Having played more Irish League games under Paddy McLaughlin than anyone else, there’s perhaps no one better placed than Ronan Doherty to speak about the potential impact Glenavon’s new manager can have – and the Cliftonville ace is confident his former boss will help the Lurgan Blues climb the Premiership table.

According to Transfermarkt, midfield maestro Doherty played over 170 times for McLaughlin, joining him at Institute in 2018 and the next summer followed the ex-Coleraine star to Solitude.

McLaughlin has tasted success at both of his previous Irish League clubs, guiding ‘Stute to the Championship title before winning a Co Antrim Shield and League Cup crown with the Reds alongside challenging for the Gibson Cup.

Having been linked with a number of managerial vacancies since departing his role as Derry City assistant in February, McLaughlin was named as Stephen McDonnell’s successor at Mourneview Park on Sunday and will take charge of his first league game against Mid-Ulster rivals Portadown on Saturday.

placeholder image — Paddy McLaughlin will take charge of his first Premiership match as Glenavon manager on Saturday. (Photo by Alan Weir/Pacemaker Press)

The County Armagh outfit currently sit 11th, four points ahead of bottom side Loughgall, but Doherty has no doubt McLaughlin will make a difference.

"He'll definitely do a good job and bring Glenavon up the table,” he said. “Glenavon have a good team there and he'll get them firing again and get everybody together.

"I hope they do well, just not against us and I'll tell Paddy that! I can't see him doing anything else other than bringing them up the table. He came in at Cliftonville when they were around sixth or seventh and brought us back up so I don't see why he can't do the same thing at Glenavon.

"He gets the right people in and he knows people. He gets the right players in and that's massive. A lot of people can have quality but not care, but he gets in players that really care and want to play for him and the team.

"He gets the team hard to beat, fit and motivated every game. He will definitely do well and it's about him now trying to bring Glenavon as high as he can."

Doherty spent five seasons under McLaughlin’s management and remains grateful to the 45-year-old for bringing him to Cliftonville, where he has now made over 200 appearances and won last season’s Irish Cup.

"I really enjoyed playing for him and had a great relationship with him,” he added. “I always appreciated him taking me up to Cliftonville too.

"I was probably a bit lucky playing for Institute, who were one of the smaller teams, getting to go and play for Cliftonville. That mightn't have happened without Paddy. I still chat to him now but as long as we beat them that's all that matters!"

Doherty also feels it’s a major boost for the Irish League to have someone of McLaughlin’s calibre back involved.

"It was only a matter of time before he was back in with a good team,” he said. “You knew at some stage when one of the teams had a vacancy that he'd be in.

"It would have been mad for any team in our league not to bring him in. He had a good record at both Institute and Cliftonville - every season kept getting better.

"You have to give any manager a bit of time and there's no doubt he will make Glenavon better. It's brilliant for the league because managers and teams are all getting better. It's very competitive."