Dundalk boss Vinny Perth is unhappy that he will lose his highly-rated assistant Ruaidhri Higgins to Stephen Kenny's Ireland.
Perth, who was Kenny's number 2 when he was in charge of the Lilywhites for six years, admits he's disappointed with the approach that will see Higgins, 35, take on the role of opposition analyst and scout.
It's a role that Higgins initially fulfilled with Dundalk under Kenny after retiring as a player, before becoming Perth's assistant for his first year in charge last year, which concluded with the league title being retained at Oriel Park.
Higgins is under contract with Dundalk until the end of the year and Perth said: “It’s disappointing that a member of staff that I rate so highly has been approached to move elsewhere.
“The manner in which the approach was conducted is something that I’m not happy about and I will leave that with our board of directors and the FAI to deal with.
“I feel very strongly about protecting our staff and players and the board have been exceptional with this since I took over. We have people under contract and those contracts need to be honoured and respected.”
Having said that, Perth acknowledged that the role in Kenny's backroom team was a "wonderful opportunity" for the Limavady man.
“We fully understand that," Perth said. “I have always said that to win a league title you need league winning staff and I have definitely had that. He has played a key part in our success.
“My job now is to protect Dundalk FC and I have time on my side to make whatever decisions need to be made over the next couple of weeks."
