JAMES McCLEAN believes the FAI ‘have had long enough’ to make a decision on who will be the next Republic of Ireland manager.
And Stephen Kelly believes John O’Shea has put himself in prime position for the job despite ending his interim stint with a 3-0 defeat to Portugal.
O’Shea brought the curtain down on his second spell as temporary head coach with a friendly loss to Cristiano Ronaldo and co. on Tuesday night.
The former Republic of Ireland and Manchester United defender had taken the reins on an interim basis back in March amid the FAI‘s ongoing search for a new permanent boss.
The Association has been on the look-out since Stephen Kenny left the post last November.
It is hoped that a new man will be in place in time for the opening UEFA Nations League game against England in September.
However, speaking following last night’s game, James McClean believes the FAI should be making the call sooner.
The Ireland centurion said on RTE: “I think the FAI now just have to make a decision because the longer it goes on, it is doing no-one any favours.
“It’s doing John no favours, doing the players, the fans. Just make a decision. You have had long enough, make a decision.”
Across his two spell with the side, O’Shea oversaw four games, losing twice (1-0 vs Switzerland and 3-0 vs Portugal), drawn once (0-0 vs Belgium), and won once (2-1 vs Hungary).
And McClean said the FAI should base their assessment of his former international colleague on the four games, rather than solely the loss to Roberto Martinez‘s men.
The Wrexham star added: “I think it is important not to judge John on tonight.
“I think you have to judge the four games and I think it has gone reasonably okay.
“We have played top level opposition, Portugal being the better of the four sides but the three games before that were close games.
“We beat Hungary, so let’s judge him over the four games and just make a decision.”
Stephen Kelly, meanwhile, went even stronger, arguing that O’Shea should be judged on how he has handled the pressures of the job.
Pointing to Tom Cannon’s integration into the fold after the Leicester City man turned down an approach from England to make his Ireland debut, Kelly said the 43-year-old is in a “great position”.
He said: “We are talking about can we judge him? You can judge him on his behaviour and how he has conducted himself.
“Have you ever seen an interim manager go to that level of in-depth conversations with players off the pitch?
“Talking about their futures, how we can progress Irish football even if he is not there.
“That doesn’t often happen so you have to admire that.
“And the level of frustration at the end of that game, because he is frustrated that they did not do the things that he wanted to do, is nice to see as well.
“Is he going to get the job? Who knows. The FAI at the moment, it is like picking out of a hat.
“He’s put himself in a great position, I think, to have a chance.”