Niall Quinn on the state of play in Irish football.

NIALL QUINN says there is a “process” to go through before agreement is reached on a new deal for FAI high performance director Ruud Dokter but the interim deputy CEO has indicated he sees no reason to object to the idea.

Reports that the Dutchman was set to extend his stay in Ireland by another two years drew an angry response from the Schoolboys Football Association of Ireland (SFAI) who have written to the FAI CEO Gary Owens to highlight their lack of confidence in Dokter.

Tensions can largely be traced to the introduction of national U-13 and U-15 leagues that angered schoolboy clubs who feel they have been cast aside in favour of the League of Ireland.

Quinn told ‘LOI Weekly’ he wasn’t privy to talks with Dokter but said: “I read there was a contract offered. Gary Owens rang me and said, did you talk about it? I don’t know anything about that.’

“I think there’s a conversation that started before we got there. We’ve had a good look at it. I don’t see any reason to put a big red flag up but I do think there’s a process to be fulfilled.”

He acknowledged there were issues around the underage leagues and hinted that the U-13 version could be vulnerable.

“In an ideal world, we would have 13s, 14s, 15s, 16s, 17s, 18s,” he said. “I’m not even so sure it will start at 13s (going forward). There needs to be a proper domestic compensation agreement for feeder clubs whose players go into the national league.

“The way the national leagues were introduced, it wasn’t great. We have to build up trust again. There’s definitely resentment in the area about the way that whole thing took off and that has to be repaired. But they (leagues) are an important part of League of Ireland going forward.” Quinn added that Dokter’s deal gave him a big say in the appointment of U-21 manager Jim Crawford.