Delaney says no manager talks until after play-offs

JOHN DELANEY has said that Giovanni Trapattoni’s contract as Ireland manager will not be discussed until after the play-off games against Estonia.

Speaking from Krakow after the draw yesterday, the FAI chief executive said: “The concentration now has to be on these two matches. I don’t want anything to distract in any way the players, the manager, the backroom staff, the association and the supporters. Everyone has got to be completely focused on these two games.”

The FAI boss also said that he was satisfied that the matter of the manager’s contract could be parked until the play-offs are over.

“I am, because the relationship between the management team and the association has been very good over the last few years,” he said. “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 is 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 discussions about a contract really should be left until post these matches. I would like to think everyone would be able to concentrate fully on getting us qualified against Estonia. It’s only four and a half weeks away. There’s going to be a huge build-up to these games, a lot of focus and a lot of discussion, and the most important thing is that it’s about football.”

Asked if he’d said all this to Trapattoni himself, Delaney replied: “I don’t think it’s right to get into any private discussions but the position of the association is pretty simple: 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. I remember after Paris, some people said ‘wasn’t it a great performance and great that we played so well?’ but Giovanni and Marco weren’t happy. And they weren’t happy for quite a while afterwards because they wanted to go to the World Cup. That’s what they’re used to doing. And from speaking to him today, he wants to win these two games to bring Ireland to a European Championship. That’s the objective and standard that we set and, more importantly, that he set for himself.”

Getting to the finals would also give the FAI a major financial boost, after the failure to land Turkey in the play-offs saw the association lose out on potentially lucrative TV revenue.

Delaney said: “We all know the financial advantages of qualification and, naturally, it will mean also big friendlies at the Aviva before we’d head off to the finals. So I think any perceived lack of revenue generated through the campaign or in a play-off by TV money can only be answered in the context of whether we qualify.”

Delaney also confirmed yesterday that the FAI have secured 1,400 tickets for Irish supporters for the first leg game in Tallinn’s 10,000-capacity stadium.