CLIFTONVILLE manager Tommy Breslin says the ball is in Portadown’s court as far as any potential move to Solitude for Darren Murray is concerned.
Breslin admitted that the Reds were interested in the striker as they looked to replace top scorer Joe Gromley, who left for Peterborough United earlier in the summer but says it’s now up to Ronnie McFall and company at Shamrock Park where Murray plies his trade ahead of the new season, which begins on Saturday.
“We’ve made a bid and that’s where it is. It’s now up to Portadown. He’s their player and he has a contract for the next couple of years. Am I hung up about it? No, not really, because we have young players at the club coming through,” said Breslin.
“If it happens, I’ll be delighted. If it doesn’t happen, life goes on. We’ll be looking for Davy [McDaid]. Stephen Garrett, Chris Curran, Jay [Donnelly] and Marty Donnelly to chip in with more goals. So we’ll have a competitive side with or without Darren. At this moment in time he’s their player. If that changes, I’ll be delighted.”
Breslin’s men will look to wrest the title they won in 2013 and 2014 back from current champions, North Belfast rivals Crusaders and Breslin is eager to get going with his side travelling to take on Glenavon in the Danske Bank Premiership opener this weekend.
“You can only play so many pre-season friendlies and you can only do so many training sessions so now we’re into the real thing. We have a lot players coming back from long-term injuries. Some are further along the line than others and I would have liked them all to be fully fit but we are where we are and we’ll have a very competitive squad going forward, which will get stronger as the year goes on,” Breslin said.
“Last year we missed Conor Devlin who’s on the way back. Chris Curran and Johnny Flynn missed most of the season and we had Stephen Garrett out. If we can get those four or five players back, it’s like four or five new signings to us.”
Despite lifting the League Cup and County Antrim Shield, many felt it wasn’t the best of seasons for the Reds last time out and Breslin feels his side might just creep under the radar somewhat this campaign.
“It was a poor season and there were reasons for that but we won two trophies and that was two trophies more than most others clubs. People said to me, ‘you won the wrong two trophies’. If you win two trophies at the start of the year, they’re forgotten by the end of the year. We were in contention for Europe right until the end but unfortunately that didn’t happen,” he admitted.
“We’re disappointed by our high standards but I have a very determined group of players who are hurting from last season. I’ve no doubt that we will be competitive this year. I’m not going to make any predictions, but I think we might surprise a few people.”
“It’s always been my philosophy that you don’t get too high when the going’s good and you don’t get too low when things aren’t going well. The way I look at it is that I have a lot of players who I’ve watched in pre-season and who are chomping at the bit, very talented, some young, some not so young and I’ve no doubt we’ll give a very good account of ourselves this season.”
