Soccer

Brendan Crossan: Paddy McLaughlin proving Cliftonville's greatest asset

Paddy McLaughlin has done a remarkable job in sustaining Cliftonville's league challenge
Paddy McLaughlin has done a remarkable job in sustaining Cliftonville's league challenge Paddy McLaughlin has done a remarkable job in sustaining Cliftonville's league challenge

WHEN Paddy McLaughlin was unveiled as Cliftonville’s new manager in February 2019, he was a bag of nerves in front of the media.

You could tell he would rather have been anywhere else than sitting being asked how he would turn the north Belfast club’s fortunes around.

Managerial changes usually indicate upheaval at a club.

Barry Gray’s period in charge at Solitude had been brought to an end but he’d left behind a decent nucleus of players. McLaughlin wasn’t exactly starting from scratch, so hope that things could turn wasn’t entirely lost.

Even though McLaughlin was only 39 and largely unproven, he’d shown enough tactical promise on the sidelines of Institute to warrant a crack at a bigger Irish League job.

Expectations among the club’s fans remained high too.

The halcyon days of Tommy Breslin’s back-to-back championship winning exploits might have been in the club’s rear-view but were still fresh in the memory.

That’s what halcyon days do; they can be a burdensome weight on managerial successors.

In the beginning, the football was underwhelming.

The Reds defence sat quite deep, the passing was sometimes over-elaborate and slow while there was always the sense that Joe Gormley was far too isolated in attack.

While Barry Gray’s Cliftonville team threw the kitchen sink at the opposition – often leaving their defence exposed – their early incarnation under McLaughlin was ultra-conservative and risk averse.

Going forward, the Reds looked disjointed and predictable. There weren’t many overloads on either flank and few clear-cut chances created.

But, crucially, their defence was no longer coughing up five or six chances per game.

After one particular match, Glenavon manager Gary Hamilton observed that it was really difficult to create chances against them because they played so deep and didn’t leave any space to run in behind them.

Cliftonville’s football wasn’t easy on the eye and you wondered how their new young manager would go about progressing the project.

Or, indeed, were Reds fans already looking at the future?

Nobody is more nostalgic than football fans.

The Reds faithful yearned for the days of Georgie McMullan and Liam Boyce enthralling the ‘Understanders’ with their local version of Joga Bonito.

All the while Larne and Purple Bricks were making serious in-roads in the Premiership, Crusaders were dipping their toes into full-time waters; over in the east, Glentoran were building a financial juggernaut and Linfield always had plenty of muscle in the transfer market to pick off the best available players in local football.

Envy was never far away as the rest of the league had to cut their financial cloth to suit - but at the same time a rising tide raises all boats. Whether rival clubs liked it or not, the fact that some had the means to go full-time meant that the rest had to be more resourceful to sustain a challenge.

If the landscape was already challenging for Paddy McLaughlin, it was becoming infinitely more difficult.

And as it turned out, the early style of play under McLaughlin was just that.

Cliftonville’s evolution from then to now has been a fascinating watch – and the affable Derryman deserves immense credit on so many levels.

There are no more ‘low blocks’, no slow tempo. In less than two seasons, the Reds have morphed into one of the most entertaining, expansive teams in the league.

Managers can have boundless knowledge on the new tactical nuances of the game but the vast majority rise or fall on their player recruitment.

McLaughlin’s transfer market dealings have been brilliant. Ronan Doherty was McLaughlin’s midfield metronome up at Institute and the Cardonagh man has turned out to be the same at Solitude.

The acquisition of Rory Hale has also had plenty of creative spark to the Reds attack.

Ex-Glentoran winger Jamie McDonagh was a bit of a slow-burner upon his arrival with erratic end product - but he’s managed to airbrush those over-hit crosses from his game to become the team’s most dynamic player. He is a full-back’s worst nightmare.

Chris Gallagher has been another canny signing, shoring up emerging holes in the middle of the field.

Luke Turner, on-loan from Aberdeen, has formed an excellent understanding with Jonny Addis in a new-look defence, with the latter almost certain to be named Cliftonville’s player of the year, if not the league’s.

Kris Lowe’s signing from Dungannon Swifts 13 months ago went under the radar but his trajectory in various positions has been nothing short of outstanding.

Cliftonville can’t compete with the depth of squads at other clubs and yet there’s a serious battle on for game-time for the likes of Chris Curran and Joe Gormley, while reliable central defender Jamie Harney can’t get a look in because of the Turner-Addis axis.

Ask anyone within the club and they’ll explain the demands McLaughlin places on his players. It's doubtful there's been a fitter Cliftonville squad.

He's also surrounded himself with a well-balanced coaching staff, not forgetting the impact the departed Kris Lindsay made on the clever evolution of this squad.

Also, McLaughlin's not afraid to change tactics during games or change personnel for particular games.

Since Cliftonville made an audacious charge to the top of the Premiership a couple of months into the campaign, McLaughlin has deflected any title talk.

“Come back to me in January.”

And we did. And reporters have kept coming back asking the question.

So when are Cliftonville title contenders?

Now we’re into March – on the cusp of the home straight – and Cliftonville are still there, fighting the good fight and squeezing every little psychological ounce out of the fact that it’s a race between part-timers and full-timers.

To be a point off the top, facing into an Irish Cup quarter-final tonight against Coleraine and debating the League Cup final with the same opposition on Sunday week is some position to be in.

It’s no exaggeration to say Paddy McLaughlin has done an exceptional job in the Cliftonville hotseat – a far cry from those press conference nerves on a cool February night three years ago.