Heimir Hallgrimsson could have used the October window to take a closer look at what Jake O'Brien can offer rather than leave him out of his squad entirely, according to former Republic of Ireland international Keith Treacy.
Everton centre-back O'Brien has won three caps to date, including a late cameo against England in September but is one of the notable omissions from the Boys in Green squad for this week's UEFA Nations League away fixtures in Finland and Greece.
Ireland manager Hallgrimsson has indicated that, with an eye to the future, there is a level of experimentation with the squad he has picked for this month as the team seeks their first points in the Nations League group.
In that vein, uncapped Luton defender Mark McGuinness has been called up, while O'Brien, who's been restricted to very limited game-time since signing for Everton from Lyon in the summer, not making the cut.
However, Nottingham Forest defender Andrew Omobamidele, who is included in the Irish squad and may feature at right-back as happened against Greece, has not featured in the Premier League this season and only made one start in the Carabao Cup.
Speaking on the RTÉ Soccer Podcast, Treacy said he had misgivings about the decision not to include O'Brien and suggested that Hallgrimsson's selection of other players with few club minutes could be viewed as inconsistent decision-making.
"The one about Jake O'Brien is grating on me a little bit, just for the reason that the manager has said that he wants to play the players he hasn't seen," he said.
"Jake O'Brien falls into that category and McGuinness coming in from Luton, I love it, he's played a lot at times for Luton, played an awful lot for the Under-21s. So you've probably seen a lot more of McGuinness than you have of a Jake O'Brien.
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"And Jake O'Brien having been in the squad and not got onto the pitch (in September) is probably thinking, 'Is it the way I've trained? Is it the way I'm conducting myself? Why have I not got into the squad this time?'
"The fact that he's not playing at club level, if you want to level that at him, fair enough, (he can) hold his hands up, he's not playing.
"But there's an awful lot in that squad who aren't getting too many minutes and if you're going to take that line with one, you've got to take that line with them all.
"You have to be careful how you go about this and it's not the time to be chopping and changing. But the fact that (Hallgrimsson) got the job so late, it is what it is."
Also speaking on the podcast, former Drogheda United and St Johnstone defender Graham Gartland felt the omission of O'Brien may have been too drastic and that as a player of potential for the future, could have been kept within the camp.
"I'd be a little bit concerned about the Jake O'Brien one," he said.
"He's young and it's important that he feels involved in it from the start and to be left out of a squad then, it can taint that feeling of, 'I really enjoy going and playing with my country, I feel really wanted and I feel appreciated'.
"So I think you can spoil that for somebody at the start. That would be the one I think you don't need to experiment with somebody like him. You just keep him around and make sure that he's coming and going to be the future.
"Nathan Collins might get an injury, Dara O'Shea might get an injury, John Egan who's moved as well. Liam Scales has done really well at Celtic and again, I'm surprised he didn't play more in the last window.
"The fact that (Hallgrimsson) has the confidence to go and experiment would mean that it's probably come from the top down, that he has this ability to do it, that he has the time to do it."
Watch Finland v Republic of Ireland in the UEFA Nations League on Thursday from 7pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Follow a live blog on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app and listen to live commentary with 2fm's Game On.
Watch Republic of Ireland v Norway in UEFA European Championship Under-21 qualifying on Friday from 6.40pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Follow a live blog on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app.
Watch Greece v Republic of Ireland in the UEFA Nations League on Sunday from 7pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Follow a live blog on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app and listen to live commentary with 2fm's Game On.
Watch Derry City v Sligo Rovers in the League of Ireland on Monday from 7pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Kick-off 7.15pm. Follow a live blog on RTÉ.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app
