JOHN O’SHEA will not be the next Ireland manager – and nor will Ole Gunnar Solsjkaer despite a dramatic shortening of his odds.
With Anthony Barry turning down a fresh approach to fill the vacancy, there was increased speculation that O’Shea could land the job on a permanent basis.
He was in interim charge for the friendlies against Belgium and Switzerland last month.
In public, players spoke highly of the former Manchester United player although it is understood there was some unhappiness about aspects of the camp, including the length of time spent on the pitch on the day before games.
The Waterford man made no secret of his desire to manage his country but, for now at least, he will not land the job.
O’Shea will be in the Aviva Stadium for a media conference on Tuesday, but it is in his role as a Uefa ambassador for the Europa League final in Dublin next month.
The FAI hope to announce Stephen Kenny’s permanent successor on either Wednesday or Thursday with his official unveiling to take place on either Thursday or Tuesday of the following week.
The odds on O’Shea’s ex-United team-mate Solskjaer getting the job dropped from 80-1 to 3-10 although they have since eased to 17-20.
At different stages since Kenny’s departure in November, there have been various odds-on favourites, most recently Barry earlier in the week.
Solksjaer has not worked since he was axed by the Red Devils two-and-a-half years ago.
The Norwegian has neither the international experience which the FAI indicated their appointment would have nor any obvious contractual obligations which the Association said precluded their new head coach from taking charge of the March friendlies.
And journalist Andy Mitten revealed on X that he had spoken to Solskjaer who had told him that he had no idea where the story had come from.
He admitted that he had spoken to the FAI in January but decided that the job was not for him.