• International

Trapattoni: I'm not finished yet

Giovanni Trapattoni may have walked away from managing the Republic of Ireland, but the 74-year-old insists his near 40-year coaching career is far from over.

The veteran left his role as Ireland manager by mutual consent after their hopes of qualifying for next summer's World Cup were practically wiped away over the past week, yet he says he will be back to manage another team when the right opportunity arises.

"I'm leaving Ireland, but I'm not leaving football," Trapattoni said. "I want to carry on coaching. It's just that I am no longer manager of Ireland. We left mutually with great fair play. Now I'll look at other possible jobs without precluding anything."

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Trapattoni added that his five-year experience as Ireland coach would be hard to forget, if only for the way he was treated by the fans. "We realised why they have such a renowned reputation internationally and they have our maximum respect," he said.

Although his term may ultimately be viewed negatively - Ireland did reach Euro 2012, but lost all three of their group games there - FAI chief executive John Delaney believes Trapattoni leaves Ireland "in a better state" than when he arrived in 2008.

"I think he felt he had done a good job," Delaney said. "He genuinely believes there's a group of young players available to the next manager. Most people in Irish football would agree that he's left Irish football in a better state."

While Trapattoni, who began coaching in 1974 with AC Milan, looks forward to the next chapter in his own career, Ireland commence their search for a manager who can see them to the end of their World Cup qualifying campaign and start preparations for a more successful bid to reach Euro 2016.

Former Republic manager Mick McCarthy is emerging as a frontrunner, already earning the seal of approval of Delaney. "Mick has done a very good job for Ireland and in England as well," he said. "We have to look at who can get the best out of the players available to us."

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