In this new series we plan to bring extended interviews with some of Glentoran’s greatest ever players, speaking to Media Director Ian Clarke about many interesting aspects of their long, trophy laden careers with the Glens.
Part Two: The Roy Coyle Years – from strength to strength
Nicky with the Irish Cup in 2000
Up till then Tommy Cassidy was the only senior manager you’d played for. How was the contrast between Tommy and Coyler?
I knew about Roy Coyle’s record at Linfield and with him being so associated with their success it was a bit of a shock when he came in. To be honest it was two very different styles. They couldn’t have been any more different. Tommy was very much one for putting an arm around the shoulder if you were struggling, whereas Roy Coyle ruled more by fear. That’s just the way it was and no one, no matter who you were, knew if you were in the team the next week. Roy just demanded the best. You always had to be on top of your game, even in training whether it was 5-a-side or runs or whatever, Roy just pushed you to the limit to get the very best out of yourself. And it usually worked.
The following season we won the league and all Roy had really added to the Cassidy squad, as you said earlier, was Scott Young at the start and Tim McCann half way through the season. So, what do you think Roy added that made that happen?
Well Tim and Scott were two unbelievable signings while Andy Kirk had matured into the centre forward Tommy hadn’t been able to get. Scott had come with a big reputation and he just fell in love with the Glens. He fitted into that mould like the ones I already mentioned where he really came to understand the area and where he really wanted to play and do well for the Glens. Tim and I became very close. I picked him up from the Park Avenue the first day he arrived, and we just hit it off from the first moment. We also formed a great understanding playing down the right flank together for so long.
That season Roy had us on our toes at every training session, demanding higher and higher standards off us and expecting us to do the same. That’s the way I liked to play and train, so his style really worked for me. So that team just gelled so well together, and we felt the whole way through that we had every chance of winning the league and we finished up winning it well. I think we were the league’s top scorers and had the best defensive record, so it was a great season to play in.
At the end of that season we lost our captain when John Devine went to Coleraine. How big a blow was that?
It was a massive blow at the time. Without going into the details, john thought he’d won the league as captain and thought he deserved a better contract after the season he’d had. Bu for whatever reason it didn’t happen, so it was a terrible blow because he was a great leader and a great captain. I learned a lot from him. he was another on who demanded the very highest of standards and another one who really cared for the club.
Nicky with the Gibson Cup in 2003
I’m going to ask you a question I asked Jim Cleary because it’s exactly the same context. In your first six seasons we won four Irish Cups but only one league. That’s exactly the same as the eighties. Why do you think we were so much better in the cup than the league?
Glentoran’s history in the cup is phenomenal and really only when you play in a Cup Final and win for Glentoran will you really understand what it’s like. The fans have a brilliant day out and they really make it special for the players. They probably don’t realise that, but they really do, right from the bunting at the Park Avenue before you go to Windsor. It’s just a brilliant, brilliant day. So, I suppose because of our tradition in the cup we were always expected to win it. Plus, to be honest with it only being a few games its easier to win! We won the league plenty under Coyler, but we always seemed to fall short the next season. Roy was very aware of the history of the club and he was mad to win back to back championship because I think its only been done once or twice. He even had the year of the last one up on the door at one point. I think the pressure of going for it just told on us every time. Apart from that I couldn’t put my finger on it as to why, but it’s still a big disappointment to me that we never managed to retain the title.
By the time of your second league title boys like Elliott and Kirk were gone but you had people like Glendenning, Armour, Andy Smith, Gary Smyth and of course Elliott plus Michael O’Neill. That was a phenomenal squad. How was the spirit in that team compared to others?
The spirit right through my time at Glentoran was brilliant. It was just a brilliant time to be at the club. I loved being there and I loved all the players I played with. I don’t think I had a bad word with any of them. The 2003 squad was another bunch of players who just wanted to do well for Glentoran. Tim and Scott had bought into it. Gary Smyth was a Glenman who came back that time and really wanted to do well. Plus
But that’s what Roy Coyle could do. He had the ability to put together league winning teams. He would take chances on players who people thought were maybe past their best. They’d want to repay his faith, so he always got the best out of them. For example, Sass was a truly great player who should have been at Glentoran much much earlier than he was. It was great to play with those boys plus we did everything together off the pitch. The camaraderie was excellent, and it was a really good time.
Roy has told me how important Michael O’Neill was to that squad. What was it like to play with someone with that amount of experience at such a high level?
Michael was the cog that kept it all together on the pitch. He kept the ball for us and brought all his intelligence and experience to things. And you could see he would go on to great things because he was a great student of the game and was always making sure he was learning. But as well as that, and to his credit, when he was there, he mucked in and was very much one of the lads. Hr tried his eye strings out every week even though he was never going to be there long time. He put in and gave just as much as everyone else and was one of the big reasons we won the league. Also, he was always there on our nights out and we had great crack with him.
Two years later we won the league again. Obviously, we’ve had the big recent anniversary activity around Morgan Day, but in a way that focus diminishes a great league win against a very good Blues team. Talk us through that championship.
It was nip and tuck all season. I don’t think the Blues lost too many games and we were very hard to beat. There was very little between the two teams all season and it deserved to go to the wire.
I actually wrecked my knee about 6-8 weeks before Morgan Day and I rushed back to play in it. Which I’m glad I did because who’d want to miss that one? That’s another day I can’t begin to describe. I’ve been lucky enough to play in front of some of Glentoran’s biggest ever crowds but walking out and seeing all those people in the Oval that day was a class apart. I don’t think anyone really knows how many people were there that day but the place was absolutely jam packed. I think the Glens crowd won us that one. It wasn’t much of a match in terms of football. Those sort of occasions usually aren’t, with all the pressure in them. But it was fantastic to win a five-goal thriller with a goal so late on. I didn’t feel right that day, to be honest. I was on the way back from a medial injury which is a niggly one. I played but I could hardly pass the ball. I think the adrenaline got me through it and I was lucky enough to score. That was a really topsy turvey game. Linfield weren’t great on the day and I thought we were better than them. But for all that, when Davy Larmour scored that equaliser you could actually feel that they thought they’d done it and the league was theirs.
But from winning that day there was still some work to do. We’d to go the next week to play a half decent Crusaders team that needed to win to stay up, but we were never going to blow it. The players ere too good to do that and sop was their mentality. What did happen though was that we were at a supporter’s club do that Saturday night and had the party of a lifetime. How could you not after a day like that? Then all of a sudden, we realised we had to play Longford away on the Monday night in the Setanta Cup. That was some journey! I played and Roy being Roy there was no resting up for him. That suited me because I always wanted to play but it was hard going.
So, if you were in Coyler’s team there were no excuses?
That’s it. To be honest he very rarely rested me, even in matches that didn’t count. He wasn’t one for squad rotation.
Despite your appearance record you still had some serious injuries.
I had a lot more injuries than people think. I actually played through a lot of injuries when I probably shouldn’t, to the point where I broke my back in a Cup Final against Linfield and played on. That was probably the stupidest thing I ever did in my life. But that was an era when you had people like Sass and Gary Smyth all playing regularly with injuries. They were tough players and they didn’t want to miss out. Then Coyler also had a rule that if you didn’t train on Thursday night you didn’t play on Saturday. So, you’d hobble through Thursday training just so you could play on Saturday.
When I say Coyler ruled by fear I don’t mean he was a fearsome person. Just you didn’t know from one week to the next if you were in the team. So, he always had you on your toes.
Coyler won the league that year then as so often happens at the Glens, he was away half way through the next season. How did you all feel about that?
The stick he got was definitely unfair, considering what he won for the Glens. Although I had a great time at the Oval, that time was a real low point. I remember coming off the pitch at Armagh after we’d been beaten by some stupid scoreline. It was a ridiculous match. We were all over them but every time they went up the pitch they seemed to score. I remember flanking Roy off the pitch that day. We were all taking abuse and rightly so after a result like that. I never bemoan anyone giving off when we’re poor but what Roy took that day was very rough after what he’d achieved for us.
He went after that match, but I’d have gone if I’d had to take what he took that day. Honestly, it was horrendous. But he was a great manager for Glentoran and it’s good to see that he’s still involved at the club. He’s earned that.
(Photographs by Pacemaker Press)