Aston Villa, his visit was described as purely personal, with no relevance for the association.

Almost certainly Delaney, along with FAI president Louis Kilcoyne, will be one of the big players in making the decision but an FAI spokesman said yesterday it was still too early to start naming names.

"Some of the publicity to date has been anything but helpful," he said. "To see names touted through the media at a time when neither they nor their club chairmen have been approached is undesirable and doesn't do anybody any good.

"There has to be a greater sense of responsibility shown and, hopefully, it will. The priority from our point of view is to transact the business as quickly and as efficiently as we can and thereby reduce the scope of the speculators."

The succession stakes apart, the big talking point in Irish football yesterday was the knock on effect of the Bosman case and its consequences for the game here.

Under the new European laws, out of contract players can move freely from one member State to another and the immediate effect of that will be to kill off the transfer market which has helped sustain many League of Ireland clubs down through the years.

Although income from the transfer of players to English clubs was erratic it still formed an important part of long term budgetry exercises. With fees for players leaving the National League now around £100,000, the timing of the new European legislation, could scarcely have been worse.

However, transfer fees will still be legal and invoked for players moving between clubs in the same member country. And since Northern Ireland is part of Britain, it means that Irish League clubs will be in a position to profit from cross channel transfers.

That, in turn, gives rise to the possibility of top Northern clubs moving for out of contract players on this side of the Border and for the price of a signing on fee, putting themselves in a position in which they can benefit from a loophole in the new legislation.

"I'm not so sure if people involved in the game here realise the full implications of the Bosman ruling, but obviously it is a very serious matter which demands early clarification," said one club official.

Niall Andrews, the Fianna Fail European Member of Parliament for Dublin, was among those calling yesterday for Ireland to be exempted from the new legislation which, he contends, will hinder the growth of the game at senior level in this country.

Padraig Flynn, the European Commissioner with specific responsibility for the matter, was offering no quick fixes, however, and hinted that the law as it applies to movement of players within the same member state may also change within the next couple of years.

Meanwhile, the FAI have been fined £505 by UEFA for having too many people on the touchline in the European Championship qualifier against Portugal last November. The rules allow 10 officials and Ireland had 11.