Giovanni Trapattoni has accepted a pay-cut in order to continue as Ireland manager until the conclusion of the 2012 European Championships. The 70-year-old currently earns a reputed €2m per year from his existing contract, which expires at the end of next year's World Cup in South Africa, but a smaller sum will be wiring its way into his bank account once his new deal kicks in after the tournament.
It is not known for certain how much Trapattoni's contract has been reduced by but it is not believed to be a symbolic figure.
"I said to the FAI, sure, we don't want any more money than what we are on," said Trapattoni. "One hundred per cent I said that. So I let the FAI decide on this matter. We [Trapattoni and Marco Tardelli] said to the FAI taking less money is not an issue for us. We have agreed financial terms. And I have taken less than the last time because we recognised the current economic climate and the problems that exist in the world."
The manager's willingness to accept a reduction in his annual salary was not believed to be a deal breaker in contract negotiations, but indications are that the flexibility and eagerness shown by the Italian in agreeing to the new deal succeeded in oiling the machinery of the entire process.
Business man Denis O'Brien will continue to pay half the annual salary of the Irish management team – a figure that will be reduced from the estimated €1.5m per annum he is currently handing over – with the FAI stumping up the rest of the money.
Trapattoni will have turned 73 by the time his new Ireland contract expires at the end of the Euro 2012 tournament in Poland and the Ukraine but his hunger to manage well into his eighth decade remains undimmed.
"My wife does [want me to retire]," he said. "I have told her in the future that I will take a rest. But now, this is my life. It has been since I was 11 years old, when I started in this football business. I am also interested in my family, in politics and opera. But opera is only a show. Football is about a result."
The Italian also appears confident that the upcoming endgame to Ireland's qualification journey can be a successful one. "I knew that once we got the players to believe in themselves, and in us, that we would make progress," he admitted. "I know now they believe in us because they have good habits now. So when we go into the play-offs against Russia or Germany or Portugal or France or Greece, I will say to them, why won't we believe in ourselves? We have come through a tough group. I think we deserve to qualify."
Meanwhile Kevin Doyle has insisted, as his manager has, that the door has not yet closed on Stephen Ireland coming back into the national squad before the World Cup. "Is it over?" said Doyle when it was suggested that the issue had finally been put to bed following Ireland's public questioning of Trapattoni in an interview last weekend.
"I'm sure if Stephen came out tomorrow and said he wanted to come back and play, he's good enough to be welcomed back." When asked if any return for the player before the World Cup might cause some resentment in the squad, Doyle's response was straightforward. "Not from me."
Bookmarks