Hardball: The name of the contract game

DENIS O’BRIEN and John Delaney were “too busy” savouring the moment at the Aviva Stadium on Tuesday night to speak of things so foul as contracts and dig-outs, but both were aware they were only delaying the inevitable.

The millionaire businessman was seen in the environs of the stadium’s presidential suite chatting with the FAI chief executive and if their conversation was superficial on this occasion, it will be super serious the next time they meet.

Amid the presumption that Giovanni Trapattoni will sign a two-year extension to his €1.6m a year contract — a ‘formality’, he declared yesterday, there always lurks the complication of hardball and who’s playing it. Will O’Brien be as generous with his portion of the Italian’s salary next time out and has Delaney the same manoeuvrability with the manager if O’Brien’s not? With the chief executive’s eyes swimming with euro signs, will he struggle to convince the manager that he, like many FAI staff, will have to take another pay cut before terms are agreed on a new contract?