O'Neill and Keane to take charge of Ireland football team

Martin O’Neill is poised to take over as Ireland manager with Roy Keane as his assistant, more than a decade after the former captain walked out on the team at the 2002 World Cup. “Roy’s coming with me,” O’Neill told ITV television on Tuesday. “Personally speaking I think he will be great for me but more importantly it will be great for Ireland.” Football Association of Ireland (FAI) chief executive John Delaney said that although the pair had yet to sign contracts O’Neill would be taking over from Giovanni Trapattoni who quit in September. The former Aston Villa and Celtic boss is to be unveiled on Saturday. “Almost done now. There’s nothing I think that will be an impediment in terms of Martin being manager and Roy as his assistant,” Delaney told the Newstalk radio station. [caption id=“attachment_1215071” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Getty Images[/caption] O’Neill, standing beside Keane, told ITV: “We are excited by it. I’m looking forward to it greatly. I think I’m the bad cop and I think he’s the bad, bad cop.” Former Manchester United midfielder Keane added: “It’s fantastic news, I’m delighted and honoured Martin has asked me to work with him. I’m looking forward to working with the players and trying to get to the Euros.” O’Neill, once touted in the media for a big club job in England after winning three Scottish league titles and reaching the UEFA Cup final at Celtic, was sacked as manager of struggling Sunderland this year. He will be charged with picking up an Ireland team that finished fourth in the group in the recent World Cup qualification campaign and were outclassed at Euro 2012 when Trapattoni was widely criticised for his negative tactics. VOCAL CRITIC Former Northern Ireland international O’Neill was favourite to take over from Trapattoni after the Italian quit following a poor run of games but Keane’s return as his number two is an intriguing move by Delaney and his association. Keane, regarded as one of the country’s greatest players, had a major fallout with the FAI over what he saw as amateurish preparations for the World Cup in Japan and South Korea and, despite returning to play two years later, he has remained a vocal critic of the association. Keane, who also had a stint in charge of Sunderland but whose coaching ambitions stalled during an unsuccessful period at second-tier Ipswich Town, criticised Delaney for being pictured drinking with fans during last year’s championship. The seven-times Premier League winner’s withering evaluation of then-manager Mick McCarthy and of the FAI in general on the eve of the 2002 World Cup means he remains one of the most divisive figures in Irish soccer. The fiery midfielder threw the national team into chaos when he walked out and the incident dominated the front and back pages of newspapers, even being depicted in a musical that compared the dispute to a Shakespearean tragedy. “Anything that would have been said by Roy or I to each other or about each other is now irrelevant,” said Delaney, who added that the appointments would not have been possible without the continued financial support of media mogul Dennis O’Brien. “He (Martin) asked what the association’s view would be in terms of Roy being the assistant and I said absolutely no problem. I met him (Roy) last week and we’ve discussed the past. It was discussed for about 30 seconds. “This is a roller coaster that me and most of the Irish people are looking forward to.” Reuters