Retaining John O'Shea and the rest of the Republic of Ireland interim management team on a permanent basis should be the way forward taken by the FAI rather than pursuing an option like Gus Poyet, according to Johnny McDonnell and Eoin Doyle.
Former Manchester United and Ireland defender O'Shea and a temporary coaching team comprised of Crystal Palace first-team coach Paddy McCarthy, Glenn Whelan and Brian Kerr, oversaw the Boys in Green's recent friendlies against Belgium and Switzerland.
The first of those ended in an encouraging 0-0 draw against an admittedly under-strength Belgian side on Saturday before suffering a narrow loss to Switzerland on Tuesday.
In the aftermath, O'Shea said he was "more than ready and capable to be a manager" amid continued speculation about the permanent vacancy following the parting of ways with Stephen Kenny last November.
'Gus Poyet? No' - Johnny McDonnell would prefer to see the interim management team retained rather than plump for Poyet
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He has received backing from players like Nathan Collins, while his ex-Man United team-mate Rio Ferdinand also weighed in positively about the Waterford native's credentials whilst on a visit to Sligo.
The FAI have said that they remain on course to announce the identity of the next manager in early April, with O'Shea not the only name that appears to be in the mix.
Greece manager Gus Poyet, whose team lost to Georgia in this week's Euro 2024 play-off final, remains linked to the Ireland job with his contract set to expire on 31 March, although the Uruguayan did distance himself from the position during a promotional appearance in Dublin two months ago.
Speaking on the RTÉ Soccer Podcast, former St Patrick's Athletic, Drogheda United and Shelbourne manager Johnny McDonnell said he was emphatically not in favour of Poyet being considered and would rather see attempts to build on the work O'Shea, McCarthy, Whelan and Kerr have done this month.
Both matches against Belgium and Switzerland were analysed on this week's podcast. Watch above via YouTube or listen in wherever you get your podcasts.
"[The FAI had] better bring a better group together than this group because I think this group, as Eoin said, have a good chance," said McDonnell, who served as an assistant to Kerr during the Dubliner's time as manager of Faroe Islands, adding that, "I'm really, really strong on this: Gus Poyet, no. Seriously, no."
McDonnell opined that bringing the Irish senior side out of the doldrums of international football would require longer-term thinking and harnessing the passion of O'Shea and the interim staff for March would be beneficial.
And McDonnell added that any other candidate would have to be a very clear improvement on the set-up that was assembled this month for it to be worthwhile.
"These four fellas care about it, absolutely 100% care about it," he said.
"They care, they really, really care and that's what's so important for me. They're there and they'll give everything.
"I love John, I love the style of him. He's calm, he's collected, he deals with the press brilliantly and he'll deal with the FAI well, the fans well and the staff. It's a good mix, put those ingredients together.
"And the way they played over the last two games, I think they can definitely build on that. If you bring someone else in now, they've got to go two or three games to rebuild that and then we've lost three or four games again and it's September.
"So I think with John, 100% give him the job and that's that."
But given that the FAI have had four months to unearth a new manager and O'Shea was always available, how would his appointment impact perceptions of the association and director of football Marc Canham's recruitment process?
"For me, if John was to get it, I wouldn't look at that negatively on the FAI," said former St Patrick's Athletic, Preston North End and Bolton Wanderers striker Eoin Doyle on the podcast.
"I'd look at it in the sense that 'we've gone and realised that no one really wants this (job)', in the sense of the big names that they were chasing.
"Now, from my point of view, I'd be a strong advocate of John getting the job. I think he's after creating a wonderful team there and bringing Brian back, bringing Glenn Whelan, and Paddy McCarthy's coaching career has had a great start. There's a reason Crystal Palace have had him on their books for such a long time as a coach and so close to the action in the first-team.
"Right now, Ireland is in an awful transitional period, there aren't going to be many good days over the next two or three years and that's the reality of it in my eyes.
"Having a manager in like John is, an approachable man, he'll be able to dim expectations within the press and he'll always be loved for the playing career that he had. He's ideal for this gig.
"He knows our young players so well from coaching through the underage set-up. From my point of view, there's no better man for it."
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