Niall Quinn believes that Evan Ferguson needs a club manager whose philosophy is best suited to his strengths as a centre-forward.
Tuesday morning brought the unsurprising news that Ferguson would not be fit in time for Thursday's qualifier against Portugal, despite his initial inclusion in the 26-man squad.
The official word from the Ireland set-up was that Ferguson was remaining in Rome to give himself the chance to recover in time for next Sunday's game away to Hungary.
However, Roma manager Gian Pierro Gasperini flatly insisted that the striker wasn't fit after their win over Udinese on Sunday. It is doubtful whether club and country are on the same page.
The 21-year-old's club career continues to be plagued by ill-luck but he is already over one third of the way towards Quinn's international goals tally, which briefly stood as the record until Robbie Keane passed it out in 2004.
However, after a stunning breakthrough at Brighton in 2023, his club career has stalled, with injuries hampering his progress along with a failed loan to West Ham in the second half of last season.
His move to Roma in the summer was welcomed as an exotic and glamourous one but, despite a bright start in Italy, he has yet to score for the club and Gasperini has recently made discouraging noises about his future there.
Citing his own experiences as a player early in his career, Quinn feels that Ferguson could do with a manager whose approach aligns with his attributes.
"He's got a tonne of ability, everyone knows that," Quinn told RTÉ Sport. "You do need things to fall right for you. He's had niggly injuries most of the season and is a doubt again now.
"I can only speak from my own experiences here. You need to play for a manager who really believes in what you do. As opposed to trying to change you into somebody the manager wants. And that happens to certain players.
"I can remember at Arsenal, George Graham had me playing a particular way. And I understood it, I got it. It was how we played. But when I went up to Man City and Howard Kendall said, 'no I want you to do this.' It totally changed how I went onto the pitch and my career took off.
"George Graham was a brilliant manager but I was struggling in what he wanted me to do. I was really struggling. Whereas I went up to Howard Kendall and very quickly became the focal point of the team.
"So I understand when you go and it's not really happening for you at a club and they're not seeing the best of you. Sometimes you need a coach who values what you have.
"Has he met the right one yet? I'm not sure."
Quinn is nonetheless enthused by the new openness of Irish players to a career on the continent. Troy Parrott is currently the poster boy of breaking out beyond the confines of the England and Scottish leagues, the Dubliner's career having been rejuvenated by a move to the Eredivisie.
At a low ebb in his own career following his cruciate ligament injury, Quinn was all set to head to Selangor in Malaysia, before Peter Reid gave him a call from Sunderland. He later regretted not heading abroad to play late in his career after Howard Wilkinson deemed him surplus to requirements at the Stadium of Light.
"One of the regrets that I have in my career that I didn't head off to Portugal or Spain or something. On a personal level, I always regret that.
"I think it's great for strikers to learn different ways of playing and different ways of fitting in. You just don't arrive at 17 years of age and know everything.
"I'm all for it. Rather than playing reserve team football or going down the leagues in England, I'm all for players going to try it out."
Watch Republic of Ireland v Portugal in World Cup qualifying on Thursday from 7pm on RTÉ2 and the RTÉ Player. Follow a live blog on the RTÉ News App and on rte.ie/sport. Listen to live commentary on RTÉ Radio 1
Irish football legend Niall Quinn was speaking in association with FraudSMART to warn over 50s to be alert to investment scams following marked increase in adverts featuring AI-generated celebrity endorsements
