With the appointment of Duncan Ferguson at the Oval expected to be confirmed on Monday, the club's five-week search for a new manager illustrates again that there is the easy way, the hard way, and the Glentoran way. When the east Belfast outfit parted company with Declan Devine on 14 September, the simple solution to the early-season vacancy appeared to be a reunion with former assistant Tiernan Lynch. A two-time winner of the Irish Premiership with Larne, Lynch was freshly back on the market after leaving Derry City in August and immediately installed as favourite for the post.
Instead, the Glens made the trickier prospect of prying Jim Magilton out of his contract at Cliftonville their priority. When the former Northern Ireland and Ipswich Town midfielder made it clear he intended to stay at Solitude, nobody would have predicted what came next. A pivot towards Everton legend Ferguson, who also had spells with Rangers and Newcastle United, was not, as they say, on anyone's bingo card.
A to Z: Duncan Ferguson - 'The original Everton hero' Ferguson link has caused a 'real buzz' - McCann The appeal of bringing Ferguson's star power to the Irish Premiership is obvious, akin to the boost provided to the League of Ireland by former Chelsea winger Damian Duff's successful, if short, stint with Shelbourne in recent years. A cult figure across two playing spells at Goodison Park thanks to both his goalscoring exploits and aggressive style - no player has ever received more than his eight Premier League red cards - the 54-year-old Scot instantly becomes the most recognisable face in the league. Fans quickly had their own fun with the imminent appointment on Saturday, with erroneous reports of the seven-times capped Scottish striker being spotted everywhere from his prospective new side's 1-0 win over Limavady to a local chip shop on the Newtownards Road.
Glentoran are no strangers to big names in the playing ranks having had the likes of Keith Gillespie, Nacho Novo and Niall McGinn plying their trade at the Oval in recent times, but it is different when such a presence is in the dugout. Ferguson, after all, will have been the only applicant with spells as an assistant to the likes of Carlo Ancelotti, Rafa Benitez and Ronald Koeman on his CV. In all, the Scot worked under seven different permanent bosses at Everton, as well as two separate stints in interim charge.
After leaving Merseyside following the departure of Frank Lampard in 2022, managerial roles at Forest Green Rovers and Inverness Caledonian Thistle were hardly considered a success, admittedly both in testing circumstances. Coupled with his unfamiliarity with the Irish League and, for all the headlines already generated, there is no doubt that the left-field appointment is a gamble. The Glentoran hierarchy clearly believe it is a risk worth taking.
Some Oval regulars may well suggest that the club have tried just about everything else in their quest for a first league title since 2009. Owner Ali Shams Pour arrived a decade after the late Alan McDonald delivered the most recent of the side's 23 Gibson Cups. Since then, the turbulent reign of Mick McDermott brought Irish Cup success in 2020 yet he still was the victim of supporter protests.
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