DONE DEAL: Tiernan Lynch agrees Derry City switch - clubs could confirm within hours
Sources have told the News Letter that Larne manager Tiernan Lynch has finalised terms to become the next Derry City boss.
Lynch, who rejected a move to Scottish club St Johnstone earlier this season, will leave Larne as back-to-back Irish League title winners and with a landmark run in the UEFA Conference League.
The Brandywell post has become vacant following the departure recently of Limavady’s Ruaidhri Higgins. When contacted by the Derry Journal (a National World sister title of the News Letter) earlier on Monday afternoon Lynch said: "Right now I'm the manager of Larne Football Club and I have a game to prepare for tomorrow night.
"That's pretty much where I'm at. At this stage I've nothing to tell anybody."
But the 48-year-old did describe Derry City as “the potential to be the biggest club in the island of Ireland”.
"It has the potential to be the biggest club in the island of Ireland," said Lynch, who was an interested spectator at Richmond Park last month when Derry lost to St Patrick's Athletic in the penultimate league clash of the season which signalled the end of the club's title charge. "So I think any manager who has ambition, if they told you that wasn't something of interest they'd be telling you lies."
Another high-profile manager linked with the post, former Northern Ireland manager Ian Baraclough, earlier stated to the Derry Journal: "I've had no contact so I can't comment on it.
“At the moment, as far as I'm concerned, it's not going to be a runner but in football you never know what happens. That's the interesting thing."
Derry City chief executive Sean Barrett said on Monday: "I'm talking to people and expect answers within the next 24 hours. I'm in negotiations at the moment.
"We have two candidates in the running. We weren't expecting this to happen as we were expecting Ruaidhri to stay on and so things have really unravelled in the last couple of days.”