The formal announcement of Martin O’Neill and Roy Keane as the new managers of the Republic of Ireland soccer team will be made on Saturday.
FAI CEO was on Newstalk Radio to announce that the final stages of negotiation were almost complete and breaking the news, first on twitter and then on radio here meant it was not portrayed as an exclusive on ITV when the two men appeared as Champions’ League panellists last night.
The reaction across Ireland has been good with O’Neill considered the front runner for the post since Giovanni Trapattoni’s tenure ended after failure to qualify for the World Cup.
It was of course inevitable that the personal history of megaphone comment between Keane and Delaney would be raised though both played down any impact the incidents of Saipan 2002 will have on what is now a forward looking team.
Denis O’Brien will continue to make a major contribution to the salary package of the two men and their back room team that is likely to rise to beyond €2 million a year.
The appointment, and the sense of ‘edge’ that Keane’s involvement brings will also bring a smile to Max Hamilton and the commercial team at FAI Headquarters in Abbottstown.
Coverage across UK media this morning has been of the variety that we should settle down with the popcorn that this is going to be a show worth the price of admission.
That will be heeded at corporate level within those companies likely to either stay or join the commercial partnership ranks over the next four year cycle of qualification campaigns for the French Euro 2016 and Russia World Cup 2018 finals.
3 are on board as secure senior partners of the national team and their takeover of 02 puts the FAI in a more comfortable position that their counterparts at the IRFU if there were to be a consolidation of major sponsorship properties after 2016.
Umbro are on board as the official kit partner while Airtricity last year extended their relationship with the League of Ireland and as official energy partner to the Association.
Carlsberg and McDonalds are international brands with a long term commitment to the sport. Heatons and Sportsworld are official retail partners and supporters of community programmes while Ford are in the seventh year of their partnership, DHL, eFlow and Lucozade Sport are also on board and new sector partners will now be more likely to seek involvement given the fresh start that sport delivers and the box office potential that the new appointments are likely to produce.
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