Mick McDermott has issued the following updates and statement.
- Niall McGinn is welcomed to the Club; this is a signing we have been working on for a couple of months and we are very happy that he has joined us. He is exactly what we are looking for at Glentoran - quality, professionalism and honesty. I have no doubt he will be an invaluable player - both on and off the pitch. I’d like to thank Paul Millar, Rod McAree as well as Niall’s agent Mr. Gerry Carlisle for getting this deal over the line.
- Ally Roy will be moving to a Scottish Championship side on a half season loan deal. Ally needs game time and this move gives him that opportunity. Ally and his wife are expecting their first child in the coming days and this move back to Scotland will allow them to have family support around them. We wish him well over the second half of the season with the potential return to Glentoran this summer.
- Alex Henderson has joined us from Airdrieonians FC. Alex is an 18-year-old Goalkeeper who has already made several appearances for Airdrie 1st team. He has already impressed in training and is definitely a great prospect for the future.
- Bailey Locke has just signed his first professional contract for Glentoran FC. Bailey has been training with our 1st team this season and playing Reserve team football; he is a physically strong midfield player and an East Belfast lad. We will be looking at Loan options for Bailey to get high level match minutes the remainder of this season
- Re-joining us from loan deals are Ciaran O’Connor and Jordan Jenkins. Both players will strengthen our squad as we move into the gruelling second half of the season.
This week we welcome back Shay McCartan from suspension and numerous players available after injury; James Singleton, Aidan Wilson, Bobby Burns, with Conor McMenamin progressing positively with a planned return date later in January.
As the window evolves there may be some player movement in & out: we have had many requests for players to go out on loan - particularly our young players. We will consider what is best for their development and our squad and make decisions in the coming weeks.
As always, we will keep our options open if players become available; we are always looking to strengthen and no doubt Paul Millar will be working tirelessly until the end of the window to monitor our scouting network and prospect database.
Recent Media Articles
I feel it is necessary to give some clarity regarding recent articles in our local press regarding my comments after the Moyola game; it is clear that the original headline has been seen as inflammatory to our fans and created issues within our Club and fanbase.
Subsequently and predictably, following the original inflammatory headline, a second article has appeared today in the same newspaper.
To clarify; my off-the-record comments after the game (at Moyola) were clearly directed at a very small group of people (less than 10) who stood directly next to our dugouts and shouted vile and abusive insults for a lengthy period of the game; this included insults of my family members who were not even present at the game. I made this very clear to the reporter at the time post-game when using my reference “balloons.”
This publication of these articles suggested that I was referring to any and all fans that are unhappy with our current situation and my position at the Club - this could not be further from the truth.
Fans have a right to vent their frustrations, as I clearly stated in an article in a previous weeks Sunday publication; no doubt our recent results were not up to expectation and sections of fans have been vocal.
I have put on record this season that the masses of our fans have been brilliant and continue to show support even as we moved through a very challenging period.
It is surely not unreasonable to expect that there should be clear reporting of the actual events and words expressed, not poorly constructed headlines that fail to cover the story accurately. In this case and in my opinion the standard of journalism has fallen far short of what should be required from this newspaper.
Mick McDermott
10th January 2023