Experts’ reaction

Paul McGrath

“There are too many people now in Abbotstown who aren’t football people, they are coming from other backgrounds and have taken their eye off the ball.

“I know it’s a few weeks after Christmas, but it was pantomime stuff from the FAI last week, it belonged on the stage. It was farcical, they seemed afraid to say a word about the whole business.

“Irish football deserves better than to have a situation where it seemed that managing Stoke, a club clearly on a downward curve, and who were rejected by another manager (on Saturday), is deemed a better job than managing Ireland. That’s where we stood last week.”

Kevin Kilbane

“Whatever spin you put on it, it doesn’t reflect well on them.

“If Roy were offered the job, I think he’d find it very hard to turn it down”

Darren O’Dea

“The fact it hasn’t been signed yet is very strange. I found it very, very strange. The scenario is a club team has come in for him, and he can potentially move away for nothing, soon. It’s a really strange situation. How the FAI haven’t tied this down is really strange. You could potentially see the manager walk away, now.”

Brian Kerr

“Why doesn’t he (O’Neill) come out and say that he’s fully committed to Ireland or why don’t the FAI make a statement saying ‘he can do what he wants, he never signed a contract.”