Declan Caddell searching for 'hidden gems' after Kieran Offord success and provides Crusaders injury update
Crusaders manager Declan Caddell insists there are “loads of hidden gems out there” which his club can look to recruit with their transfer policy showing signs of promise after the rapid rise of Kieran Offord.
While Caddell moved to sign proven Irish League star Jordan Stewart from Linfield during the summer, he mainly looked outside of the Premiership for talent with Offord, Jacob Blaney, Harry Franklin and Harry Jewett-White all arriving from across the water.
St Mirren loanee Offord made an immediate impact at Seaview, scoring 10 goals in 21 league appearances before being recalled by his parent club this week ahead of a reported permanent move to Linfield, who had a six-figure bid accepted alongside Glentoran.
Caddell has already dived into the Scottish market once again this month by acquiring Josh O’Connor from Hibernian and is happy that his club are creating an environment for young players to thrive after Offord’s success.
"If you look at the signings that we've brought in, Kieran, Jacob and Josh are all from Scotland and Harry Franklin and Harry Jewett-White are both from England,” he said. “There's loads of hidden gems out there and I'm sure when we signed Kieran Offord in the summer that some people didn't know who he was.
"There are plenty out there and it's finding the right one and putting them in the right environment to flourish.
"The positive thing for me as a manager and club is that we're able to create that environment for young lads to come over and showcase their talent.
"Probably too many times in the past throughout the league these lads have came over and been unable to reach the heights that everybody thinks. It shows we're doing something right."
After returning to winning ways against Coleraine last weekend – a result which propelled Crusaders into the top-six – Caddell will be hoping his side can maintain momentum when they welcome Portadown on Saturday.
"The league is probably the most competitive it has ever been in any time I've been involved, which is 20 years now,” he added. “You see how tight it is with a win on Saturday bringing us into the top-half.
"A couple of wins on the bounce, which you can see from other teams, can jump you up four or five places.
"It's a difficult league this year - I was under no illusions taking the job that it was always going to be that transitional period for us with new players coming in, some of the old guard moving on, and you're always going to have bumps in the road.
"There have been more bumps in the road than I expected due to injuries but now we've got the boys back you're hoping for a big push until the end of this season.
"European football is massive for any club in the league so to make that top-six would be a successful season."
Caddell has been heavily impacted by injury absence in recent weeks with up to 11 players missing certain games, but with improvements on the availability front, he’s looking to kick on once again.
"We've the long-term ones with Billy Joe Burns and Adam Lecky, who probably won't be back this season, Lloyd Anderson has been out for nearly a year but should be back next month,” he said. “The other two we're missing are Robbie Weir and Jordan Stewart, who should be back the next week or two.
"We're still missing a few bodies but it's better than 11 or 12. It's nice to turn around and have that experience on the bench to see out games when needed to do so."