Ireland manager Giovanni Trapattoni will have to wait until after the Euro 2012 play-offs to see whether he gets another vastly over-inflated contract.
The Italian has recently spoke of his impatience at the FAI’s seeming reluctance to give him a new deal and has often talked about his willingness to listen to other offers, with clubs and other countries apparently banging at the door to secure his services.
Trap has repeatedly stated that he would like to remain in charge for Ireland’s World Cup campaign, but tie-throwing FAI Chief Executive John Delaney is content to wait until after Ireland’s play-off ties with Estonia to decided whether or not to keep faith with the 72-year old.
“The concentration now has to be on these two matches,” said Delaney in Krakow, not long after his embarrassing reaction to Ireland’s play-off draw.
“I don’t want anything to distract the players, the manager, the backroom staff, the association and the supporters. Everyone has got to be completely focused on those two games.
“I am happy to leave it until after these games because the relationship between the management team and the association has been very good over the last few years.
“I think there’s strong evidence for that. It’s always good to hear a manager say he’d like to stay. That’s something that would be pleasing to anybody. I think he’s done well in both groups in the sense that we went in as third seeds twice and finished second twice.
“We were very unlucky in France, as we know, and now we’re seeded in a play-off. But any discussion about a contract really should be left until after these matches. I would like to think everyone would be able to concentrate fully on getting us qualified against Estonia.”
So that’s Delaney’s public stance, but has he been talking to Trap behind the scenes?
“I don’t think it’s right to get into any private discussions but the position of the association is pretty simple on it,” he added.
“We’ve two big matches and we want everyone to focus on qualification rather than on anything which might distract us from that. Contracts and television rights and all those matters are secondary to what are really two huge games.
“And I know that Giovanni and Marco want to qualify. Moral victories, getting to play-offs and not being successful is not what these guys do. These guys want to achieve.”
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