MARTIN O’NEILL has been confirmed as manager of the Irish national team with Roy Keane named as his assistant.
The 61-year-old has agreed to take the job and brings in former Ireland captain Keane as his second-in-command.
Newstalk confirmed the news this morning and FAI chief executive John Delaney told Pat Kenny that although there is some paperwork to be signed, the pair will be unveiled on Saturday.
Steve Walford, Steve Guppy and Seamus McDonagh are also expected to be named in O’Neill’s backroom team as the finer details of his contract are ironed out.
https://soundcloud.com/breakingnews-ie/john-delaney-on-the-martin
We can confirm that the management appointment process with Martin O'Neill & Roy Keane is at an advanced stage.Updates from @FAIreland today
— FAIreland ⚽️🇮🇪 (@FAIreland) November 5, 2013
Asked about any possible friction between the association and Roy Keane, Delaney admitted he and Keane had discussed the past 'for 30 seconds' but sought to look to the future.
"Anything that happened previously is now irrelevant," he said.
"Irish football & our country is bigger than anything. Two icons of Irish football can work together with us. The past is in the past."
O’Neill was regarded as the FAI’s first choice to replace Giovanni Trapattoni and became the overwhelming favourite for the job after the Italian left the post back in September.
However, the FAI has allowed the 61-year-old, who has been out of the game since being shown the door by Sunderland in March, to take his time over his decision.
'Irish football & our country is bigger than anything.Two icons of Irish football can work together with us.The past is in the past'. #MONRK
— FAIreland ⚽️🇮🇪 (@FAIreland) November 5, 2013
In the meantime, Ray Houghton and FAI high performance director Ruud Dokter were charged with the task of assessing alternative candidates.
With a friendly game against Latvia at the Aviva Stadium next Friday, 15 November, before the squad travels to Poznan to take on Poland four days later, the new management team will have already begun their work ahead of training in Dublin next week.
The serious business will begin in September next year when Ireland set out on the road to Euro 2016 hoping they can once again compete for a place at the finals of a major tournament.
