Duncan Ferguson 'fantastic fella' but 'bit of a sideshow' out to spoil Irish League debut party
After a whirlwind week of Duncan Ferguson’s Irish League introduction, the high-profile newly-appointed Glentoran manager had his first taste of Premiership football from the stands not sidelines as Storm Boelo stole the Saturday spotlight.
The Premier League star’s appointment last Monday as Glens boss generated millions of social media views and dominated the agenda with the focus centred on his anticipated weekend home dug-out debut against Ballymena United in Belfast.
However, weather conditions forced a delay to the big day and now Ferguson’s first competitive taste of Northern Ireland football will come on Friday night under the Coleraine floodlights away to the current league leaders.
As a result, Ferguson and assistant manager Gary Bollan made the short journey across the city to Seaview on Saturday afternoon to view Coleraine’s 5-0 victory over 10-man Crusaders.
Coleraine boss Ruaidhri Higgins and the ex-Everton caretaker manager will next share a touchline at The Showgrounds.
And Higgins shares in the excitement over the increased Irish League interest generated by Ferguson’s addition to the Premiership boss roster – even if his big-picture professional goal remains simply “accumulating as many points as we can”.
"We've had a phenomenal points return so far but we go into a difficult week now against Glentoran,” said Higgins, viewing Ferguson as a “huge character”. "I know people who know him personally and say he's a fantastic fella, so we wish him luck...after Friday.
"He'll add a lot to the league, I'm sure...big personality, he's a household name so I think in terms of profile for the league it'll be huge.
"I'm looking forward to meeting him but, hopefully, we can take three points off him."
Higgins’ Coleraine hold a 14-point advantage over the Glens having played a game more but with 11 wins from 13 fixtures to date.
"We look forward to every single game,” said Higgins. "I know that all the attention is going to be on him and Glentoran...his first game in charge.
"We might be a bit of a sideshow but we'll certainly be looking to take the points at home...we have a very proud home record we want to keep that going."