New Ireland manager Martin O’Neill and assistant Roy Keane expressed their excitement about their new roles in their first public appearance together since the announcement was made.
After much speculation and excitement over the weekend, John Delaney confirmed the appointments of O’Neill and Keane this morning and this evening the FAI confirmed that contracts had been signed by both parties.
@FAIreland can confirm that both contracts have been signed.Martin O’Neill and Roy Keane will be Ireland’s new manager and assistant manager
— FAI (@FAIreland) November 5, 2013
As a result, there was plenty of anticipation surrounding the pair’s appearance on ITV’s coverage of the Champions League clash between Manchester United and Real Sociedad this evening, where host Adrian Chiles addressed the issue immediately.
Commenting on the roles both will play, O’Neill joked that he’ll be “the bad cop and he (Roy) will be the bad, bad cop,” while both expressed that they were looking forward to getting stuck into their new jobs. A bit more seriously, O’Neill added that Keane’s appointment will “be great for me and more importantly, for the Republic of Ireland”.
Yes, hard as it might have been to believe this time last week, it’s actually happening folks and though there is no guarantee it will work, it should certainly mark the start of an exciting and interesting era for Irish football if nothing else.
Bring on Latvia!
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