Feeney — who is currently working as a youth coach in Florida — was not surprised by Shamrock Rovers’ 4-1 demolition of Larne in the Conference League last week, as he believes there is a ‘massive gap’ between the Irish League and the League of Ireland.
This season, both champions Larne and League leaders Linfield have struggled for form while the rest of last year’s top six — Coleraine, Cliftonville, Crusaders and Glentoran — have failed to take full advantage.
Feeney told this week’s BelTel Football podcast: “I think it’s the weakest the League has been in a long, long while.
“I think if anyone goes on a run, they’ll go win the League because you can see everyone’s beating everyone.
“I think it’s a chance for someone to really put a run of games together and take advantage of Larne’s slow start or Linfield’s slip-ups. But no one has really taken full advantage so far.
“Obviously with Larne, what they have done in Europe is phenomenal for the League.
“But on Thursday you could see the massive gap. It is what I’ve been saying for years, the League of Ireland is well ahead of the Irish League because they have been full-time for longer.
“If you go full-time you have to do it right. For me, only Larne are doing it right at the moment. Linfield are getting there as well.
“But if you’re going to do it, it has to be 100%. You can’t have part-time players mixed into the group.”
Last week, Warren’s son George returned to the Northern Ireland fold after a stint playing at youth level for Wales.
If the Tottenham Hotspur youth team star can make the grade at international level, he will become the fourth generation of the Feeney family to be capped by Northern Ireland.
Warren insisted that he played no role in George’s decision to commit to Northern Ireland rather than Wales.
He said: “I’m not one of those parents that puts pressure on their son just because I played myself. I tried to step away from it, let him make his own decision. As much as people say George is Northern Irish, he was born in Wales so it wasn’t a straightforward decision.
“He’s a kid that just wants to play football, so when he wasn’t called up to one of the Northern Ireland squads, Wales had an opportunity and he went with it. He loved it. He was captain and played well.
“However, later on Gareth McAuley and Michael O’Neill had a word with him and convinced him to come back.”
Even though George’s impressive start to life at Spurs has made the headlines, Warren has promised to keep his son’s feet firmly on the floor.
“We keep him grounded. For example, he just signed a deal with Adidas. I said, ‘Don’t think you’re going to be the next David Beckham just because you’re able to order a load of free Adidas gear’.
“In football, anything can happen. But George is in a good position at a good club.”