This time last week, we were coming to terms with our defeat and below par performance away to Dungannon, what followed that week took us all by surprise, a gutless display against Dungannon at home on the Tuesday night saw Coleraine lose 3-0. Coleraine were now in relegation trouble and a top six finish looked so unlikely.
Then on Thursday night, it came as a surprise to us all when the club announced the departure of manager Davy Platt. It was sad to see Davy depart, we can talk about it all day, was it right, was it wrong, why? etc, however the board issued a statement and their reasons given were "with only 9 wins out of 24 matches, we felt a decision had to be made to turn around the fortunes of the club. Hence, the Board unanimously decided that a managerial change was the correct decision"
Davy a Coleraine fan like the rest of us, put so much time and effort into the job and that has to be recognised and appreciated, he also signed some brilliant players and gave us some memorable results. To see Davy succeed and lift a trophy as Coleraine manager would have being brilliant, we all wanted to see it happen as much as Davy did, unfortunately we never got the luck in the CIS cup final to see this happen.
However as we all know football can change instantly, and a few results in our favour would have seen Davy still Coleraine manager possibly, like recent games, Newry away when we threw away a 2 goal lead, Leon's missed penalty at Dungannon away could have earned us a draw in that game, however these dropped points and a further 3-0 defeat at home to Dungannon seemed to be the final nail in the coffin and the board reacted by wanting a change and freshening things up at Coleraine.
On Thursday night and all day Friday, rumours went round, regarding who the new manager would be, Lomas, Kirk, Kearney, McAllister, Flynn and Tommy Wright all these names were mentioned, however on Saturday morning the board announced that following very positive discussions with Oran Kearney they have appointed the former Linfield and Ballymena player on a 12 month rolling contract. Trevor McKendry who was Oran's assistant manager at Limavady, would be taking up the same role at Coleraine and also appointed has been former Linfield, Ballymena United and Crusaders goalkeeper Gregg Shannon as goalkeeping coach.
Oran couldn't have started his Coleraine managerial career with a tougher game, as he takes his side to derby rivals Ballymena tomorrow night, with injuries and suspensions, this is going to be a tough game for Oran and Coleraine to get something from, Ballymena are going well in the league, where as Coleraine are a team in crisis and low on confidence, Roy Walker’s side are sitting fifth after 24 games, and eight points ahead of Coleraine. But this game gives the players a chance to prove to Oran their worth a place in his team and hopefully we will see some improvement and hopefully Coleraine can pick up some points again.
After what has happened over the past week, it is now important that everyone belonging to the club now sticks together, from the fans to the players and the management, lets all rally round behind Oran and the team and lets take this club forward again. Regardless of the result tomorrow night, we are still involved in the Irish Cup, with Carrick away on Saturday and to see a change in the Coleraine team and set up, Oran will need time and certain players in to see this happen. Let's give him the chance and support him.
Finally, lets not forget the efforts and memories from the time Davy was in charge and lets wish him all the best in the rest of his career along with Aidy McLaughlin and Jody Tolan.
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