By Jonathan Brown
DRUMANESS Mills last week confirmed the appointment of former players Conor Walsh, Sean McQuoid, and Steven Rogan as the club’s new interim management team for the remaining seven games of the Amateur League Premier Division season.
The announcement came in the wake of Ciaran Brannigan’s departure, and the trio began their tenure with a 2-2 draw against Abbey Villa on Saturday.
Former Newcastle player Brannigan led the Meadowvale outfit to the sixth round of this season’s Irish Cup before bowing out to Irish League heavyweights Glentoran.
However, the Mills’ league form has been disappointing, with just five Premier Division wins this season. The Meadowvale men haven’t won a league game this year and currently sit tenth in the table, seven points off the Premier Division relegation zone.
Drumaness Chairman Laurence Clarke, commenting on the decision to part ways with Brannigan, said: “Overall, Ciaran did a very good job, but over the past five or six months, although we had success in the Irish Cup, the league results weren’t justifying the squad we have and we weren’t playing to our potential.
“We’re not technically out of the relegation battle, and you can’t rest on your laurels. You have to make a decision.”
Clarke and the club committee felt they couldn’t wait any longer to see a change in results.
“We decided an interim manager could help turn things around and we wanted to give them a few games to do that. I think Ciaran realised things weren’t as he would have wanted them, because he has high standards himself.
“It just wasn’t working out and sometimes things run their course, so we felt that it was time to make a change. But we wish Ciaran all the best in the future,” Clarke added.
Brannigan, commenting on the decision, simply said: “I’ll remember the good times and move on with my coaching journey.”
Walsh, McQuoid, and Rogan all played in the Drumaness team that won the Premier Division title in 2014 and are well versed in the standards expected at Meadowvale.
McQuoid was player-manager of the Mills’ second team, while Rogan also steps up from reserve team playing duties, with Walsh moving up from his role as an U-16 coach at the club. Owen Wright and Gavin Boyd have stepped in to replace McQuoid as second team managers.
Clarke hopes the many years of playing experience between the three of them will prove beneficial as they try to guide the club away from relegation trouble.
“It’s a big step up to manage a first team and to manage any team in the Premier Division, as lots of managers have found out in the past.
“They have a good understanding of the club and know what is expected. But they have the pedigree as players and although it will be a test for them, I think they’ll relish the challenge and go into it wholeheartedly.”
Drumaness stalwart Sean McQuoid says he wants to generate a “feel-good factor” around the first team in the games that remain this season.
“There’s a good opportunity there in the remaining games to get some points on the board and get a feel-good factor going around the first team again.
“We’ve been dragged towards that [relegation trouble] over the past few weeks, so we want to get a few wins and points on the board as soon as we can and steer ourselves to safety, rather than leaving ourselves going into the last few games of the season needing wins.
“We’re just going to do the best we can over the last seven games and we’ll take it from there.”
Drumaness currently have no name in the frame to take over from Brannigan on a long-term basis, and Clarke didn’t rule out the new managerial trio landing the job permanently.
“We’ll see how things go with the interim management team. If they do well, I’d like to think they’ll be in the frame for that, but there’s seven games left and we’ll see where we go from there.”
