SOCCER: Brian Kerr's future as Republic of Ireland manager looks set to be decided by a meeting of the FAI's 10-man board next week when the sub-committee established to review the situation is expected to make a report and, possibly, recommendations.

It remains highly likely the Dubliner will lose his job two years and nine months after being given it, but neither side is willing to comment on the situation ahead of the board meeting which is expected to take place on Wednesday and which may simply kick the matter to touch for a period.

The sub-committee established by the association to consider the various issues involved is comprised of the organisation's chief executive John Delaney, its president David Blood and the honorary secretary Michael Cody.

Neither Blood nor Cody would be known for their major differences with Delaney and so the chief executive, long suspected of being keen to replace Kerr in the event that the Republic of Ireland did not qualify for next summer's World Cup finals, is certain to be the key figure in the process.

The final decision on how to proceed will be taken by the board and one observer yesterday suggested that it would be foolish to predict what its members might decide when the matter comes before them. However, Delaney's influence is considerable at this level too and so, despite a refusal by any of the players involved to concede that Kerr's departure is a foregone conclusion, it would be a very considerable surprise if he were to be offered the chance to lead the team into the next European Championship campaign.

In a statement issued by the FAI yesterday Delaney acknowledged the efforts made by Kerr and his backroom staff during the campaign that ended on Wednesday night and expressed his disappointment with the team's failure to progress from the group.

There was little in his comments to offer any comfort to the manager with no hint of real support from the chief executive. "Everyone associated with the quest for qualification - Brian Kerr, the technical and support team, the players and squad members and the staff in Merrion Square - have all applied tremendous effort in terms of commitment and dedication to the task," said Delaney.

"Unfortunately," he added, "despite the highest levels of planning and preparation by Brian and all the support team, our collective efforts have not been sufficient to take the squad to Germany next year."

Interviewed on RTÉ radio last night Delaney confirmed that the team's failure to qualify had cost the association "in the region of four to five million euro" and dealt a blow to the profile of the game here.

"Everybody is very disappointed," he said, "and it is a setback. We all saw the benefits there were of being at these tournaments and I think the whole country will feel the loss of not being involved at the World Cup while the competition will be a little poorer for not having the Irish fans there."

Delaney was asked on a number of occasions about the question of Kerr's contract but declined to comment and so it remains unclear how he intends to proceed. He has in the past shown himself to be keenly aware of public opinion and would seem unlikely to enter into an open recruitment process unless he had a good idea that he will be able to come up with a replacement for Kerr who will be perceived as, at the very least, someone of equal status.

There has been intense media speculation regarding the identity of possible successors with Martin O'Neill repeatedly mentioned and reports of David O'Leary having been socialising with FAI officials after previous games. Though O'Neill has not ruled himself out of job he would be unlikely to be interested at this time as he only resigned his post at Celtic in order to spend more time with his wife while she receives treatment for cancer.

O'Leary, meanwhile, has said that he would like to take on the job at some point and could easily become available if Aston Villa's fortunes do not improve soon. He is the only former player of his generation from the Republic to have anything approaching a really serious track record in club management, but he is not hugely popular while his limited success at Leeds was aided by the expenditure of huge sums on players.

Many of the other names being mentioned expressed an interest when Kerr was recruited with John Aldridge, Kevin Moran and Peter Reid all featuring amongst the bookmakers' lists.

Liam Brady, although he denied on Wednesday night after the game that he would be interested in succeeding Kerr, would appear to be a more credible candidate although his time at Celtic was well short of being a triumph while Chris Hughton would seem a possibility unless he feels obliged to go with Kerr.

Advertising the post, however, would almost certainly generate applications from foreign fields

There remains a possibility, however remote, that Kerr might be offered another deal, if only because there are no attractive alternatives.

There has previously been some concern over his public attitude to the association and his reluctance to accept his place within a wider management structure and in the event that he were to be offered a new deal, it seems certain that his weakened position would oblige to accept some new restrictions in these areas.