As speculation persists about who the next Republic of Ireland manager will be, former Preston, St Patrick's Athletic and Sligo Rovers striker Eoin Doyle believes a longer-term view is of more importance, pointing to four years' time when he hopes the Boys in Green will emerge from a transitional period with a squad that will have gathered more moss in the experience stakes.
Speaking on the RTÉ Soccer Podcast, the 35-year-old who spent a decade playing in the UK, in between spells in the League of Ireland, feels the FAI have been right to avoid making a quick decision on the vacancy that opened up after the parting of ways with Stephen Kenny.
"I know there's been so much noise regarding it and obviously lots of negativity towards the FAI in the way it's been approached and why it has taken so long but if I'm honest I think they've gone about it the right way, taking their time and doing some proper due diligence I'd imagine," he said.
The Dubliner does not expect qualification for the next World Cup to be a realistic goal but with the Republic of Ireland set to co-host Euro 2028 and the potential that a young core could mature by then, Doyle believes the incoming manager primarily needs to be a personality that can steady the ship through transitional currents and navigate the choppy waters of media scrutiny.
"Regarding the next appointment, I don't really think the person that gets the job is that important in the sense of I think the manager of the national team in four years' time will be far more important to me than this manager now," he said.
"I think we're in a bit of a transitional period regarding the players we have at our disposal at international level to qualify for tournaments.
"So me personally, the manager that comes in, I hope is a good character, is able to play the press an downplay expectations because realistically if we were to start qualifying for tournaments, it would be a bit of a miracle in my eyes when you see the standard of the other international teams."
England Under-21 manager Lee Carsley had been the favourite for the role but last week, his former Ireland team-mate Shay Given expressed his view that the 49-year-old would not be taking up the current vacancy.
Reports at the weekend also suggested that candidates such as Neil Lennon have been informed that the FAI will be looking elsewhere and on Sunday, speculation suddenly surrounded the name of former Wales manager Chris Coleman.
The ex-Fulham, Sunderland and Real Sociedad boss, whose father was born in Dublin, enjoyed plenty of success during his tenure with the Welsh team as a Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey-led squad reached the semi-finals at Euro 2016, although those highs have not followed him into his most recent club management roles.
But from what Doyle has surmised during his decade in England, Coleman's man-management seems to be his main quality.
"When I was touching on character there when we were speaking about the next manager, he certainly is one by all accounts," Doyle said of Coleman.
"I've heard great stories about his half-time team-talks and stuff over the years when he was Coventry manager and I had a few friends that played under him at Sunderland.
"That (Sunderland spell) didn't end well but the club itself wasn't in a great spot so it was a difficult situation for everyone up there at the time.
"Obviously, we'd all look back at his Wales situation and hope that's something he could do for us if he were to come in. We don't have a Gareth Bale though unfortunately.
"But as I said, this managerial appointment for me isn't that important. It's about someone that can come in, try to play to our strengths, get these young players that we have coming through, get them loads of experience at international level (so that) in three of four years' time to be really pushing for tournaments."
Listen to the RTÉ Soccer podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
Watch Inter Milan v Atletico Madrid in the Champions League on Tuesday from 7.30pm live on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player, follow a live blog on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app
Watch Italy v Republic of Ireland in an international friendly on Friday from 5.10pm live on the RTÉ News Channel and RTÉ Player, follow a live blog on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app
