Stephen Craigan has talked up old Motherwell colleague Stephen Robinson for the vacant Northern Ireland managerial role.
Michael O'Neill left the post to concentrate on club side Stoke City after the coronavirus pandemic postponed the national team's Euro 2020 play-off tie against Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Robinson and fellow Scottish Premiership boss Tommy Wright have both been linked with managing their country.
And while Craigan hasn't worked with St Johnstone manager Wright, he has worked with Robinson and tracked his growth as a coach over the last seven years.
Speaking on BT Sport's Scottish Football Extra, Craigan said: "Tommy Wright, I can only watch what Tommy's done from afar.
"I don't know what Tommy's like in a dressing room as a person, what his coaching skills are like, how he wants to set his team up.
"But I can talk about Stephen and say that over the last seven years he's certainly matured into a manager and a coach.
"He understands the game, quite prepared to put hard work in, and I think you've seen him grow and his team have grown over the past three or four years at Motherwell.
"How he's adapted, how he's changed, how he deals with himself in the press.
"So is he a candidate? Absolutely, he is a candidate.
"As for Tommy Wright, Tommy's done great so unless the IFA put both of them in front as well as someone else to talk regarding an interview, then they've got a decision to make."
Craigan's BT Sport colleague and Record Sport columnist Chris Sutton also weighed in on the debate as he insisted Wright was due a chance at a big job.
He said: "The job he's done at St Johnstone over the years, reduced budget year in and year out, I think he's proven himself.
"He's done the hard yards and I think if Tommy was offered the Northern Ireland job, I do think that he would take it"
