Jewell asked to reconsider by Delaney

International Soccer:John Delaney, the chief executive of the FAI, rang former Wigan manager Paul Jewell in a bid to get him to reconsider his decision to rule himself out of the running for manager of the Republic of Ireland.

Jewell revealed the contact in an interview with Sky Sports News yesterday where he confirmed that he will be seeking a return to club football rather than international management. It was known that John Giles had briefed Jewell on the job as successor to Steve Staunton but Jewell said yesterday: "I rang Johnny yesterday and said after certain consideration, I'm really flattered and decided not to be considered.

"John Delaney, the chief executive (of the FAI), called me last night to ask me if I would reconsider and I discussed it with him, but I'm beginning to miss the day-to-day involvement with the players on the training ground. That's what I'm looking for now, maybe in the future you never know.

"At the moment, as flattered as I was, it's best for me to get back into club football."

The fact that Delaney would take the trouble to ring the former Wigan man to try and get him to change his mind would suggest that he had been a leading candidate to succeed Staunton.

Rooney, along with members of the 2010 World Cup Organising Committee, will be among the gathering at 8am (Irish time) to ratify the seedings for the competition's preliminary-round draw tomorrow. Ireland will, as expected, be among the third tier of nations while a miserable week for the English will be compounded by their exclusion from the top-ranked nations.

The various positions of the countries involved were confirmed when Fifa issued its world ranking list for November. The Irish had been sure to drop from 21st place in Europe but the three places lost as a result of the team's inability last month to beat either Germany or Cyprus at home made no practical difference.

England's loss to Croatia, on the other hand, ensured their improvement on the world ladder would not be enough to secure the top-nine ranking required to gain a top seeding. The Greeks took the last of the coveted places in Pot One while Israel's defeat of Russia helped them to secure a place alongside England in Pot Two.

The English must defy the rankings if they are to avoid a play-off for qualification next time around. But the Irish will have to do that much simply to make the play-offs after which they would most likely have to overcome another higher-ranked side in order to actually secure a place at the finals tournament.

There is no particular reason for confidence but Steve Staunton's would-be successors will watch the draw with interest as a little good fortune would certainly enhance the Republic's admittedly slim chances of spending June 2010 in South Africa.

Croatia may have upset England at home on Wednesday night but aside from Greece they are probably the most attractive draw from the point of view of prospective qualification.

The slightly erratic nature of the current French side would, perhaps, make them an attractive enough draw too, particularly from the association's point of view, as their visit to Dublin two years ago yielded around €5 million in television revenues.

Being landed in a group with Italy, Spain and Germany would also be a huge boost to the association's finances but would not exactly enhance hopes of qualification.

Among the second-tier of nations, the English now represent the big payday, but Scotland or Israel would appear to be vulnerable in terms of living up to their seeding.

The Scots did tremendously well during the campaign just finished to run the French as well as the Italians so close, but there is a suspicion they will struggle to reproduce that form with the talent available to them, particularly if their manager, Alex McLeish, becomes a target for a big English club.

Having moved to one place above the Republic in the ranking list, Northern Ireland are also third seeds, having been in the sixth tier last time around.

Switzerland, Serbia and Denmark are among the other eight nations Ireland cannot be drawn against.

The fourth pot of countries, meanwhile, includes three of those the Irish faced in the most recent European Championship campaign. Slovakia, Wales and Cyprus are there along with the likes of Moldova, Lithuania and Belarus.

The last two pots contain a rather predictable array of the continent's weakest nations as well as Austria, whose decline in recent years now means they are fifth seeds and struggling to turn things around.

Uefa's odd decision to adopt the Fifa world rankings as the basis for the European seedings is sure to have implications for the next Ireland manager.