STEVE Bruce is ready for a man-to-man summit with Giovanni Trapattoni in a bid to resolve the issues which left Andy Reid kicking his heels during the Republic of Ireland's heroic night in Paris.

But Irish fans cheered up by the news that Reid could well figure in Trapattoni's next squad if Bruce's peacemaking effort is successful will be horrified by the news that Thierry Henry and his mates are set to pocket anything up to €15m for reaching the 2010 finals.

Skipper Henry was a key figure in negotiations betweenplayers and the French Football Federation which produced a bonus payment structure which paid about €15k per group or friendly win -- doubled if the team qualifies.

That means that Henry will trouser almost €450k for his part in the campaign proving that sometimes in football, cheaters win handsomely.

While Henry is counting his profit, the other man at the centre of the play-off controversy, referee Martin Hansson, has revealed he thought about quitting after the game although Irish fans would have preferred if he had entertained thoughts like that and acted upon them a month ago.

"I asked myself if this job is worth all the humiliation I had to face. Thoughts like, 'Is this really what I want?' also came up in my head," said Hansson

"I now realise after all the support I've got, it wasn't my fault," he said. "It was an unlucky situation with big consequences for Ireland. But it wasn't our referee team's fault."

While the negative fallout from that match in Paris continues to reverberate around the world, Black Cats boss Bruce is ready for some positive action.

"I have had a conversation with Andy and that has to remain confidential. I hope that after the World Cup campaign there can be some sort of compromise," he said.

"It's a shame because his bit of quality against France last week might have made the difference.

"It's a shame he is not representing his country for whatever reason. I don't particularly want to get involved and I haven't. But I know that in his condition he is arguably playing at the height of his profession. He has arguably been our best player this season."

"If Andy wanted me to then I would have the conversation (with Trapattoni), of course I would. But I will keep what we have talked about to myself."

- Paul Hyland