Conor McMenamin's Move to Glentoran: A Win for All

Ruaidhri Higgins insists Conor McMenamin’s whirlwind switch from Coleraine to Glentoran is the right outcome for all involved – even if it turned into one of the most eye-catching moves of the Irish Premiership window.

McMenamin only arrived at the Showgrounds from St Mirren in June. Ten weeks later, he was posing with a Glentoran scarf at the Oval, with midfielder Joe Thomson heading the other way in a straight swap that stunned plenty around the league.

For Higgins, though, the story is simpler. It just never clicked.

“Sometimes in football and just life in general, things don't go as expected or according to plan,” he said after being named August’s manager of the month by the Northern Ireland Football Writers' Association. “It's certainly not a personal issue with Conor at all.”

McMenamin, 31, had already framed his short spell in similar terms, telling BBC Sport “it wasn't meant to be” at Coleraine. Higgins doesn’t argue. He leans into it.

The Northern Ireland winger spoke openly about the strain of not relocating from Downpatrick to the north coast, stressing that family and personal matters lay behind the decision. The numbers tell their own story: roughly 75 miles, about 90 minutes each way, every day.

Higgins never pretended that was realistic.

The commute, he said, was “not sustainable”, and both men knew it. “Conor and I had regular conversations over the last couple of weeks actually,” he explained. “We've come to this conclusion and I think it's best for everyone.”

The pressure of the situation could have left Coleraine exposed. Instead, deadline day reshaped their midfield.

With Mark Coyle and Rowan McDonald sidelined, the Bannsiders were already light in the centre of the park. Thomson’s arrival plugs that gap and gives Higgins a very different tool to work with alongside the likes of Will Patching and Dylan Boyle.

“Joe is so different to the players that we have. He plays with an edge and he has a goal in him,” said Higgins, who knows exactly what he is getting after managing Thomson at Derry City. “He's very much box-to-box and all-action, and I've worked with him before so I know what I'm getting.”

The deal for Thomson was only part of a busy final day of business. Coleraine also moved decisively for Adam Brooks, prising the 22-year-old from Crusaders in what feels like a long-term play as much as an immediate boost.

Brooks, a former Celtic striker, spent much of last season out wide at Seaview but had burst into this campaign with real purpose, including a hat-trick in a 3-2 win over Portadown. Higgins had seen enough.

He had tracked the Scottish attacker for some time and calls him “a young player with huge talent”. The detail in his assessment is telling.

“For not the biggest lad in the world he scores good headed goals, with his right foot, left foot, he can score from distance and inside the six yard box,” Higgins said. “He's got good awareness and so much to his game. I think if he was six foot two he would have never played in this league because he would be somewhere else.

“We see it as an investment and someone we can develop, and I've no doubt that Adam can kick on and once he establishes himself here, it wouldn't surprise me if he went on to another level in the coming years.”

Higgins had watched him closely at Portadown last season in Crusaders colours and was instantly sold. “Straight away I really liked what I was seeing,” he recalled. “I know he's a brilliant boy and he played out of position a lot last year, but there's no doubt in my mind that he's a top, top centre forward.

“He's very like a Robbie Keane sort of mould and that type of centre forward, and there's a lot I like about him.”

All of this unfolds against a backdrop of rising expectation at Coleraine. Last season they finished just three points behind eventual champions Larne after a powerful late surge. The club’s push into full-time football and increased investment has shifted how they are viewed – and how they view themselves.

The Bannsiders are now spoken of as genuine Gibson Cup contenders. That carries weight at a club whose only league title dates back to 1974.

Clear Targets

For Higgins, the target is brutally clear.

“To me it's trying to win the second league title in the club's history, and it would be extra-special if you could do it in the centenary year,” he said. Coleraine mark 100 years as a club this season. The timing could hardly be more loaded.

“On a daily basis, I put myself under massive pressure and that's why we are here. We want to be part of a successful, ambitious club.”

So far, the team has matched the manager’s drive. Coleraine are unbeaten from their opening four league games, with three wins and a draw – that point coming against champions Larne – and three clean sheets in the bank.

Higgins is clearly at home. He describes himself as “very lucky” and says he is “loving” life at the Showgrounds, but he is not getting carried away by a promising start.

“We're obviously really happy with the start, and we're particularly happy with the three clean sheets out of four, and we're scoring goals again which is pleasing,” he said. “We're four games in, so we'll not get too excited, but the players have been fantastic and it's a joy to work with them and the staff on a daily basis.”

Next comes Crusaders on Saturday at 18:00 BST – the club Brooks has just left, the kind of fixture that can sharpen a season’s narrative early.

The squad is evolving, the pressure is rising, and the centenary year is already humming in the background. Coleraine know exactly what is at stake: a second title, half a century after the first, and a chance to turn ambition into something permanent and silver.