FAI chief executive John Delaney says his organisation will take their time before naming the successor to former Republic of Ireland manager Giovanni Trapattoni, who left the job by mutual consent earlier this month. Blues boss Mick McCarthy remains the second favourite to return to the role he previously occupied between 1996 and 2002 — with his odds down to 2-1 with some bookmakers - behind the odds-on Martin O’Neill.
Earlier this week the FAI named U21s boss Noel King caretaker-manager while the appointment process is ongoing.
Delaney told RTÉ Sport that the FAI has never been in any rush to put the new man in place: "I don't think the time pressure was ever there.
"Our next competitive game of real importance is September in 12 months’ time when we play our first game in European Championships qualifying.
"I think it is important we get the right man in. The FAI could appoint one of 20 people today. There have been lots of applications and interest. I think it is better we take our time and make the right appointment.
"We took a lot of time the last time to appoint Giovanni Trapattoni and it turned out to be a very good appointment for us, particularly over the first two qualifying groups he managed us for.
"We have decided to asked Ray Houghton and Ruud Dokter, our high performance director from Holland, to go to the market, analyse the market, come back to the board [with] what they think could be a shortlist for the next Ireland manager.”
It’s reported that the FAI is yet to make an approach to O’Neill with stories earlier in the week claiming that the former Celtic, Leicester and Aston Villa was seen as a less attractive proposition without his one-time assistant John Robertson working alongside him.
Reports this morning claim O’Neill himself may be hesitant about taking the Irish job as he could also be keen on a return to club management. The former Northern Ireland international has been out of work since being sacked by Sunderland in March.
Amongst those also believed to be interested in the job are Hector Cuper, who was Inter Milan's manager when they faced Town in the UEFA Cup in 2001, and former Italian international keeper Walter Zenga.
McCarthy said recently that he believed O’Neill was a "shoo-in” for the job and admitted that he would like to return to the role at some point in his career.
He said he wasn’t sure how he would respond if he were to be approached now: "If somebody does ask me the question, what will I do? I haven’t got a bleeding clue.”