FAI issue update on Ireland job after Roberto Di Matteo spotted with ...

The FAI have ruled out Roberto Di Matteo as a candidate for the Ireland job after the former Chelsea boss was pictured with CEO Jonathan Hill at the Aviva Stadium.

Ireland were facing Switzerland at home in the second of two international friendlies under interim manager John O’Shea, having drawn with Belgium on Saturday.

O’Shea looks set to vacate his role following the international window, and the name of the next permanent manager of the senior side remains shrouded in mystery.

While announcing O’Shea as interim boss, FAI director of football Marc Canham confirmed an update on the next Ireland manager would come in “early-April“.

Di Matteo won the Champions League with his former side Chelsea in 2012, bringing a whirlwind interim spell in charge to a dramatic close before gaining the job on a full-time basis. His odds were slashed from 80/1 to 20/1 to become the next boss of the Boys in Green following his Aviva apparition.

However, the FAI confirmed to reporters that he was not in the frame for the Ireland job.

Having gone on to manage both Schalke and Aston Villa, he now operates as a technical advisor to South Korean side Jeonbuk Motors, a role he has held since January of last year.

It is as-yet unclear as to why Di Matteo was in attendance at the game alongside Hill, though the 53-year-old was born in Switzerland to Italian parents.

He began his senior career with Swiss side Schaffhausen and had subsequent one-year spells with Zurich and Aarau before moving to Lazio in 1993.