Barry McNamee admits he should have been dropped as his Derry City displays weren’t good enough last season

The Ramelton man, who returns to the Brandywell this Friday night with Harps, said that while there had been no ‘fall-out’ with Declan Devine or his backroom team, he would have done things differently had he been in charge at Brandywell.

“There wasn’t a fall out as such, but there were certain things we did that if I was in charge I would have done differently,” revealed McNamee. “At the same time, everyone would say the same because every person deals with things differently.

“Decky has his thoughts and whatever he asked me to do, I did, so there was no fall out but yes, there are things I would have wished were done differently. There’s no doubt if you asked any of the players that are still there they would want some things done differently as well, that’s just life, but you just get on with it.

“But, no, there was no fall out and I would still chat away with Decky. He was in contact with me over the last couple of weeks and wished me luck for the season ahead. From my own point of view, I didn’t want to just go through the motions again.”

The 28-year-old believes at this stage in his career moving to part-time football is best as he continues to search for a job.

“I was in two minds last year about whether to go back but having worked with Decky (Devine) before, that made the decision to give it a go for another year very easy," he explained.

“For whatever reason though my head wasn’t really in it at times and I was kind of going through the motions.

“This time, for myself and for Derry, it wasn’t worth going through the motions again this year. That’s why I decided to take a step back and go part-time with Harps and hopefully I’ll find a bit more enjoyment this season.”

For long parts last season the ex-Cork City man wasn’t at his best and was dropped before coming off the bench in the big FAI Cup tie against Dundalk. To his credit McNamee admits his form didn’t warrant a place in the starting line-up.

“Looking back, and if I’m being honest about my performances, I could have been put on the bench before then,” he said.

“I knew the standards I had set previously and I wasn’t anywhere near them.

“With me being captain, which I was honoured to be, I didn’t think it was fair that maybe Decky felt he had to keep playing his captain week in, week out .

“I really didn’t want to do that again this season and I felt it was just the right time to move on.”