WITH a new manager and a club captain soon to return after a lengthy injury absence, the latter reckons Glentoran will improve sooner rather than later.
Skipper Stephen McAlorum believes new Glens boss Gary Haveron can restore confidence and instil the mental strength required to improve results.
The Oval outfit are in 10th place ahead of hosting arch-rivals Linfield, who are flying high in second, but McAlorum suggests that gap may be deceptive: “We’ve a good squad. It’s a confidence thing at the minute and Gary will bring that back to the team…
“I think that on our day we’re well capable of beating any team. I just think we need that confidence, get winning games and being hard to beat. Gary will bring that, a strong mentality to the team.
“We go a goal down or go one each and we crumble at the minute. That’s something to work on. We’re not going to set ourselves any targets now – we just want to win as many football games as possible.
“Three or four wins on the bounce would take you right up there. We’re not that far off. Obviously we could be doing a lot better but it’s still tight enough for us to make an impact.”
Having damaged the anterior cruciate ligament, cartilage, and broke bone in the kneecap of his right knee shortly before last Christmas, he laughs at the suggestion his own absence explains the club’s struggles this year:
“That’s all I’m hearing, ‘When are you back? When are you back?’”
The answer to that is November 1, for a return to some playing action anyway. Explaining the side’s poor recent form is another matter:
“It’s really hard to put your finger on it. Losing the manager early on didn’t help, there’s a lack of confidence in some people, and there were a lot of changes in the summer.
One factor is physical: “Due to injuries we haven’t had a settled team this season. We’ve had about eight players out – including Curtis Allen and Stephen O’Flynn for weeks at a time.”
Another aspect is the mental side, he admits: “The Oval is a very hard place to play, there’s a lot of pressure put on players, and some have to get used to it. Now they’ve started to get used to it and they know what’s expected of them.
“I know when I first signed it was a culture shock to me too, how big the expectations are.
“Even if Glentoran say they aren’t the team they used to be, that expectation is still there, of winning trophies and challenging for the league. That could be a factor.
“But we’ll get out of this rut we’re in and have a strong end to the season, no doubt about it.”
There’s an up side to playing at the Oval too, McAlorum stresses: ““Our supporters, all they expect is that you give 100 per cent.
“I’ve played games for Glentoran and lost to Linfield and different teams, but as long as you give 100 per cent they’ll clap you off the pitch.
“That’s all that Gary will expect of the boys: put a good shift in, show what it means to play for a club like Glentoran, and then results will come, against Linfield, Crusaders, Cliftonville, whoever.”
Haveron’s approach to the game impresses him: “I played against him a couple of times when he was at Ballymena and I was at DC [Donegal Celtic] – he always had that hunger, desire, that will-to-win, that has maybe gone out of the game this last few years.
“He was like an old-fashioned player, wears his heart on his sleeve, and he’ll transform that attitude into the players’ mindset. He’ll get us fit and most of all he’ll get us hungry.
“That wee bit of hunger I think is lacking at the minute and he’ll instil that, I’ve no doubt. I think it’s a very good appointment: he’s young and he wants to be successful, that’s what the club needs at the minute”.
