Alan Smith believes that his former teammate John O'Shea has the drive to succeed in the Ireland job if he somehow lands the vacant role left by Stephen Kenny in November.
O'Shea held the Ireland gig on a temporary basis for the Belgium and Switzerland games in March and is now expected to step aside for another manager with more experience. However, there is a group of fans and former players who have refused to take O'Shea's name out of the Ireland frame.
Waterford may lack experience on the touchline, but according to Smith, he can succeed with Ireland. When asked if he saw O'Shea as someone who was destined for management, Smith, his former teammate, said that although O'Shea is quite on the pitch, he will have the drive to succeed in the role.
"John has so much experience and has been around such successful players at such a successful club for so long that you’d hope he’d be ready for the challenge," said Smith, speaking exclusively to IrishPost.com via kryptocasinos, the home of Bitcoin Casinos,
John O'Shea (Photo by Charles McQuillan/Getty Images)"John’s a very calm guy who went about his job very well at United and for such a long time with so much success. He’s such a good lad and someone who has a quieter personality with an inner drive to want to succeed."
"I don’t know if you can really tell who is going to go into management because there are certain people that love the game even though they don’t vocalise it and might not be as outgoing as other players and don’t have that type of personality, but have that inner drive and love football—that’s what Sheasy will be like."
Smith also believes that O'Shea can also use Roy Keane for experience when he needs to gain much-needed advice.
"He’s had 118 caps for Ireland, so he has the experience of what is needed. He’ll also have really good friends that he has played with too, like Roy, who was the assistant for the Republic of Ireland, so I’m sure he will be able to pick up the phone and talk to Roy about his experiences and what he feels is needed."
Smith also gave his thoughts on Keane being the next Ireland boss and claimed that bosses of the FAI would be afraid of Keane's no-nonsense approach when it comes to matters with the national team.
Keane famously left the 2002 Ireland World Cup training camp and won't bite his tongue. When asked if Keane would be a success, Smith added, "Yes, definitely. For me, it would be a no-brainer, but the hardest thing is that when someone doesn’t need the job, I think the owners are always a bit sceptical and a little bit scared. If Roy goes in there, he will tell the truth about the situation of the club; if he wants players in, if he thinks something isn’t right, I’m sure he will voice his opinions on it."
