EUROSCENE/Paddy Agnew: So then, after a hectic day of press releases, federation meetings and official statements, the final score reads: "Eriksson No, Trapattoni Yes". Or does it?

Having listened to the English FA's executive director David Davies, the Italian Football Federation president Franco Carraro, Sven Goran Eriksson's agent Athole Still and Giovanni Trapattoni himself, we can now be absolutely certain about two things.

Firstly, Trapattoni remains Italian national coach and secondly the Italian federation has not gone looking to hire England manager Eriksson as his replacement.

Both the above conclusions are doubtless true, but for how long long does Trapattoni's mandate now run?

The answer is probably until the next defeat and if that were to come in a friendly against Turkey in Pescara on November 20th, then "Trap" will almost certainly be out of a job.

Sources close to the Italian federation yesterday confirmed to The Irish Times what has been plain since Italy stuttered to that 2-1 European Championship defeat by Wales in Cardiff last month.Namely, that Italy are desperately looking for a new coach but as yet have not found the ideal candidate ready, willing and, above all, immediately available.

Of the names linked with the job, all bar Eriksson have as now been ruled out.

Top of the federation's wish-list are Fabio Capello of AS Roma and Marcello Lippi of Juventus. Yet, both are committed to their clubs and thus not currently available.

Next in line come current under-21 coach Claudio Gentile, former under-21 and Inter Milan coach Marco Tardelli, Gianluca Vialli and former AC Milan and Lazio coach Alberto Zaccheroni.This quartet, however, have been discarded because of their lack of top-level experience, because of poor recent results, or both.

For many, the logical choice would have been Trapattoni's predecessor, Dino Zoff, who took Italy to within 20 seconds of winning Euro 2000. Yet his candidacy has been blocked by some of Italy's top clubs and by federation officials who feel he would simply be a step back into the past.

Nor has it helped Zoff that he resigned from his post on the day after the Euro 2000 final after being labelled "an amateur" by current Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. Federation president Carraro is much too political an animal to consider appointing as coach someone so summarily dismissed by the prime minister, with whom he has close political ties.

All of which brings us back to Eriksson, who knows Italian football inside out (having coached in Italy for 14 seasons with Roma, Fiorentina, Sampdoria and Lazio in that order). What is more, and this is the best bit, Eriksson wants to come back to Italian football.

Eriksson was in Rome over the weekend and The Irish Times has learned that he left friends and acquaintances in no doubt but that he would be more than willing to return to Italy, sooner or later.

Eriksson's reasons for moving from England are reportedly more linked to ongoing difficulties with the intrusion of the tabloid media into his private life than with any difficulties with the English FA.

When Eriksson first considered moving back to Italy, he almost certainly had a club job in mind. Yet, if Italy lose or play badly to Turkey, if the British tabloids keep getting on Eriksson's wick, if England struggle again . . .

It could be that sooner or later, Trapattoni will get the sack, that Eriksson will part company with England and that the Italian federation will offer him the Italian job.

The final score could well yet read: "Eriksson Yes, Trapattoni No".