Irish League boss feels there was 'far too much turnover' after losing key players during 'awful' transfer window
Dundela manager Stephen Gourley admits there was “far too much turnover” for his liking during the recent transfer window after losing several key players.
The Duns were dealt a severe blow when Michael McLellan – the Championship’s top scorer after netting 21 times in 23 league appearances since joining from H&W Welders during the summer – returned to the Blanchflower Stadium before Aaron Prendergast’s loan from Glenavon was cut short one day prior to the deadline.
Between them, McLellan and 21-year-old Prendergast had combined to net 28 of Dundela’s 44 league goals to that point and the pair’s departures left Gourley scrambling to find replacements.
The East Belfast side brought in Howard Beverland, Gerard Storey, Scott Adams, Glenn Vance and Crusaders duo Ryan Kerr and Karter Bond as they look to maintain their promotion push.
"Of course it does (impact you),” Gourley told the club’s media channel. “Michael went and we hadn't visualised looking for an out-and-out striker.
"Whatever way it happened, it happened - it's a bit of a lack of respect for us as a group but it's gone.
"We were told that AP wouldn't be going anywhere on Friday, he played last Saturday and then the call came on Sunday that he was going back.
"That's not ideal for a club that is preparing and you've missed opportunities to sign players so are running about on the last day of the window looking for players to come in.
"There was far too much turnover in January for my liking. It's an awful transfer window which is for adding one or two maximum, but to have the turnover like we did, it causes a whole change to what you were used to from June to December.
"We have to get on with it and it's our job to get everybody pulling in the same direction. It's not an easy time of the year.
"Nothing is guaranteed...you think something is alright one day then the next you get a call at work to say ‘he's away’. You're left thinking 'where did that come from?'. We will get on with it and we're going to try and push as high as we can up this league."
After coming from 3-0 down to defeat Institute 4-3 last weekend, Dundela were beaten 3-1 by Ballinamallard United on Saturday.
They’ve now conceded 10 goals across three league matches at the start of 2025 and Gourley insists they have to improve ahead of a derby showdown with the Welders at Wilgar Park next weekend.
"I think we've lost our way a bit and aren't doing what we were doing at the start of the season when we were deservedly getting results,” he added. “We went 1-0 up and it was against the run of play...we looked awful to be honest.
"I'm not hanging anybody out to dry and they (players) are saying the same things themselves.
"When you concede six goals in two weeks, it's not good enough and that's the worrying thing.
"The manner of how we conceded goals last weekend and this weekend is poor and not good enough.
"It's a reality check for everybody as a whole and we'll look at things in greater depth on Tuesday. I've no doubt there'll be changes for next Saturday because we can't go into it with performances like that."