WHILE NOEL KING held his first press conference as Ireland’s caretaker manager yesterday, two men are currently busy working on finding a new permanent boss.

Former international Ray Houghton and FAI High Performance Director Ruud Dokter have been tasked with leading the search for Giovanni Trapattoni’s replacement with chief executive John Delaney insisting there is no rush to find the right man.

King takes charge for the final two World Cup qualifiers against Germany and Kazakhstan later this month and took the opportunity to bring the likes of Andy Reid and Darron Gibson back into the fold with yesterday’s squad announcement.

Houghton, meanwhile, gave an update on the how the pair are getting on.

“We’ll have to do our due diligence because there’s a very important decision to be made,” Houghton told Joe Molloy on Off The Ball’s Football Show.

“Unfortunately the previous manager has gone so we’re now looking for a new one and we have to look at the applicants that come in and take the international team forward.”

It is the FAI’s policy to keep the identity of candidates secret and generally stay tight-lipped during the interview process and Houghton added:

“As far as giving any names out, we wouldn’t do that. We didn’t do it on the last occasion because it wouldn’t be fair on the managers who have put their names forward.

They don’t want their names to understand that and you’ve got to respect that. They have done it in private and it’s between themselves and Ruudy himself to sit down.

“We’ll meet people and talk to them, put our thoughts together and put it to the FAI.”

To listen to the full Off The Ball interview, click here

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