Paddy McLaughlin has been confirmed as the new manager of Institute following Kevin Deery’s departure.

The former ‘Stute skipper has been Deery’s assistant for the past two years, and was announced as his replacement last night following a meeting of the club board and chairman Bill Anderson on Tuesday.

The 37-year-old was involved as a player when ‘Stute last played Danske Bank Premiership football in the 2014/15 season, and he has since been in the dug-out when the Drumahoe outfit have missed out on promotion back to the top flight following play-off defeats to Ballinamallard and, most recently, Carrick Rangers.

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Deery’s departure came days after that 4-1 second leg defeat to Rangers, and two weeks later McLaughlin said he is pleased to take up the vacant position.

“I’m just glad it’s been put to bed now to be honest because I’ve been getting a load of texts and phone calls asking what’s happening and I haven’t really been able to say anything about,” the manager told the Derry News.

“I’m delighted to be given the opportunity by the club and looking forward I’m just excited to get into pre-season with the boys now and to start planning for the season ahead.”

A former Derry City defender who has also played for Coleraine and Finn Harps, McLaughlin agreed that the managerial role is unknown territory for him but he feels he is ready for it.

“I’ve been lucky enough that I’ve been with Institute for a long time as a player and then being involved in the coaching staff in the last couple of years with Kevin so I’m not going into the thing with my eyes closed – I’ve an idea of what I’m in for,” he insisted.

“Knowing the players as well as I do will be an advantage for me too. I know exactly what I have to work with and what I believe we need to bring in to make it stronger, so I’ve been lucky enough with the experience I have behind me.”

The new manager enjoyed his first spell at the club in 2005 before returning in 2011, playing with many of the current squad before slowly making the transition to a member of the coaching staff.

“It does help when you know the club and the players that you’re working with,” McLaughlin admitted.

“You know their strengths and capabilities, and you know how good they can be which is the case for ourselves given we have a great squad of players who are more than capable of doing well in the Championship, as they have the last two years.”

‘Stute have already lost captain Stephen O’Donnell to Coleraine in the weeks following that play-off defeat, and with players like Jamie McIntyre and Stephen Curry rumoured to be on the radar of some top flight clubs, McLaughlin admitted that his first task is to secure the services of his key men for next season.

“Now it’s about convincing players to stay where they are and to do well with the club – I see that as my job first and foremost. I have to convince the players to give it a chance and to give me a chance to work with them and see where that takes us,” the manager explained.

“Losing Stevie was definitely a major blow for the club, and a major blow for the team because he was a fantastic captain and a great leader on the pitch for us. When you lose that it’s always going to be a blow no matter what, but the thing about that is that it frees up a position for one of the other boys to step up to the plate and take over from him, from the captaincy and from that role as one of the big leaders in the changing room. We have to take the positives out of it.”

The 37-year-old also knows that he has a massive task ahead of him to lead his team into a third season of Championship football following those two play-off heartbreaks, but he insists that the bitter end to last season won’t negatively affect them.

“If we were asked the question going into last season about how we’ve been affected psychologically after losing that Ballinamallard play-off in the last minute, looking at the group of players that we had we would have said ‘aye, definitely’, but look at how strong they were and how good they were, and the points that they got out of it.”

He continued: “It’s disappointing that we came so close for a second time running but we’re in the same position that we were last year and we came out all guns blazing so we’re hoping that we can do the same again this year.”

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