Former Coleraine boss Dean Shiels feels the Irish League has “deeper problems” than just suggesting summer football can solve European woes – highlighting the need for enhanced player development across the Premiership.

Larne were minutes away from booking their spot in the Conference League’s League Phase once again on Thursday night before losing 3-2 on aggregate to Lincoln Red Imps in extra-time.

The Inver Reds flew the flag for Northern Ireland in Europe this summer with the other three full-time teams falling at their respective first hurdles.

A poor collective run of results over recent years has put the Premiership’s fourth European spot at risk for the 2028/29 season – if Iberia 1999 of Georgia were to pick up points in the League Phase, Northern Ireland could fall below 50th in UEFA’s coefficient rankings.

placeholder image — Larne were beaten in their Conference League play-off by Lincoln Red Imps. (Photo by Andrew McCarroll/Pacemaker Press)

One suggestion often provided to potentially improve performances of Irish League clubs is a switch to summer football, with many feeling teams would be better prepared with a calendar switch.

However, Shiels believes there’s more serious problems facing the Irish League.

"I think there's a decline in quality,” he said on BBC Sportsound. “Our teams in Europe this season just haven't been good enough, there's no way to sugarcoat it.

"The black and white is we didn't perform well enough.

"I have no doubt summer football would enhance the performance and make us more competitive, but I think there's deeper problems than that.

"I think we need to start developing our own players, I look around all of the clubs in the Premiership and don't see enough developing their own players.

"I see clubs wanting to develop players to try and push them across to England to get money, but I don't see enough pushing the development of coaches, of players to play in their first team, not just to try and make money out of them.

"I think that's an issue that's deeper than clubs going out of Europe early.”

Larne had three academy products – James Simpson, Dylan Sloan and Matty Lusty – in their starting line-up on Thursday night while Coleraine’s Senan Devine has made an impressive start to the season.

James Douglas started Glentoran’s defeat to Crusaders on Saturday as the sole academy graduate and Cal Weatherup came off the bench.

Linfield didn’t have any academy players in their starting team at Limavady United this weekend, but have sold a host of their top young talent to England in recent years, including Braiden Graham, Aodhan Doherty and Ceadach O’Neill.

Shiels believes clubs are too quick to move players on and has identified an area of concern.

"We have a problem in our country between ages 16-19,” he added. “We have 16/17-year-olds playing U20 football and players that are 18 now too old because clubs don't want to spend time developing them, being patient and trying to bring them through to the first team.

"That's the deeper issue for Northern Ireland football...we want to see as many players going across (the water), having great careers and playing for the national team, but what about the players that don't?

"Players are too quick to have to go to intermediate football and drop down the leagues rather than staying at bigger clubs and being developed into first team players.”