MARTIN O'NEILL will officially become Ireland manager this week

MARTIN O'NEILL will officially become Ireland manager this week after an informal meeting of board members at the FAI Cup final confirmed the association's satisfaction with a final package for the Derryman and his assistant Roy Keane.

The FAI are keen to announce the capture of the duo before they appear on ITV's coverage of the Champions League meeting between Real Sociedad and Manchester United tomorrow night but they may have to wait until the pair return from Spain.


There is no scheduled meeting of the 10-member board of management as they agreed last month to target O'Neill as their number one candidate and are now satisfied he is on board, with only the legalities of his contract and the exact identity of his back-room team to be ironed out. Ray Houghton and Ruud Dokter had been tasked with sussing out alternatives in the event that O'Neill said no.

O'Neill (61) will sign a deal which will include a substantial bonus – in the region of €800,000 – if qualification is secured for Euro 2016. It is believed that his basic salary will be greater than the €1.2m that Giovanni Trapattoni earned in his final year in charge, with the package for his entire team coming in at over €2m a year.

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In addition to Keane, O'Neill is considering bringing in Steve Walford as a coach and former Irish netminder Seamus McDonagh as goalkeeping coach. Ex-Leicester and Celtic winger Steve Guppy, who is a set-piece expert, is also in the frame to help out.

O'Neill will come back from Spain on Wednesday and a press conference will be pencilled in for the end of the week. A provisional squad for the friendlies with Latvia and Poland, which was drafted by U-21 boss Noel King, will have to be trimmed down at the weekend with the O'Neill-Keane combination set to preside over their first training session next Monday.

Meanwhile, the FAI are set to appoint Mike McGurn as strength and conditioning coach. McGurn, a Fermanagh native, has worked with the Irish rugby team and has helped the Armagh and Louth GAA teams.