MART SAGA IS ‘MESS’

expected to make his decision known today.

But it is understood that Stoke may be dashed in their hopes of having their new boss in place for Monday’s clash with Manchester United. If Flores snubs the job, Stoke will turn to O’neill who, Mirror Sport understands, was only in line for an initial six-month deal with Flores their long-term focus.

But Dunne, capped 80 times, said of the FAI: “There doesn’t seem to be any sort of leadership at the moment. Nobody knows if he’s coming or going. “It could be a difficult one for him to come back from. They will have to have some strong conversations to sort it out because at the moment it looks like a bit of a mess.”

Dunne, who played under O’neill at Aston Villa, told Off The Ball: “If there’s no contract signed then he’s entitled to go look at other jobs. The FAI should have dealt with it before this as it leaves the door open for people to poach him.”

And Dunne fears the players will be asking questions of O’neill if he fails to land the Stoke job and stays with Ireland. As soon as he’s linked to a club and it looks as if he wants the job, as players you think, ‘He’s gone, who’s the next manager’.

“If he then comes back players say, ‘What’s going on here’ but it’s a situation that the FAI have put themselves in.”

Dunne added: “Martin has been successful with Ireland and can look back and say that he’s done well. But the Premier League is still a big draw and I’m sure he would love a crack at it.”

Yesterday, the FAI refused to comment on the rapidly changing developments in the Mark Hughes succession race.

All week Abbotstown officials insisted they were refusing to panic and that they remained confident O’neill would stay.

But their operation went into shutdown mode yesterday after Wednesday’s revelations that O’neill was in talks with Stoke.

It has since transpired that the Irish gaffer is their Plan B and that Flores is the man they want, with a five-contract offer believed to be on the table.

Stoke top brass – minus chair Peter Coates – met Flores in Barcelona on Wednesday and contact was made again yesterday.

Last night, Flores’ Espanyol beat Levante 2-0 in the Copa Del Rey but the former Hornets boss kicked questions on Stoke to touch.

POT LUCK FOR QUIQUE Former Watford coach Quique Sanchez Flores will tell Stoke today if he is happy to join them