Here’s the long and short of it – the news of Warren Feeney’s Glentoran departure had been coming.
After a humbling 3-0 home defeat to Loughgall and over a dozen supporters’ clubs declaring their message of no confidence in the former Northern Ireland striker, what was an already precarious position for the man in the hotseat felt like it had tipped over the edge for good.
On the league front, with 31 games having been contested, it’s been a season of significant underperformance.
They were cast adrift from the title conversation relatively early on and never truly recovered despite fits and spurts of positivity – the 6-0 thumping of the Villagers in the first meeting on Mersey Street, ironically, being one in a crusade defined by inconsistency, missed opportunities and a concerning tendency for losing leads, including two two-goal advantages dropped in the space of four days in February against Cliftonville and Carrick Rangers, with both ending in 2-2 home draws.
They have reached the Irish Cup semi-finals – albeit they didn’t face any fellow top-flight adversaries on their way there – and booked a spot in the County Antrim Shield decider, which should go to Feeney’s credit.
And had they won the latter against Larne, in which they gave a decent account but lost 2-1 at Seaview, it could perhaps have been a watershed moment for the Glens boss, whose past association as a player and manager of archrivals Linfield was a big reason behind the furore when his appointment at The BetMcLean Oval was confirmed in the summer of 2023.
But with a talented squad at his disposal, their performance in the bread and butter – the Sports Direct Premiership – just hasn’t cut the mustard. They are 24 points behind leaders Larne with seven to play; an all but mathematical final nail in the coffin of any lingering title aspirations, winning just 14 of their 31 outings.
Yes, he’s had injuries to contend with that made the process of picking out his strongest side that bit more challenging, but the supporters of the east Belfast juggernauts have endured a drought of 15 years and counting without title success.
That’s the longest out of all the big capital four, with Cliftonville (2014), Crusaders (2018) and Linfield (2022) all having enjoyed multiple title triumphs since the late Alan McDonald reined in the Gibson Cup in 2009. That malaise will extend into at least a 16th, and it seems Feeney has unfortunately paid the price and bore the brunt of long-standing frustrations despite the chance of wrapping up a second Irish Cup since Ali Pour’s takeover in 2019 still being alive.
Last summer, Glentoran signalled their intent by recruiting talent of the high calibre of Larne lynchpin and title winner Fuad Sule, fleet-footed ex-Cliftonville forward Daire O’Connor from Ayr United and hotshot AFC Wimbledon striker David Fisher.
They probably hit more than they missed in the market, too; all three of those named have made a positive impact and retained starting roles, and when Feeney had all his players fit, it felt like he’d found his best XI as Seanan Clucas and Bobby Burns slotted in either side of Sule, Junior showed a burgeoning partnership with Fisher and O’Connor’s flashes of skill and searing pace evoked memories of the man whose place he took – Conor McMenamin, who fulfilled his cross-water dream by signing for Scottish top-flight St Mirren.
Luke McCullough has looked a colossus from the back at his best, while Academy talent Johnny Russell and his monster throw-ins have added a new dimension to how Glentoran get up the pitch.
Talent’s out of the question. The Glens should, on paper, have a squad that can hold their own at the top.
What the chiefs in the Oval office must mull over now is finding the right man to deliver on ostensibly unfulfilled potential.
Paddy McLaughlin is the name on everyone’s lips. Available after leaving his assistant managerial role with Derry City, he had beforehand spent four distinguished years at Cliftonville up until early last year and, in 2022, was a whisker from title success despite the semi-professional Reds mixing it among big-budget full-timers – Linfield won by just a solitary point on the final day that year, with their north Belfast rivals and their boss widely praised that season for punching well above their weight.
Also successful at Institute in his native north west in the wake of the club’s Riverside ground being left decimated after the Faughan River flooded over in 2017, playing an attractive and easy-on-the-eye brand of football that his players have routinely bought into, his Irish League credentials are documented indeed and it’s small wonder that Glens fans feel that he is the ideal man.
He’s a strong disciplinarian, too. Why Cliftonville kept their edge was in no small part thanks to McLaughlin making it a three-day-a-week training programme at Solitude, including refining the conditioning of his players that meant they could go right to the end. He’s a bold choice, and Glentoran is a new challenge, but he’s worth a punt.
Another question is what’s next for Feeney.
Once of English lower-league club Welling United and Pirin Blagoevgrad of Bulgaria having led Ards following his Linfield stint and capacity as a number two at Newport County, he is well-travelled in the past decade and he has shown himself not to be averse to stepping out of his comfort zone.
He’ll likely not be out of football for long, while his 16-year-old son George has made a bright impression coming through the Glens ranks in 2023/24.
But it’s a case of a new chapter opening right as another closes for the 46-times-capped ex-international – and the best of luck to him on whatever that may entail.
Featured image from INPHO/Jonathan Porter.
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