Seventy-seven days later, following the conclusion of the first Congress held under his leadership, we are still waiting for him to truly deliver.

Worryingly for the future of the corruption-plagued organisation, the majority of the decisions passed by FIFA’s membership here yesterday were more representative of the previous regime than the current one.

The electorate were rubbing their hands with glee when the issue of the increased development funding, part of the FIFA Forward Programme, was put to a vote. Did they fancy the money? Of course they did. Every single Member Association, unsurprisingly, ticked the yes box.

After all, they are used to being offered cold, hard cash. The spend, spend, spend mantra is right out of the Blatter playbook.

The pledge of the three-fold rise in funding - from $400,000 (£280,000/€354,000) to $1.25 million (£870,000/€1.1 million) per year - for each of the now 211-strong membership had been a key part of Infantino’s pre-election manifesto and had sparked fierce criticism from some of his rival candidates, notably French businessman Jérôme Champagne, but Infantino stuck at it.

With that in mind, shouldn’t we applaud the Swiss lawyer for keeping his word? After all, it was his line of “FIFA’s money is your money” during his speech to the Congress ahead of the vote that had a big say in his election as President nearly three months ago. The members would not have forgotten that.

Yet the lack of detailed information he gave on how the ambitious funding programme would be financed should have come as a real concern for the associations. It didn’t. They clearly got lured into old habits, gratefully accepting the the metaphorical bag of money with open arms instead of ringing the alarm bells.

Many were expecting an in-depth rundown as to how Infantino would go about implementing the change less than half a year since FIFA announced its first loss for 14 years, but instead all we heard was promises he may not be able to keep.

The similarities with his now-exiled predecessor don’t stop there. Blatter, for all the genuinely positive development work he oversaw across the footballing world, was often accused of taking the dictatorial stance more often than not, relishing the power and prestige that came with being FIFA President.

His compatriot has, whether witting or unwittingly, followed in his footsteps. Yes, it is his Presidential right and yes it forms part of the governing body’s Statutes but even his fellow ruling Council members were shocked to hear the name of the person he proposed to be his number two when he informed them of his nomination at a hastily-convened meeting ahead of the Congress.

That name was Fatma Samba Diouf Samoura of Senegal, a United Nations (UN) Humanitarian Coordinator and United Nations Development programme Resident Representative in Nigeria, who is expected to take up the secretary general post in mid-June, providing she completes the required eligibility checks.

The Council were not involved in the process which led to her becoming the first-ever female number two in FIFA’s 112-year history, and many were left open-mouthed when Infantino revealed the news. They had no idea this was coming.

The FIFA head will suggest the appointment of a woman is a clear example of change within world football and a demonstration that the “new era” is, contrary to popular opinion, well and truly underway.

But even Samoura’s surprise selection has elements of Blatterism laced all over it. The Confederation of African Football, despite getting it hopelessly wrong in the most recent election, has always been seen to be a key battleground for any candidate or President. Until Gibraltar and Kosovo were admitted as the 210th and 211th members respectively, the body was the strongest in numbers and a cynic might say her appointment is nothing more than an attempt to keep the continent on side.

Blatter was notorious for bending over backwards to the CAF during his time in the FIFA hotseat and Infantino will know he will need a favour from them in three years’ time, should he choose to stand for re-election.

While Samoura is not directly affiliated to the African Confederation, she does give the continent a presence within the top brass which they have never previously enjoyed, save for a few months under the interim leadership of FIFA vice-president and CAF chief Issa Hayatou, and her appointment would no doubt have been welcomed from Cairo to Cape Town.

As well as catering to the African need, the decision to choose a black, African woman ticks all the right boxes from a political standpoint and comes as FIFA attempts to prove it is serious when it comes to gender equality. The move is a shrewd one.

Yet, conversely, there are serious question marks surrounding her eligibility and suitability for what is now essentially the most important role in FIFA. Samoura has no business knowledge and this her first-ever role in sport. Talk about a baptism of fire.

Exactly what she plans to do in the role will become clearer during the beginning of her reign but it is difficult to imagine her assuming the same role as that of the previous secretary general, Frenchman Jerome Valcke, who was sacked in January before being hit with a 12-year ban for a series of ethics breaches the following month. He was very much business orientated having worked in FIFA’s sports and marketing department prior to landing the position in 2007.

It is likely, therefore, that we will see Infantino do most of the contract signing and deal-breaking as this is where his expertise lies following seven years as general secretary of UEFA.

Whispers had been gathering pace that the FIFA President would take the historic step of giving the role to a woman, especially considering adding more females to the Council, which has replaced the Executive Committee but will comprise of the same 25 members until elections are held later in 2016, was an integral part of the reform process.

It is regarding the reform package where Infantino let himself down the most during the Congress, adding an item to the agenda at the 11th hour which largely went unnoticed but has torn a hole right through his plans to revamp and restore independence to FIFA.

A motion was presented by the FIFA Council to let them have the power to dismiss the heads of its independent committees without taking the matter to its membership, as has always been the case, even under Blatter.

The unprecedented move could see the likes of Audit and Compliance Committee chairman Domenico Scala, Ethics Committee Adjudicatory Chamber judge Hans-Joachim Eckert and Investigatory counterpart Cornel Borbély get the sack based purely on the decision of the 37-strong Council.

Unbelievably, it passed with flying colours. These same members who had voted in their numbers to get behind the reforms were having a pivotal role in the unravelling of one of their principle aims.

It provided a perfect example of the electorate’s apparent apathy towards the ballots which were held during the Congress; did they even know what they were voting for? Based on what we witnessed, evidently not as the decision effectively gives them no say in who sits on the Committees which remain vital in tackling the issues still hovering over the governing body.

Many of the members just seem to be happy to turn up, press a few buttons and pocket their $1,000 fee (£700/€880), another element which was prominent during the Blatter years. Cheerio, thanks for the payday.

As well as that, it highlighted a clear rift between Infantino and Audit and Compliance Committee chief Domenico Scala. When the motion was agreed, the Swiss-Italian duly decided enough was enough. He was clearly fuming at what he had just seen and, instead of hanging around for the remainder of proceedings, he instead headed for the exit door. Perhaps the President had forgotten he was the one who drafted the reforms which eventually helped the Swiss win the election.

His fate was placed solely in the hands of FIFA's ruling entity. Now where have we heard that before?

Some new era.