Experienced manager Giovanni Trapattoni has received the backing from the Irish FA, for now at least.
After last Friday’s humbling 6-1 home defeat to Germany in qualification for the World Cup finals in 2014, serious speculation began about the future of the 73-year-old in football management.
Meeting after the German debacle
However, the FAI board met 24 hours after a morale boosting 4-1 away victory in Torshavn against the Faroe Islands on Tuesday.
They have given the former Juventus, Bayern Munich and Benfica coach some more time to revive the fortunes of the national team.
A spokesman for the FAI said: “The board of the FAI met today (Wednesday) and discussed Ireland’s performances in the World Cup qualifying campaign to date and the prospects of achieving qualification for Brazil 2014.
“The board agreed that convening a meeting between the Germany and Faroe Islands matches and/or commenting on the Germany game or the manager’s position prior to last night’s game (Tuesday) would have been totally inappropriate.
“Following today’s (Wednesday’s) discussions, the board, while disappointed like everyone with the poor result and performance against Germany and understanding the frustration of some of our supporters, believes the current position in the group means that qualification for Brazil in 2014 remains a realistic and achievable prospect, and reaffirmed that Giovanni Trapattoni is to remain in charge of the national team.”
It has been a difficult year for Irish football after the team’s laughable performances at Euro 2012, which saw them eliminated in the group stages of the finals, scoring just once and leaving Poland without a single point registered.
Rebuilding the squad
Trapattoni (pictured) has had to rebuild the squad in recent weeks, after both experienced goalkeeper Shay Given and midfielder Damien Duff decided to call time on their international careers.
Since he took over in May 2008, the veteran boss has done a solid job, taking the Irish to within a whisker of the 2010 World Cup had it not been for the Thierry Henry handball in Paris.
Qualification for Euro 2012 exceeded expectations although the final performance in the summer left a lot to be desired.
It has been a testing time for the Republic of Ireland international side but they sit just a point behind Sweden in Group C and still harbour realistic ambitions to finish at least second in this group and hence, earn a play-off spot.
The Republic’s next fixture will be a friendly with 2004 European champions Greece in November. The next competitive action will take place in March 2013, with back-to-back qualifiers against Sweden and Austria.
Only after these games, will the decision to stick with Trapattoni be revealed as the right call.
By Simon Wright – Follow me on Twitter @Siwri88
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