Glentoran are not looking for excuses says Mick McDermott

The Glens have been tipped to push all the way this season in the battle for the Gibson Cup given the strengthening of the squad at The Oval.

But that challenge hasn’t got up and running just yet with only one point to show from their opening two games.

Head Coach Mick McDermott understands it will take time for the new faces to gel, but he doesn’t feel the need to ask for patience from the fans.

“I won’t use anything like that as an excuse. Of course fans expect but I wouldn’t use that as an explanation,” he said.

“There are certain aspects with a fanbase of any big club and they expect, but it was the same when I worked in Iran.

“I worked for the biggest club in UAE, the biggest club in Iran.

“Excuses don’t work and as they say ‘the team the fans pick never loses because it never plays’.

“If I pick a team that loses, I was wrong. If I pick another team and it loses, I’m wrong.

“No excuses, but yes you’re right, even Rory Donnelly, Andy Mitchell, Seanan Clucas, Ciaran O’Connor and Caolan Marron all came in during the January window.

“They only played five or six games for the club. The likes of Ciaran O’Connor was getting really fit towards the end of February and starting to fly.

“He was pushing to be a starter in our last seven league games and then Covid-19 hit and we were back in July after several months off, so you’re starting again.

“A lot of those boys were also cup tied for the return of the Irish Cup so they didn’t take part in the climax of that competition.”

Despite searching for a first league win of the season, McDermott says they aren’t reaching for the panic button.

“Not at all and it can’t work that way because when a rough time does come you try to change things, when a good time comes you relax,” he said.

“No, you have to go about it the same way every time.”

McDermott heads to Coleraine today still looking for a first win against the Bannsiders, and he knows what to expect from Oran Kearney’s side.

“His teams are organised and they work hard, which is a characteristic of his teams. They’re well organised and they defend well,” he said.

“We know that, but we’re quite capable of going to anywhere in this league and getting a result.”

The Bannsiders got their season up and running with a 3-0 win at Portadown last week and Jamie Glackin feels they have their mojo back after a slight European hangover.

“The last three or four weeks haven’t been good, we knew that, we didn’t need to be told,” added the midfielder, who signed a new two-year deal with Coleraine.

“It’s a hard thing after doing well in Europe because everyone wants a piece of you.

“It was just good to get out and silence a few people with the win and performance against Portadown.”