Quinn said: "He will get the immediate respect of the players.
"He's done this throughout his career and you know with him you won't get mind games. He's a hard-working man, he has worked for everything he has got in the game and if Mick was to get it, he leads from the heart.
"As a player, he fought for everything from when he was at Barnsley. When he took the job with the Republic, he didn't hang around thinking about the past. Mick was thinking always of the future.
"Knowing him well, his pride will tell him he can keep the club up if he is given the opportunity.
"I can picture the type of team-talk he will give and how he will deal with the media. He will say: 'I really want to stay up, I don't want to think any further than this season'.
"If some players already know the manager, it'll help, but of course others won't. I know the public will back him if he was to get the job and then they would produce results in the next few weeks, you just watch.
"Bookies say they can't stay up, but he would give them a chance. He would bring a spark back to the players within his first few weeks and in the long term, he'd do everything he could to get the club into a situation where the good times would return.
"No-one would be happier than me if this was to be the case."
