Warren Feeney didn’t take long to identify his top priority after becoming Glentoran manager – and he’s been looking to both the past and present to help achieve it.
Just over five weeks since his eye-catching appointment at the Oval, the former Northern Ireland striker is preparing for his first competitive game as Glens boss in Thursday night’s Europa Conference League first-round qualifier against Gzira United in Malta.
It’s already been a huge week for the east Belfast club, with star player Conor McMenamin’s protracted departure for St Mirren followed swiftly by a statement signing in the arrival of Fuad Sule, a midfielder who played a key role in Larne’s historic Irish Premiership title success last season.
And the signing of Sule feeds in to the key impact Feeney has been trying to have on his players since taking over.
“It is trying to get into the boys’ heads,” the ex-Linfield manager said.
“I’ve said to them they have got to get the right mentality. It’s been a long time since Glentoran won a league, 2009. I am not going to be able to wave a magic wand but we have got to realise where we are.
“I’ve told the players they are at one of the biggest teams on the island and, for me, it is about trying to get in and change that mentality to take this club further.
“I asked them ‘who has won a medal in the league?’ They are really good boys, they train hard and there are no ‘bad eggs’ but they have just got to start putting that [winning] on their mind.”
With the addition of 26-year-old Sule the new boss is injecting his squad with what he believes is vital title-winning experience.
There was interest from other clubs in Sule’s signature, but the Dubliner revealed that the enthusiasm shown to him by the new Glens boss was a key factor in his decision to make the Oval his new home.
“It’s a massive signing for us,” continued Feeney.
“He’s a league winner and I want league winners. We have a lot of good players, I could go through them all but Fuad has a league winners’ medal around his neck and that is where you want everyone to get to.
“I was just honest with him [during negotiations] and that is the way I always try to be with players. It’s not about selling it to them, it is about telling them the truth. He liked what he was hearing and I’m very grateful to everyone in the club for getting him over the line.”
The influence of Howe and Martinez
That honesty with players is a theme Feeney is committed to, a trait of his man-management style which he believes will be important in moulding a side that meets the high expectations of the Glentoran fanbase.
Having built up an extensive contacts book during a playing career that spanned 12 clubs, the 42-year-old revealed he often keeps in touch with ex-team-mates and bosses in a bid to continually grow his managerial skillset.
Indeed, among those former team-mates is Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe, and his coaches Jason Tindall and Stephen Purches, who is Feeney’s brother-in-law.
“I still speak to a lot of my old managers and team-mates. My brother-in-law at Newcastle, Stephen Purches, has been a very big help over this last while,” he explained.
“Stephen followed Eddie into management and has been working for him for the last 10 years. Eddie, Stephen, Jason and I played together at Bournemouth and I still speak to Eddie. He was in contact when we won the league [with Pirin Blagoevgrad, who Feeney led to the Bulgarian second-tier title in 2021].”
He also recounts a story from his time playing for current Portugal manager Roberto Martinez during their League One title-winning season in 2007-8 with Swansea, which he still uses as a reference point.
“I had scored two at the weekend then he left me out on the Tuesday night. I spoke to him in an aggressive manner, and he said ‘Warren, what is your job?’ I said it was to score goals and he said ‘exactly. My job is to pick the team. You are not in it so accept it’.
“It just hit me and that is when I realised how I was walking in, worrying about myself while he was worrying about the whole squad and how to win that night.”
Gzira ‘fancy their chances’ against Glens
After pre-season friendly wins over Kilmarnock and H&W Welders, and a draw against St Mirren, the Feeney era at the Oval gets properly underway in Malta on Thursday evening against Gzira United.
Victory over the Maltese outfit could set up a Europa Conference League second qualifying round meeting with St Patrick’s Athletic of the League of Ireland, but Feeney has warned about the quality Gzira possess in their ranks.
They made it through to the third qualifying round of the competition last season, before losing to Austrian side Wolfsberger.
“For us it is a massive one and massive for myself as well. I have been there [in European competition] before and I am looking forward to it.
“They are a very, very good side. I have had them watched, I have people over there that I know. They fancy their chances against us massively.
“They are packed with Brazilians and Croatians. They are going to be a difficult team to beat but we have got to go there with confidence and try to bring a good result back to the Oval.
“It is going to be a tough, tough game and I know from my time abroad how foreign teams like to sit and hit you on the counter-attack. That is one thing we have got to be careful of, they will defend then break fast on you.”