Peter Hutton expecting a Institute promotion push

Peter Hutton is aiming to hit the ground running with Institute and have the club challenging for promotion from the NIFL Championship in his first season in charge.

The former Finn Harps and Derry City manager is back in senior management after 10 years, but has spent the past five developing the next generation of talented, local footballers in his role within the Candystripes’ Academy.

His experience in developing talent, combined with his knowledge, experience and passion for the game makes him the ideal choice to replace Kevin Deery, who left the club last week after two years in charge. And Hutton wants his new team to be challenging straight away.

“We want to be competitive and we will be,” he said. “There will be bumps along the way and that happens when you have a young and inexperienced squad, so you won’t have that same level of consistency, but that doesn’t mean we won’t be competitive. We’ll certainly be doing our best to be up there challenging.

“I’ll be pushing every single player and trying to improve every single player, so if they ever do leave ‘Stute, they’ll be leaving a better player. They will be developed in the right way in a good environment, so the onus is on them to apply themselves whilst they’re here and do their best for Institute, and if it takes them on to further afield, then so be it, but we want to create that environment where we’re competitive and together an we’re all striving for the same thing.”

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Hutton stepped away from management in 2015 after a particularly difficult experience with Derry City, but he believes his time developing young players since has made him a better manager.

“You live and learn,” he explained. “You realise that a lot of people don’t have the same integrity and honesty that you hold yourself, but that’s just a life lesson. I would say I’m very much more prepared and knowledgeable now having done four or five years with the Academy whereas when I was in with Finn harps or Derry, I was naïve to an extent. Without a doubt I’m a better manager now.”

“When I was away from Derry, I was invited by John Walker at Oxford to come in and help out with my own son’s team, and that’s where I began enjoying football again. I did that for a spell and then Hugh Harkin asked me to come in and take one of the Derry Academy sides, and I just got the buzz for football again and I really enjoy the coaching end of it.”

Hutton’s first task will be to rebuild a squad already missing some big names, with important players such a Mikhail Kennedy already leaving the club.

“That’s the downside of managing a club like ‘Stute,” he conceded. “They don’t have the finances that others have so if a player does have a very good season, usually the bigger clubs come and pick them off. But it’s important than that ‘Stute have another player coming in to fill that void so that there is a conveyor belt of talent coming in behind.

"It’s important also that ‘Stute want to compete. They are waiting for funding for the new stadium, which will be a huge boost to the club itself. In the meantime, we have to keep driving and be as competitive as possible. There are other clubs out there with an abundance of money, but it's not always about money, it’s about players and what you do with them.”

The future of Institute will be much brighter if they secure funding for the construction of a new home ground in Clooney Park West, but in the meantime it’s about making the best of what they currently have, and pushing again for a return to the top flight, a feat they so nearly accomplished just 12 months ago.

Peter Hutton with Ryan McBride during his time as Derry City manager. (Photo: Oliver McVeigh/Sportsfile)

“It’s well known that ‘Stute don’t have the luxury of the finances of Derry City and Coleraine and teams like that,” Hutton acknowledged. “Institute at the moment are on a different pathway, and that’s giving young players the opportunity to come in and compete and learn their trade and do it in a good environment where they are giving time, so it’s a completely different dynamic.

“It’s very hard now for a young player. Everybody wants to be a footballer, but you don’t get that instant success and you have to be more patient than others. Some will get that success sooner than others and some unfortunately will never achieve it. It’s about being resilient and dedicated and coachable and wanting to learn the game. ‘Stute provide that pathway in terms of the number of players they give those opportunities to.”