TIERNAN LYNCH says knocking Shamrock Rovers and Shelbourne off their perch is part of the appeal of the Derry City job.
Lynch was today unveiled as the new Candystripes boss just five days after Ruaidhri Higgins had stepped down in the wake of their FAI Cup final defeat to Drogheda United.
The Belfast man turned down the St Johnstone job last month to stay with Larne but said his head was turned Derry’s potential.
Lynch said: “I wouldn’t have taken the job if I didn’t think this club had the potential to be the biggest on the island of Ireland and our job is to try to bring that out.”
Despite delivering two league titles to a club which has endured massive growth since being bankrolled by Kenny Bruce, Larne were outclassed by Rovers who beat them 4-1 in the Europa Conference League last month.
And he joked: “I haven’t slept since that, so I appreciate you bringing that up.”
The Hoops’ run of four-in-a-row league titles was ended by Damien Duff’ Shels last season with the pair, and a resurgent St Pat’s, all expected to be in the shake-up next season.
But Lynch said: “One of the reasons that we came here is that challenge, making sure we can knock teams like Rovers off their perch, and Shelbourne off their perch, and bring that little bit of pride back here.
“It’s not something that is going to be easy, not something that is a flick of a switch or something that is going to happen overnight but it’s an exciting challenge.”
Although he has been briefed with overhauling the academy structures at Larne, as he and his brother Seamus – who has moved with him as his assistant – knows that does not offer any insulation against poor results.
He said: “You’re not coming in to just build the first team, you are coming in to try to help develop the whole club.
“But we’re under no illusions that you’re going to come in here and not win football matches and keep your job. It doesn’t happen in this industry.
“This is a two-fold attack – you have to get success on the pitch but we want to build lots of structures off the pitch that will hold this club in good stead going forward and that’s how we will approach it.”
Derry CEO Sean Barrett admitted the club’s hierarchy had been caught cold by Higgins’ decision to step down but revealed Bruce was not surprised when they came calling for Lynch.
He said: “We were unaware that this was going to happen until Friday because Ruaidhri was the manager and we were quite happy for him to stay on if the wanted and he decided he wanted to go.
“We sat down then and said ‘What’s the DNA for what we need as a club going forward?’ and we went through a list of people, not knowing who would apply or who wouldn’t apply, as at this stage nobody knew the manager had decided to go.
“The same person kept coming up and it was Tiernan Lynch. Now we didn’t know whether he’d get him or not.
“But all those things we required like enthusiasm and vision, he ticked the boxes so I made a call to Kenny Bruce to ask ‘Is there any chance of speaking to Tiernan?’ and he laughed and said ‘You know what? I was waiting on this call’.
“I went and spoke to Tiernan and his vision for the club, it was nearly as if he was listening to our board meeting.
“Six months to a year ago I went up to Larne just to have a look around and I was blown around by what I saw there, fabulous facilities, and I really felt we needed to emulate it.
“Of 100 people, 99 might say Derry is a bigger club but the facilities they had compared to ours…what these guys have done is absolutely fantastic and when you see the vision and presentation given, he was no 1 choice.
“We relayed that to the chairman and he just said ‘right, let’s get this done as fast as we can’.”
Although captain Paddy McEleney has joined Ballymena United, brother Shane has moved to Glentoran, Bohemians have snapped up Colm Whelan, and with further departures expected, he is hopeful there will not be an exodus.
He said: “We hope that players who are maybe thinking about moving on that we can change their mind.”
THE RIGHT PITCH
Lynch, like Higgins, would prefer a grass pitch at The Ryan McBride Brandywell with the club due to meet with Derry City Council today.
The council is, understandably, keen not to lose out on the rental income from the much-criticised artificial surface but there is some optimism a deal can be struck.
And Lynch is happy that his move will allow him to work in a summer season.
He said: “I have been crying out for a summer league in the Premiership for many years.
“We went into our European campaign the last five years having not had any competitive games.
“Better pitches and better weather, you can probably do more.
“When it comes to November, December and January it’s about keeping players moving rather than implementing things you want to do on the training pitch.
“I’m looking forward to summer mornings and evenings, and coaching in shorts and a tee-shirt rather than in a hat and snood.”
