Deery and Dougherty join Coleraine coaching staff

Coleraine manager Ruaidhri Higgins has strengthened his coaching staff with the double appointment of Kevin Deery and Michael Doughery.

Deery brings a wealth of valuable experience to the role after previously managing Institute on two occasions, as well as being an assistant manager at Derry City and Sligo Rovers.

After playing his entire professional career with his hometown club Derry City, Deery entered management for the first time at Trojans alongside Paul McLaughlin, helping the Intermediate side win the treble in his first season.

That success alerted Institute and Deery had an immediate impact at the Championship club, guiding them to back-to-back promotion/relegation play-off finals in 2015-16 and 2016-17.

After a brief stint as assistant manager at Sligo Rovers, as well as working under Declan Devine at Derry City, the former midfielder returned as Institute boss in 2023, narrowly missing out on promotion to the top-flight in 2023-24.

During his second tenure at ‘Stute, Deery helped the likes of Oisin Devlin, Shaun Leppard, Sean Carlin, Liam Mullan and Dylan King earn moves to Premiership clubs.

Commenting on the news, Bannsiders boss Ruaidhri Higgins said: “In terms of how we think about the game, first and foremost, we are very much aligned.

“You look at the job Kevin did with a very small budget at Institute…he took them twice to the play-off to get promoted and he then guided them to a mid-table finish last season after losing all his top players.

“His coaching credentials are very, very good. I played with Kevin and I know the hunger, the drive and the demands he will bring.

“Everyone has to be accountable on how they go about their work and Kevin will make sure that people will hold themselves accountable, as well as drive standards.”

Also joining as goalkeeping coach is ex-Glentoran, Crusaders and Larne stopper Michael Dougherty.

Michael, who hails from east Belfast, brings expert knowledge to the role after recently being Head of Goalkeeping at Derry City, where he oversaw all goalkeeping matters at the Brandywell from the first team right down to all the academy shot-stoppers.

The highly-rated Dougherty also previously had experience at backroom level at Northern Ireland under-age squads, as well as time at Larne and Ballyclare Comrades, prior to working with Higgins at Derry City.

He also coached at academy level for Glasgow Rangers and Arsenal.

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“Michael and I have worked together for a few years,” added Higgins.

“I brought him to Derry City and I think it’s human nature when new managers go into a football club that when you have a really, really strong working relationship with people, you like to keep that continuity.

“Once I knew it was possible that Michael could potentially join the club, I wanted to do everything in our power to make it happen.

“He’s not just a great goalkeeping coach; he’s very, very good at a lot of things. He’s so detailed, he breaks everything down and he’s someone I value extremely highly.

“I think he’s the best I’ve seen at what he does, he’s elite in his field.”