FROM the New Lodge to Celtic Park to Solitude, Gerard Lyttle is something of a prophet in his own land.
The Cliftonville assistant manager has enjoyed the highs of success and endured the lows of disappointment like few others in the history of the proud north Belfast club.
A bright playing career that began as a teenager with Celtic ended prematurely at Newington due to injury problems after spells with Cliftonville, Ballymena United, Newry City and Lisburn Distillery.
Lyttle then became part of Cliftonville folklore as part of Tommy Breslin’s legendary team that swept all before them when winning two league titles in a row (2013 and 2014).
When Bresy’s time came to an end in 2015, the Solitude board turned to Lyttle, offering him the job on a temporary basis.
Despite winning the League Cup and qualifying for Europe in his first season, it was the end of Camelot for Cliftonville as the glorious team broke up – or broke down – and Lyttle felt the ire of many angry Redmen.
Those same fans barracked the board this summer when Paddy McLaughlin left for Derry City and ‘Skin’ was linked with a return to Solitude alongside Jim Magilton.
On the field of play some five months later, the Reds are in fine fettle in second position in the Sports Direct Premiership and summer signing Ben Wilson is ripping up the league, leading the goalscoring charts with an impressive 13 goals.
Speaking to The Irish News, Lyttle revealed he wants to return to management in his own right as he professes himself to be a more sage incarnation than the man who left Cliftonville for Sligo Rovers in April 2017.
“Am I a different person now? One million per cent”, said Lyttle. “I’m a lot older, a lot wiser.
“I’m a better coach, a better manager and a better person for the experiences I have had.
“I want to win the league with Cliftonville, I want to win the Irish Cup with Cliftonville, I want to be the best assistant manager in the league at this time.
“But I do see myself being a manager again, 100 per cent, that’s the goal. Jim knows that. He’s always known that.”
Lyttle’s return to Cliftonville after an absence of six years did not come about easily as fans voiced their disapproval, a hangover from his time as manager.
The 47-year-old says he had a lot to deal with behind the scenes that displeased him but understands the fans’ hunger for more success.
Losing the 2014 Irish Cup final to Glentoran still hurts and he believes this marked the end of an era.
“That was probably the end of the line for that team,” he said.
“There were players coming to the end of their careers, there were players who – in my opinion – got ahead of themselves and couldn’t deal with success, Joe (Gormley) went to Peterborough, Boycie (Liam Boyce) went to Ross County, Chris Scannell retired, there was loads happening and the whole mindset changed.
“One or two players started questioning Bresy, questioning Minto (Peter Murray), questioning me. For me, one or two got carried away and that was it.
“We knew it was going to end sometime, but we didn’t think it would have ended so quickly.
“Gerard Lawlor then asked me to come in as manager on a temporary basis and I’m very grateful to Gerard for giving me that opportunity and for pushing me to get my badges and take the job.
“We won the League Cup and qualified for Europe, for a young manager in his first role I thought that was a decent return, I was quite proud of myself.
“There was a lot of internal stuff behind the scenes, player matters and that was hard for a young manager.
“There was a culture I didn’t like and didn’t agree with, in my opinion it was affecting the changing room and affecting results.
“There was a massive lack of focus and I felt I went through a stage at Solitude where no matter what I did, it was never enough.
“That was understandable because of the success under Bresy and it was going to take time to change that mindset, which again is understandable.
“There was a lot going on, players coming and going, a lot of stuff in the changing room in terms of culture change and I wanted to change that.
“Sligo Rovers then made an approach for me, around April time of that year.
“I met with Gerard Lawlor, we sat down and went through things and Gerard didn’t push me, he asked me to stay.
“It was the biggest decision of my managerial career and a big decision in terms of my life.
“In the end I probably didn’t get it right because after two years I was out of a job.
“Do I have any regrets? No I don’t. I think it was time for me to leave Cliftonville.
“There was a lot of pressure, pressure on the board as well, and I just don’t think anything I could have done would have been good enough.
“I always wanted to be a full-time manager, and it was an opportunity to test myself.
“Sometimes the grass isn’t always greener, Sligo wasn’t a club in a good place at that time and I was probably naive looking back.
“There are personal regrets, of course, but my own view is it was the right time for change at Cliftonville.”
The Reds take on Larne at Inver Park tonight as the team closest to league leaders Linfield – in second on goal difference – and have been praised for being easy on the eye.
Lyttle has been around the block too many times to get carried away, but he is clearly relishing working not only with the club and Magilton but also the talent in the squad.
“I’m enjoying working with Jim and I’m enjoying working with the players.
“They are absolutely first-class in terms of ability and attitude, they’ve made it easy for us to be honest, so that side, I love it.”
He added: “Who knows what the future will bring but right now things are good.”