Former Ireland footballer James McClean has claimed that the FAI has nothing to lose if they were to appoint John O'Shea as the next Ireland boss.
O'Shea stepped into the role for the two games against Belgium and Switzerland on a temporary basis. There is now an expectation that O'Shea will not be given the role and that someone with more experience will eventually get the job.
However, the whole process to find a Stephen Kenny successor has taken over six months to complete.
The FAI stated that they planned to bring a new Ireland boss in early April, but now, according to reports, there is another delay in the search, much to the surprise of not many.
Many have slammed the FAI's hunt for a new boss, calling it a "farce" and a "disaster."
McClean, who played over 100 times for Ireland and retired in 2023, has become the latest voice to share that opinion.
I love James McClean pic.twitter.com/WFn8pqi2Sv
— Dan (@DanWrexham) April 16, 2024
"The way the FAI has gone about it has been a bit of a shambles, really. It seems that they’re just trying whoever’s available," McClean told Dublin Live this week.
The Derry native also believes that giving his former teammate O'Shea the job wouldn't be a bad idea for the FAI.
"But John’s a great football man, with a lot of knowledge in the game—I don’t see what they’d be losing by giving it to John, if I’m honest. He’s quite a likeable man, he’s good with the lads, he knows the game inside out; he's been there and done it at the highest level.
"I think they could do a lot worse than give it to John."
McClean's comments about the Ireland boss come in the same week he was criticised for promoting anti-monarchy songs as Wrexham secured promotion into League One last Saturday.
Fans sang a song for McClean, and a line of the song was 'he hates the f***ing King'. A video went viral of McClean urging the crowd on, and this was met with backlash from members of the English media.
The Daily Mail's headline read, "Controversial Irish Wrexham star James McClean salutes fans singing 'he hates the f***ing King', weeks after Ryan Reynolds' team invited Prince William to their stadium."
The former Ireland winger screenshotted the headline in an Instagram post and wrote, "Is this correct? Absolutely, and I also sang along at the top of my lungs." The 34-year-old went on to say, "Do I make any apologies for doing so? Absolutely not."
