Former Glentoran star calls for club's January recruits to deliver across 'big three or four months'
Former Glentoran midfielder Shane McCabe has been impressed by the club’s recruitment throughout the January transfer window – but insists their new stars now need to deliver as The Oval outfit chase silverware success.
Declan Devine has bolstered his squad this month with the arrivals of Ben Gallagher, Jack Malone, Ross Clarke, Jarlath O’Rourke and Aaron McEneff, who joined from League of Ireland giants Shamrock Rovers.
While ending their 17-year wait for Premiership glory looks unlikely with Larne establishing themselves as firm favourites, the Glens remain in the running for League Cup and Irish Cup honours alongside a European return.
Devine has brought in a mix of Irish League experience and a statement signing in McEneff – the 30-year-old previously won the Scottish Championship title with Hearts and represented Rovers in the Conference League.
McCabe, who was part of the last Glentoran squad to win the Gibson Cup, approves of his old club’s January business and hopes it can take them to the next level.
"Glentoran are backing up what they’ve been saying – they’ve went out to the market, had a look and brought in some established players in the Irish League,” he said. “Jarlath O’Rourke and Ross Clarke have been in the Irish League for a long time and high-performing players.
"Jack Malone from Glenavon, who has a lot to prove yet for me, and Aaron McEneff, who is a fantastic player. He has came from a really high standard at Shamrock Rovers and has great pedigree...he’s a real marquee signing for them.
"Ben Gallagher is another who has good pedigree. The Glentoran supporters will be happy that the board has invested heavily, and now it’s up to those players to really perform and back the manager.
"The manager has went out on a limb to sign them, Decky will realise he’s under pressure to deliver this year, as will Ruaidhri (Higgins) at Coleraine.
"Larne seem to be running away with the league so the League Cup and Irish Cup will be a minimum for the likes of Coleraine and Glentoran.”
Glentoran’s ultimate aim is to compete for league title honours – a difficult task with the likes of Larne, Coleraine and reigning champions Linfield also in the mix.
Devine’s men sit 13 points behind leaders Larne and five adrift of second-placed Coleraine, who have played three more matches at this stage, and McCabe has pointed to one aspect which needs to improve.
"It’s just the consistency,” he added. “There’s times where they’ll have a bad fortnight, you can’t afford that.
"You can have a bad game, but you can’t have a bad fortnight and expect to be competing at the top table.
"Larne have shown what investment can do, and not even just investment in players, they’ve shown the benchmark of investment both on and off the pitch in terms of their infrastructure.
"They’re the team to beat. Their players are performing at a high level every week, but Glentoran are definitely going in the right direction.
"The January signings will need to hit the ground and impress the Glentoran faithful because it’s a big three or four months for that club.”