Chelsea may have a Russian billionaire bankrolling their recent success and now it seems the Football Association of Ireland have found their own Patron Saint. Take the stage, Cork man Denis O'Brien.

O'Brien is a billionaire who has made his fortune in telecommunications and, much like Roman Abramovich (prior to his takeover of Chelsea), he is not as well known outside of his home country. However, his desire to see his home country do well has seen him put his money where his mouth is and make an obligation-free donation to the FAI's 'Let's get an Italian coach' campaign.

The multimedia tycoon has financed the appointment of Giovanni Trapattoni as the first Italian to manage the national team. With the likes of Terry Venables, Billy Davies and David O'Leary having been linked with the job, it is easy to see the excitement at one of the biggest names in football management taking the reins.

It is very rare in football that you find a coach who has won trophies, not only in four different countries, but also in four different decades, Trappatoni is a man who generates success. From the Juventus glory years of the 70s and 80s, which culminated with an European Cup, to success with German giants Bayern Munich in the '90s, to a drought-ending league title in Portugal with Benfica in 2004 before leading Red Bull Salzburg to the Austrian league title in 2006. Ireland has definitely found a winner.

From Frank Stapleton to pundit Johnny Giles, the greats of Irish football have been falling over themselves with praise for the Italian. However, what many people are forgetting is that with four decades of success, you end up getting a genuine veteran and at almost 69, Trappatoni is at the wrong end of the management scale.

The much-maligned Staunton era was supposed to be a young and old situation, with Sir Bobby Robson the foil to the novice Staunton. However, Robson's consultancy reign never really reached the heights as illness took its toll and he missed a large chunk of Stan's reign.

Trappatoni is just six years Robson's junior and should really be enjoying his life with Mrs Trappatoni. Instead, he will attempt to guide Ireland to the World Cup in South Africa in 2010 and in doing so will come face to face with Italy, ironically not only his country of birth but probably the only role in which he did not achieve the success his pedigree promised.

Failure to beat Korea in the last 16 of the 2002 World Cup was followed by failure to qualify from the group stages in the European Championships in 2004 - and thus ended Trappatoni's only previous role in the international arena.

If Ireland are to reap the benefits of O'Brien's generosity, they need to put a long-term structure in place to what essentially is a short-term solution. Rumours of a position for Liam Brady in the national set-up would be a step in the right direction, Brady has done an impressive job in his role as head of youth development for Arsenal; however, his failing at club management are well documented.

Having learned the ropes from Arsene Wenger and potentially from Trappatoni, come four years he would be ideal for the national job.

Trappatoni could aso look to Roy Keane (if he can work with the FAI), Oldham's John Sheridan or Burnley's Owen Coyle, club managers who might get involved at  a part-time level, learning the ropes from a true great.

Keane is probably the one man that everyone would like to see manage the Irish team. Still learning the ropes at Premier League level, his success with Sunderland last season has already made him a legend on Wearside. And Sheridan and Coyle are highly regarded with a penchant for playing attractive football.

But let's focus back on the here and now and with a new manager and sponsoring hero in O'Brien, it may not be too long before Irish football fans are signing "We're all part of Giovanni's army".