Tiernan Lynch has 'unfinished business' at Larne after rejecting St Johnstone move
Tiernan Lynch admits he has “unfinished business” at Larne after turning down the chance to become St Johnstone manager to remain with the back-to-back Premiership champions.
The Inver Reds will write their name into the Irish League history books on Thursday evening when they face Norwegian outfit Molde in the UEFA Conference League and it looked likely at stages last weekend that they’d be taking that step without Lynch.
Lynch was heavily linked with a move to the Scottish Premiership outfit, who sacked former Scotland manager Craig Levein last month, but ultimately turned the opportunity down before the Perth outfit appointed Finnish boss Simo Valakari.
The 44-year-old has helped transform Larne from Championship strugglers to Premiership champions and masterminded their historic step onto the European stage, successfully qualifying for the Conference League where matches against Molde, Shamrock Rovers, St Gallen, Olimpija Ljubljana, Dinamo Minsk and Gent await over the coming weeks.
Lynch’s refusal to make the move to Scotland came just weeks after Linfield boss David Healy rejected Raith Rovers by signing a contract extension at Windsor Park.
"There’s probably no doubt that the Scottish Premiership is a step up from the Irish League and getting to challenge yourself against the Celtics of this world, the Rangers of this world, Hibs and Hearts, household names, and all that goes with that," he told BBC Sport NI. "We've been on a journey now for eight years that is probably unfinished.
"There was probably unfinished business here and we put that to bed and we move on. The work that was put in all those years ago to get where we are today, it probably needs to be seen through."
Despite saying no to St Johnstone, Lynch admits the desire to test his managerial skills across the water remains unchanged with “the timing of everything is always key”.
“Nothing has changed with me,” he added. “Personally, the work that has been put into my own development and us as a group or a management team, we work very hard at our game and we always work very hard to try and improve and areas where we can reflect and develop, so nothing has changed as far as that’s concerned and I think the timing of everything is always key."