Former Irish League striker Diarmuid O’Carroll admits he is “surprised” David Healy is still at the Linfield helm and not managing a cross channel club in England or Scotland.
The St Mirren assistant manager also believes the 42-year-old Blues boss, who won 95 caps for Northern Ireland, is a potential future head coach of the national team.
O’Carroll made his comments while co-commenting on Sky Sports' coverage of Saturday’s 2-1 stoppage time win for the Blues over Warrenpoint Town at Milltown.
Read more: Linfield flex title muscle with a late, late win at Milltown
Victory edged Linfield four points clear of Cliftonville, who have a game in hand, at the top of the Danske Bank Premiership and ever closer to a fourth consecutive league title.
In his six and a half years at Windsor Park, Healy has won eight trophies, including four Gibson Cups, two Irish Cups, one League Cup and a County Antrim Shield.
“It’s a surprise to me that he’s not in for more jobs across the water, to be honest,” said O’Carroll, who won league titles with both Cliftonville and Crusaders.
“Myself and (St Mirren manager and former Northern Ireland midfielder) Stephen Robinson have had this discussion.
“We know him really well and we can see what he has done over a number of years here.
“He maybe doesn't get the credit he deserves because he is at traditionally the biggest club in the league. People think ‘it must be easy, it’s an easy job’, but it’s far from the case.
“David has driven the standards since he came in the door at Linfield and I’m sure he’ll have the ambition to go again.”
O’Carroll also suspects Healy, who is Northern Ireland’s all-time top scorer with 36 goals, will have designs on managing his country further down the line.
He said: “I’m sure the international job in the future would be something he’d be looking at and it’s a potential avenue as well.
“Obviously, he is a legend of the Northern Ireland national team and they’ll (the Irish FA) have seen on their doorstep at Windsor Park what he can do with a team.
“It will be interesting to see how his career develops.”
Linfield looked set to drop points at Milltown before Ethan Devine rose to head home a Jack Hastie corner two minutes into added time.
Saturday's 2-1 win means the Blues lead the way heading into the final five post-split fixtures which starts with a high-profile home clash with Cliftonville on April 9
The Reds, chasing their first league title since 2014 when O'Carroll was a striker at Solitude, play their game in hand against Portadown at Shamrock Park on Tuesday, April 5.
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