Derry City FC: A new season, manager, squad ... HOPE!

Tiernan Lynch admitted that the Derry City job was an itch he needed to scratch when he was appointed to the job back in November.

Having brought an unprecedented level of success to Larne during seven-and-a-half years in charge, he is now hoping to achieve even more at the Brandywell.

Starting with promotion from the Championship in 2019, to a first senior trophy in 33 years in 2020, European football qualification in 2021 and ultimately the first of two successive titles in 2023, Lynch achieved extraordinary success in the Irish League. His League of Ireland adventure is now at hand, and the new Derry City manager cannot wait to get started.

How has it been bringing this new squad together?

“It’s been absolutely brilliant. Well, to my face, anyway, it's brilliant. I don't know what they're calling me behind my back. Listen, I think they're a hungry bunch. I think that they probably are hurting a little bit from being so close last year and falling at the final hurdle. I think they're quite open to, if there's ways and means of them improving, then they definitely seem like they want to take it.”

“If I'm going to have to use that, the feel and desire to play for Derry City, then we’re in trouble. I think the big thing that we need to make sure we instil here is that when you put that shirt on, that it means everything to you. It should be a privilege to play for this club. I think the big thing that we need to make sure is that we get the fans behind us. The one thing that all the ex-players I’m talking to and the people that I’m meeting and all that goes with it, I think the fans just want to see 100%. Everybody's giving 100% and if they can bring some form of an exciting brand of football to the Brandywell, I think we'll get the fans where we want them to be.”

“You're never happy. The players are learning that more and more every day. You always want more. My trouble with whatever amount of games that you're here is that there's always a lot more in you.

"There's always another level that you can get to, whether that's fitness levels, whether that's our body fat coming down lower, whether that's more gold, whether that's conceding less goals, whatever it may be. I'm always going to be pushing them and I'm always going to be trying to keep them on the edge. But again, as I say, up to now, they seem like they've bought in. You can talk all day, they're pushing the program and it'll all be about the results.”

What is ‘Fat Club?’

“I don't know whether it was here before, but what we want to do is- the game of football changed. Before it was very much about ability. I think now the game has become very athletic.

Newly appointed Derry City manager Tiernan Lynch during a press conference after being unveiled at The Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium in Derry. Photo by Ben McShane/Sportsfile

"It's become very much about athletes, legs and energy. I think one of the things that we have to make sure we do is that everybody's at their peak condition to play on a Friday night, so we've put in body types and weights that we want every player to get down to in order for them to be the best version of them, which will hopefully give us the best version of us as a team.

“Anybody that's not at those levels, they come in two days a week and they do the extra until they get themselves to those levels. The terminology can be a little bit crude at times, but it is what it is.”

How much is this new chapter about testing yourself as it is the players testing themselves?

“It's something that we're hugely excited about. I don’t think about it as anything from my own end.

“I think Derry City have now put their trust in me and Seamus and the team that we've brought in to look after their football club. Our job is to make sure we do everything in our power to give them the best opportunity of trying to bring some success here.

Derry City manager Tiernan Lynch before the pre-season friendly match between Derry City and Ballymena United at the Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium. Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile

“There's a lot of work to be done from our end off the field as far as understanding managers, playing styles, new players. That's why we do this. It's the stuff that you have to embrace and you have to enjoy and that's definitely something that we want to do.”

How has your life changed since you got the job? I’m sure you now realise that being Derry City manager, there’s a million things to do.

“Yeah, but again, it depends. Everything is about mindset and how you look at things. You look at it as a great challenge and really enjoyable. Obviously, we haven't had any games yet so the fans haven't had a reason to turn on me just yet. I hope that they don't. I hope we have a great relationship knowing that everything we do, we do it 100%. It will never be for a lack of hard work.

“Our big thing in this is that everything a football club does should always be about the fans. It should always be about the people that pay in the gate. One of the things that we've made it our business is that we want to try and play a brand of football that Derry fans have been accustomed to over the years. I see the DNA and the philosophy very much of Derry City Football Club about being a team that wants to go forward and be exciting and enjoyable to watch and getting people off their seats.

“I'm not quite sure that winning 5-4 is going to be something that will be good for my heart rate or anything like that. That's definitely not something that I'm going to try and implement. We do want to keep the back doors shut and, by all means, be exciting going the other way. I hope we can do that for them.”

You’ll come up against some very strong opponents in this league – it’s a serious test almost every weekend.

“I don't think I’m going to be disrespectful to anybody in the Irish League because it was a test every week also. There are lots of good managers at that level, like David Healy, Declan Devine, Rodney McAree and Jim Magilton. They're all good experienced managers with lots of success in their careers.

Newly appointed Derry City manager Tiernan Lynch. Photo by Ben McShane/Sportsfile

"There are huge differences in the Irish League and the League of Ireland, there's no doubt about that. There are lots of great managers, lots of great players, lots of great teams, lots of great history. We know that this is going to be extremely tough. We know that we have to be at our very, very best every single day. We have to be on this every single day in order to be anywhere near it.”

Your first test arguably couldn't be tougher, against the champions on their own patch.

“Winning against Shelbourne, losing against Shelbourne, drawing against Shelbourne won't make or break our season. I've been asked 50 times already where we'll finish this year in the League. These are things that you'll never ever get off from me. All we'll concentrate on will be Shelbourne. We always go one game at a time. We'll never look too far ahead. All our preparation will be about us. We work very much on what we need to implement, what we need to do. We try to be very strategic in what we do as far as the team's concerned. As far as the opposition's concerned, it will only be Shelbourne.”

Will there be any more players coming in?

“I'm going to tell you I hope so. Whether it does or not, I don't know. I'm huge into people. I think it's really, really important and I've said this for a long time now.

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“It's easy to get good footballers. It isn't always as easy to get good people. I only want to bring people into this football club that's going to make sure that they're giving 100% in everything that they do.

“How they eat, how they sleep, how they recover, how they treat themselves, how they train, how they conduct themselves. That's all hugely important to me.

“Creating a culture that people can be proud to be part of, people can be proud of looking in and seeing how their football team conduct themselves both on and off the field is massive for me. You always get it wrong at times, you always get one or two wrong, but as long as you don't just try and bring people in for the wrong reasons, we've got to bring them on for the right reasons.”