How the deal was done

IT took 113 days for the FAI to announce Steve Staunton’s successor but, as it turned out, the three wise men needed only half an hour to come to the conclusion that Giovanni Trapattoni was the man they were looking for.

Don Givens, Don Howe and Ray Houghton spent two hours talking football with the Italian in Salzburg last Sunday and after 30 minutes of a communal debrief back at their hotel, the decision was made.

“There were certain boxes to be ticked and Trapattoni ticked all of them,” Howe explained. “Regardless of the time factor, we certainly have a feeling now that all’s well that ends well. We got the top man, albeit it took longer than we hoped.”