Former Larne defender Stephen Small is full of admiration for how Gary Haveron “wears his heart on his sleeve” as Inver Reds boss after reaching a significant milestone of 100 matches in charge of his hometown club.

Haveron, who was appointed on a permanent basis in October 2025 after serving as interim manager across various spells, led Larne to a third Gibson Cup triumph in four seasons last term.

Former Glentoran boss Haveron has been in the dugout for some of Larne’s most memorable nights, including a famous Conference League win over Gent at Windsor Park.

Following Nathan Rooney’s exit after just one league match of last season, Haveron expertly picked up the pieces, winning 25 of his 37 games to lead Larne to another title triumph.

placeholder image — Larne manager Gary Haveron celebrates with the Gibson Cup. (Photo by Andrew McCarroll/Pacemaker Press)

Haveron also came within minutes of masterminding the Inver Reds’ return to European League Phase football last summer, devastatingly losing to Lincoln Red Imps in a Conference League play-off.

The 45-year-old hasn’t allowed that disappointment to derail Larne’s season with the reigning champions firmly in title contention once again this term ahead of travelling to Cliftonville on Friday night.

"I don't know how it's been for him but it feels like it hasn't been that much time to rack up 100 games in charge,” Small told the News Letter. “He would probably admit that just recently, it's been the first sticky time of his tenure because it's been by and large really successful across the board.

"One thing I take from his interviews is Gary wears his heart on his sleeve in terms of you just get real honesty from him.

"These managers are really experienced at dealing with the press and they can give you standard answers sometimes, but Gary's honest.

"I think it's really refreshing to see someone who shows you how much he enjoys being manager of the club and really feels it...he just wears his heart on his sleeve.

"He's an honest, heart-on-his-sleeve type of manager, but he obviously knows his stuff because his team over those 100 matches, I don't know what his stats are, but he must be one of the most successful managers over that time.”

Coleraine entered the current campaign as title favourites with bookmakers and sit two points clear of Linfield at the summit while Larne are nine off the pace but hold two matches in hand.

Small views the Bannsiders as the Premiership’s top team this term, but insists it’s far too early to write their rivals off.

"It's obvious that Coleraine just look a little bit better than everybody else,” added Small. “When I say that, I just mean that they can change their shape and personnel.

"They look better than everybody else but then you're never shaking David Healy off early...everybody wrote Linfield off, they're hanging in there.

"It'll be interesting to see if Coleraine do go through a bit of a bad spell, but you just can't see it coming with the amount of quality they have.

"Larne won't be feeling like they're out of it, that's for sure.

"The game on Friday will be a big one too. If they lose any more ground, it's going to be a struggle for them because I really don't see Coleraine losing too many games.”