James Douglas insists the Glentoran squad “were gutted” to see Declan Devine depart his position as manager – and said “I will always be grateful for the opportunities he gave me”.

Douglas broke into the Glens’ senior side under Devine, making 26 Premiership appearances throughout the 2024/25 season and racked up a further nine last term.

The 20-year-old had featured in four of the six league matches overseen by Devine this term before the ex-Derry City chief and Glentoran parted ways in a “mutual agreement”.

Paddy McCourt and Tim McCann, who were both part of Devine’s backroom staff, have been placed in charge on an interim basis and are set to conduct first team duties in Saturday’s Premiership trip to Cliftonville.

placeholder image — Former Glentoran manager Declan Devine. (Photo by INPHO/Brian Little)

Devine had either signed or retained a large majority of the current Glens squad across his two-and-a-half years in charge with owner Ali Pour revealing “Decky has had the biggest budget any manager has had”.

As revealed by the News Letter, Glentoran are now set to approach former Northern Ireland manager Ian Baraclough over the vacancy – they missed out on top target Jim Magilton, who opted to remain at Cliftonville.

“It’s never nice to see a manager leave, and the players were gutted to see Decky go,” said Douglas. “He has done so much for me over the past couple of seasons and I will always be grateful for the opportunities he gave me.

“We came very close to achieving real success during his time here, and it is disappointing that we were unable to get over the line.

“We know that, as players, we must take responsibility as well and become more consistent.

“Our focus now has to be on doing that and moving the team up the table. The Board will take care of the appointment and, whatever decision is made, we must continue pulling in the same direction.”

Glentoran sit eighth in the Premiership after collecting seven points from as many matches, and Douglas wants to repay the supporters with a positive weekend result.

“We had some excellent results against Cliftonville last season, particularly at Solitude, but they will count for nothing when the game begins,” he added. “Cliftonville lost to Larne on Tuesday night, but they will probably look at our recent results and feel this is a good time to play us.

"We have to make sure it isn’t and show them what we are capable of.

“The Coleraine performance has to be a marker for us. That level must become the minimum standard going forward.

“We are the only people who can turn this around, and the only way we will do that is through hard work. There is a real determination within the squad and nobody is feeling sorry for themselves.

“We have to remain resilient and stick together.

"We are extremely grateful for the support the fans continue to give us, and I know they will travel in numbers again on Saturday. It is up to us to repay that faith.”