GIOVANNI TRAPATTONI yesterday described an agreement on a new contract with the FAI as being no more than “a formality” in the wake of preliminary talks with his employers held since the Republic of Ireland’s qualification for the European Championship finals on Tuesday night.

“They chose us in order to get this result and we gave them the perfect answer,” he said with obvious satisfaction. “The players answered them too. We think we have done well until now (and the contract), it’s only a formality. It’s not about money; unless they change completely the situation.”

To judge by John Delaney’s comments after the game that doesn’t seem at all likely. The association’s chief executive described Trapattoni as “a top-class manager” who “deserves the credit because he’s moulded a team that have succeeded and achieved”.

He went on to suggest that the matter might be parked for “a week or two” until the dust has settled on Tuesday night.

Delaney travels to Frankfurt this evening to attend tomorrow’s World Cup fixtures meeting with representatives of Ireland’s group opponents in the next qualifying campaign, but Trapattoni suggested yesterday he will travel to Kiev on December 2nd for the European Championship finals draw and it is not at all out of the question that matters could be concluded by then.

The Italian, in any case, insists he is in no hurry now that he is sure a deal will be done.

“We wanted to know whether there was a willingness to continue and once we are, which we are now, there is no need for a timeframe,” he said. “We are all responsible, mature people. Now we have clarity.

“We know that if we had failed to qualify that things might have ended differently, but things are clear now and we have no desire to speed things up.”

There has been considerable speculation over whether businessman Denis O’Brien would be willing to continue funding half of the roughly €2 million that the Irish management team costs each year.

There were reports a couple of months ago that Trapattoni and his assistants might be asked to take a 50 per cent pay cut, something that suggested the association itself was not entirely confident about his continued backing.

O’Brien’s presence in Tallinn, however, tended to suggest he would stay on board if qualification was achieved and Trapattoni’s confidence that the money will not be a problem pretty much confirms it.

The 72-year-old confirmed he had met O’Brien in Tallinn. “He is always kind,” he said. “We also met Robert (Finnegan), the chief executive of 3, the main sponsor of the FAI.

“It is not my job to speak about finance with these men, though. I give my regards and I’m happy that they come. If they provide finance for the FAI it’s important they see our jobs. We were happy to see Denis and representatives of other sponsors who support us.”

Asked whether he would actually like to stay on beyond the next World Cup, Trapattoni laughed and hinted it would depend on him retaining both his health and his enthusiasm.

He said he would be happy whenever he does decide to go to see Marco Tardelli get the opportunity to succeed him, but made the point that he has received a great deal of help, not just from his long-time friend, but from a lot of backroom staff too as he sought to get Irish football back on to a major stage.

“I rely on Marco’s contribution, his mentality is the same as mine, but there are many others too,” he said. “We wrote a letter to the kit men and all of the other staff reminding them that this result was for everyone.

“Brian McCarthy[ for instance] prepares the [video analysis]. I call him two or three times a day. I break his balls looking for more details because the players must see [how the other side plays]. This is important work and I would like to thank him for it.”