SOCCER NEWS: Mick McCarthy is expected to sign a new, two-year contract with the FAI this week. The association has pencilled in Thursday, the manager's 43rd birthday, for a press conference at which the sides will put pen to paper.

After several months of speculation and talks that took much longer to conclude than had been expected, the key aspects of a new deal were agreed last Tuesday, while a variety of more minor details have been sorted out since.

Yesterday afternoon, as the association's general secretary, Brendan Menton, was leaving for a UEFA conference in Zurich, he expressed confidence that everything would be finally nailed down ahead of Thursday's proposed signing ceremony.

"That's the day that we're working towards," he said, "and at this stage everything is more or less done. We're happy with the way things have gone and I can't see any reason why anything would happen now that would stop us sealing everything then."

News of the agreement is a considerable boost to the association, whose senior officials will be glad to have the matter resolved when they are tied up with other matters relating to the World Cup and, more recently, their proposed joint bid with the Scots to stage the 2008 European Championships.

Menton, who had always expressed confidence a deal would be reached with McCarthy, declined to comment on the financial side of the agreement, but it has been widely speculated that the former Millwall boss will have his salary roughly doubled to £350,000 sterling (€580,000).

That figure falls well short of what McCarthy might have expected to earn if he had returned to club management in England and been offered a job with a Premiership club. But the basic figure excludes bonuses, and the nature of the Ireland job offers far greater opportunities for boosting income by way of appearance money.

"Clearly we're delighted to have reached agreement," said Menton. "The team has made continuous progress in the time that Mick's been there and the fact that he is now going to be there not only for the World Cup but also the entirety of the next European Championships campaign is very welcome."

McCarthy, meanwhile, is expected to unveil his squad for next week's friendly against Russia today, when some of the players on the periphery of the Irish panel will get some indication of where they stand in his pecking order.

Several, including Richard Sadlier, John O'Shea and Alan Mahon, will be hoping to be included in the party for next Wednesday's game. McCarthy has the option of naming an expanded squad, in which case Preston's Michael Keane may come into the reckoning.

While Gary Doherty and Steve Carr are certain to miss next week's game because of long-term injuries, another couple of established senior players, including Mark Kinsella and David Connolly, have been struggling of late and appear unlikely to play any part in this, the first instalment of the Irish team's preparations for the trip to Japan.