'I think he's one that will excite the fans' - Jim Ervin predicts summer signing will impress Ballymena United supporters and hints at more arrivals
After what has been a busy start to the summer transfer window for Ballymena United, manager Jim Ervin admits he’s delighted with his business so far and promised there’s more still to come – potentially as early as this weekend.
The Sky Blues moved quickly to sign Caolan Loughran, Jack O’Mahony and Joe Moore before securing arguably the biggest capture of the off-season so far by winning the race to acquire Josh Carson from neighbouring Coleraine on a two-year deal.
That has already handed Ervin’s side a major boost as they look to improve on last season, where the Warden Street outfit finished 11th before preserving their top-flight status by narrowly winning a play-off against Institute.
Ervin has given the rundown on each of his new arrivals and believes former Dungannon Swifts star Moore is one that will get fans on their feet.
The 22-year-old, who spent time in Hibernian’s academy, first appeared in the Irish League with Portadown in 2022 before moving onto Stangmore Park and scored four goals in 24 Premiership outings for Rodney McAree’s side last term.
"We've brought Caolan Loughran back to the club for his third spell with us,” Ervin told the club’s media channel. “Caolan is a guy I've admired and I think last season in the performances against Ballymena (for Loughgall) he showed the quality he has.
"He has matured a lot over the years since he has been away and we really look forward to seeing him in a Sky Blue shirt again.
"Jack O'Mahony is an exciting young player, a right-back that can play on the left-hand side and further up the pitch. Jack is a player I've worked with previously when he was a youngster and we tried to get him in January...when we heard he was available it was a no-brainer to go to speak to him and thankfully he has chosen Ballymena as his destination for the next two years.
"There's a really exciting one in Joe Moore from Dungannon Swifts, who is one we spoke to last year and didn't manage to get sorted. Thankfully this time around we've managed to get Joe in...he's a really exciting player and we look forward to working with him. I think he's one that will excite the fans this season with his performances and skill levels.
"We announced Josh Carson (on Wednesday) which is a major, major signing for us. It's one that has got fans talking and I've been excited since we started talking to Josh this time last week after it was announced he was on the transfer list.”
Ballymena have also had a number of outgoings with Scot Whiteside (Linfield) and Steven McCullough (Portadown) leaving on permanent deals while the likes of Fraser Taylor (St Mirren) and Sean Brown (Larne) have returned to their parent clubs following successful loan spells.
With every team looking to strengthen in order to achieve their respective goals, Ervin admits there will be more players coming through the Showgrounds doors and feels his side are in a good place heading into pre-season.
"Hopefully that won't be the end of it...hopefully we should have another couple if not over the weekend, then the early parts of next week as we still look to strengthen,” he added. “This time last year when we came in it was slightly later so we're ahead of schedule compared to last year and hopefully that'll stand us in good stead going into pre-season."