King set to take reins as interim Irish boss

The FAI Board Of Management is set to meet today to discuss the succession to Giovanni Trapattoni, as it looks increasingly likely that U21 head coach Noel King will be named interim manager.

In the absence of a quick appointment of the leading candidate Martin O’Neill, precedent would suggest King’s temporary elevation to the senior post, a caretaker role previously undertaken by his predecessor as U21 boss, Don Givens.

Former international Givens took charge for a scoreless draw with Greece in 2002 following the resignation of Mick McCarthy and, after the departure of Steve Staunton, he again stepped into the breach for the European Championship qualifier in Cardiff in 2007, a game which ended in a 2-2 draw.

Givens — who was also one of the trio of headhunters tasked with finding a successor to Staunton — last took the helm of the senior side for the 0-1 friendly loss to Brazil in Croke Park in February 2008, shortly before Trapattoni’s appointment.

One complication to overcome if King gets the nod is that his U21 side is in Euro 2015 qualifying action next month, playing back to back games away and home to Romania on the same dates — October 11 and 15 — that the senior side will be seeing out its World Cup campaign against Germany in Cologne and Kazakhstan in Dublin.

Of course, the new manager could yet be at the helm before those games come along but the tightness of the time-frame as the FAI now get down to the formal business of beginning their search means they will be anxious to have a back-up plan in place.

The first task this week for the caretaker, however, will be to compile what is expected to be an extended panel for those games, with clubs required to be notified of their players who are being called-up by Friday.

Goalkeeping coach Alan Kelly and High Performance Director Ruud Dokter are also considered possible contenders for the caretaker role, while O’Neill still remains the odds-on favourite for the permanent post ahead of Mick McCarthy.