FAI confirm O'Neill & Keane appointment

Martin O'Neill is the new Republic of Ireland manager - with Roy Keane as his assistant.

A statement on the Football Association of Ireland's Twitter account this evening has confirmed that all contracts have been signed. 

O'Neill and Keane are currently in San Sebastien where they will work as analysts for ITV at the Champions League game between Real Sociedad and Manchester United.

The FAI have gotten the legalities out of the way prior to that engagement and now, ten days before Ireland taken on Latvia in an Aviva Stadium friendly on Friday-week, he duo have ascended to the throne.

Talking on the ITV broadcast, O'Neill declared his delight at the appointment before confirming how the O'Neill - Keane dynamic  would work.

"I'm the bad cop... and he's [Keane] the bad, bad cop! We're looking forward to it."

O'Neill has been courted by the FAI for an age, dating back to the era just before the ill-fated appointment of Steve Staunton.

The 61-year old Derryman has been the number 1 target since the departure of Giovanni Trapattoni in September; indeed it has even been suggested that O'Neill met with high-ranking football men during the final days of the Italian's tenure.

The former Celtic manager has been out of work since being sacked by Sunderland in March and was the preferred target from the outset.

O'Neill had been rumoured to be on the radar of clubs in the Premier League and took time after being approached by the FAI.

O'Neill held several talks with the FAI, one of those being held in the north-west some weeks back and the latest in London last week.

There, O'Neill met with FAI Chief Executive John Delaney and the Association's Legal Director, Sarah O'Shea.

It was at this summit that O'Neill put forward the idea of a shock name as his assistant manager: Roy Keane.

The former Ireland captain has been out of work since he was sacked by Ipswich in January 2011.

Keane had a previous spell at the helm of Sunderland. 

O'Neill and Keane have become close acquaintances through their punditry work for ITV. Keane was receptive of the idea of working with O'Neill when it was mooted by the former Northern Ireland international and the pair began discussing the ins and outs of a possible partnership.

Keane himself had been linked to the job, but given the fractured history he has had with the Association this was a long shot. However, with Delaney stressing in September that any 'previous' would not hinder any candidate, the possible link-up with O'Neill looked promising.

With businessman Denis O'Brien again agreeing to part-fund the management team, the FAI has been able to go big - and this is the box-office duo of Abbotstown dreams.

A previous dead-rubber friendly against Latvia could now be close to a sell-out next week.

It is believed that the management team will cost around €2m per annum, with O'Neill on around €1.2m of that and Keane taking roughly €600,000.

It will be an entirely different management team that will oversee training in Gannon Park next week.

Steve Walford, a long-time associate of O'Neill's, will come on board as a coach, while former Leicester City player Steve Guppy is to be recruited as a set-piece specialist and Seamus McDonagh, an ex-Ireland goalkeeper, will replace Alan Kelly as goalkeeping coach.

The new management will have to get to work immediately with their first task being to select a final squad for the friendly double header against Latvia and Poland.

The appointment will be made on an initial two-year basis, taking in the Euro 2016 qualifying campaign.

O'Neill and Keane will be unveiled at a press conference on Saturday.