SOURCES CLOSE to Giovanni Trapattoni were taken somewhat by surprise last night by the FAI’s statement confirming Trapattoni as Republic of Ireland manager. Trapattoni and his advisers had come to the conclusion that it was only a matter of time before the FAI would sack the Italian, notwithstanding Ireland’s 4-1 away win against the Faroes Islands on Tuesday night.

The Trapattoni camp suspected the worst when the FAI on Tuesday evening “postponed” his normal day-after press conference, originally scheduled for Dublin last night. It had been suggested Trapattoni had to return to Italy earlier than anticipated in order to visit his sick sister, Sister Romilde. Sources close to Trapattoni confirmed last night, however, that his sister has been ill for some months now but that there had been no emergency about her condition in recent days.

Rather, Trapattoni and his advisers believed the FAI had already opted to offload the Ireland manager even if they found themselves in economic difficulty with regard to just how to do so.

Trapattoni’s people had already made it clear that the manager has no intention of resigning but that rather the FAI will have to buy him out of his current lucrative contract, reportedly worth an annual €1.2 million.