"I don't think he's going to take it right now," Jason McAteer replied when asked if he thinks Lee Carsley will be the next Ireland manager.
McAteer and Carsley were teammates both with Ireland and Blackburn Rovers and have remained "very close".
Carsley, currently manager of the English U21 team, has been the main contender to take up the Ireland role since Stephen Kenny departed in November.
The Irish Independent reported on Wednesday that the FAI remain "confident" Carsley will succeed Kenny.
13 November 2001; Republic of Ireland players, from left, Steve Finnan, Matt Holland, Lee Carsley, Mark Kinsella, Kenny Cunningham, Jason McAteer and Gary Kelly listen to manager Mick McCarthy during a Republic of Ireland Squad Training Session at the Azadi Sports Complex in Tehran, Iran. Photo by Brendan Moran/Sportsfile
McAteer, however, believes that Carsley's immediate future lies in club football rather than its international counterpart.
"His stock's very high at the minute," McAteer told beIN Sports.
"I played with him at Ireland and I'm very close to him. I do speak to him about things. I never got the impression that he always wanted the Ireland job. I don't think it was ever on his radar, certainly not in the immediate future.
"He's done a fantastic job with the [England] U21s, come through a system and won the European Championships.
"I think his ambition is to go more into club management and maybe Ireland would be a future job. I know the FAI are desperate to get him in. I think it's a completely different direction and better direction than what they would go with Stephen Kenny."
"I don't think he's going to take it"@MCATEER4 knows Lee Carsley well and believes he is more likely to take a role in club football than the Republic of Ireland job...#beINSPORTS pic.twitter.com/zsOrbeYXQL
— beIN SPORTS (@beINSPORTS_EN) February 1, 2024
