Martin O'Neill and Roy Keane have been confirmed as the managerial duo to revive the Republic of Ireland's fortunes and drive them to the expanded 24-team Euro 2016 finals, with the Football Association of Ireland's chief executive, John Delaney, describing their capture as a case of "job done".

Delaney intends to unveil O'Neill as the successor to Giovanni Trapattoni and Keane as his high-profile No2 at a press conference on Saturday. The pair's contracts are understood to be for an initial two years.

The move has fired the imagination after the stasis of Trapattoni's final months. The team slumped at the Euro 2012 finals and struggled in their World Cup qualifying group, eventually losing to Sweden and Austria in September to end their hopes and bring about the Italian's dismissal.

O'Neill and Keane are united by the distinction of having played under Brian Clough at Nottingham Forest and they will take the team for the first time in the Dublin friendly against Latvia on Friday week. They then play against Poland in Poznan the following Tuesday. O'Neill will be in charge of training.

"I think I'm the bad cop and I think he's the bad, bad cop," O'Neill said jokingly of Keane on ITV. "I think we are excited by it. I'm looking forward to it greatly." He added of his assistant: "I think he'll be great for me but more importantly I think he'll be great for the Republic of Ireland."

Keane shared O'Neill's sense of anticipation. "I'm delighted and honoured that Martin has asked me to go and help him with the team. I'm very excited – I might not look it but I am. I'm looking forward to working with the players and trying to get to the Euros."

The FAI's scheduling of the home game against Latvia had reflected their confidence that the lengthy search for Trapattoni's successor was about to end and they now hope the O'Neill-Keane partnership will lead to a sold-out Aviva Stadium. Trapattoni's pragmatic style had, in the end, turned off many Ireland supporters.

"I hope that this Saturday, there will be an unveiling of our new management," Delaney told Newstalk Radio, which is owned by Denis O'Brien, the businessman who will subsidise their wages. O'Brien had paid half of Trapattoni's salary.

Delaney described the pair as "great icons of Irish soccer" and he said that O'Neill, who was sacked by Sunderland last March, had pushed for Keane's appointment. "He asked what the association's view would be about Roy being considered and I said: 'Absolutely no problem,'" Delaney stated.

Keane had seemingly burned his bridges with the FAI after being sent home from the 2002 World Cup finals following a furious row with the then manager, Mick McCarthy. In some respects, he is a controversial choice, even if he is one to quicken the pulse, with Sir Alex Ferguson, Keane's former manager at Manchester United, being heavily critical of him in his recently published autobiography. Ferguson suggested that Keane, who had been in charge at Sunderland and Ipswich Town, lacked the temperament to succeed in management.

"There should be a line drawn in the sand in terms of Saipan [at the 2002 World Cup] and what happened," said Delaney. "We were all younger people then and it was years ago."

Referring to Keane's past criticisms of him, when the then Republic of Ireland captain had said: "I wouldn't take any notice of that man," Delaney said: "People would have known Roy and I wouldn't have had much contact in the past, because he was a player with the team and I was probably treasurer."

But he insisted that there was "no issue" with Keane. The pair met last week "and the past was discussed for about 30 seconds and it was all about the future".

Delaney suggested that the Celtic majority shareholder, Dermot Desmond, had helped to set up the deal. O'Neill was the Celtic manager from 2000 to 2005 while Keane followed him as a player there in 2006. "Dermot's support and advice was crucial to me," Delaney said.