Pat Hoban blasts Tiernan Lynch for 'wasting six months of my career' at Derry City

The 33 year-old striker, who left Derry to join NIFL outfit Glentoran last week, felt 'the writing was on the wall' for his Brandywell career once Lynch took over from Ruaidhrí Higgins last December.

And in a candid interview about his final months on Foyleside, Hoban explains how he grew increasingly disillusioned, claiming he was 'frozen out' after his relationship with Lynch broke down.

In fact the experienced frontman, who left City for an undisclosed fee, accused Lynch of 'blocking' a potential move to a 'top League of Ireland club' last January. The ex-Oxford and Dundalk hitman netted 16 goals in 45 games for the Candy Stripes during his 18 month spell but scored just one of those during the opening six months of the 2025 campaign.

He started the opening match of the season against Shelbourne at Tolka Park and again against St. Pat's at Richmond Park in March but his next six appearances were off the bench until his inevitable exit last week. "Of course I was frustrated," he explained. "Even when I was on the bench I knew I wasn't coming on. You're trying to go out to warm up knowing you're never getting on. "Even to light fire in my belly, if he (Tiernan Lynch) came to me and said 'I think you're finished', then I would think 'right, let's go!' "It doesn't affect me and my personality or my character. In terms of my career at Derry it does. It ended because of that. I didn't get a run of games and couldn't show anything to the Derry fans this year at all. He just wasted six months of my career and, to be honest, it's something I'll never forgive either. "It happened to me before at Mansfield when Steve Evans got the job. The January window came and he brought in who he wanted and I was left in the stand until May. I always said to myself I'll never let that happen to me again but it just happened with Derry." The Loughrea native, who finished as joint top scorer during his first season at the club, says he got the impression Derry City was attempting to offload him to Linfield before the start of the season. "I was hearing stuff about clubs being in for me like Linfield and you're wondering, 'why are they in for me?' So I think they were trying to offload me at that stage. I firmly believe that but of course the club could say something different. "He (Lynch) then changed his tune and said 'you're not going anywhere. You will score 20 league goals for me' and that kind of stuff. He said I was part of it and we're trying to make Derry great again. To be honest I didn't believe it and I was right in the end. "At the start there were so many mixed messages towards me, I felt they didn't want me. You hear stuff that comes back to you and that they're interested in a certain player. I'm thinking 'that's the only reason why you want to keep me now, because you couldn't get the player you wanted through the door'. You just want to be told straight up. "I had a top club in the League of Ireland interested in me at the start of the season. It probably shocked him (Lynch) so he blocked it," claimed Hoban. "Then when the window closed he went back on everything he was saying. "I'm not the only one to leave in this window and I'm certainly not going to be the last," he predicted. Once he returned from a hamstring injury early in the campaign Hoban was a permanent fixture on the bench and began knocking on the manager's door looking for answers. He claims there was never any transparency and blamed a lack of trust for the breakdown of his relationship with the City boss. "I need to play football. I've probably got a couple of years left in my career and it was just getting wasted to be honest. "I was joint top goalscorer last year. I probably felt I could score more but then couldn't get a kick with no explanation behind it. "I told Tiernan Lynch to his face, man-to-man, 'I'm not getting a good feeling here and don't trust you with what I've left in my career'. He said we'd sort it and get past it. We shook hands and I thought that was it done. "When I came back from my hamstring injury, I said I'd keep my head down, train really well and try to get into the team and see what happened." With Liam Boyce arriving from Hearts in the winter window and the summer arrival of Dipo Akinyemi from York City, Hoban was falling further down the pecking order. Dundalk's record goalscorer doesn't believe he was out of favour due to Lynch's style of play but he's at a loss to explain why it didn't work out. "I believe I can score goals regardless of what the style of play is. But deep down inside I knew in December I wasn't going to play. It came to a stage where there was no real relationship between him and myself. Once the window closed I was kind of frozen out then. "It wasn't like I was told I needed to be better at doing this or that. I didn't know why and still don't know. To be honest I don't really care now. My biggest thing was I never got a run of games to be like, this is what I can do; this is what I bring to the table. I'll never understand that thinking. If he didn't see me as part of his plans, then just tell me. It could've saved the whole trouble of the last six months. It just wasted six months of my career." Hoban remains close with many in the Brandywell dressing room and hopes they can push Shamrock Rovers all the way in the race for the title this term. "The last month or so they've been going really well. The players are excellent and give everything, so I really hope they do it this year and push Rovers the whole way. I'd only be happy for that." Hoban had options to stay in the League of Ireland with Cork City, Waterford, Drogheda and Galway amongst the interested parties but when Declan Devine, Paddy McCourt and the Glens came knocking, it was an opportunity which whet the appetite. "There was other interest from the League of Ireland but I didn't want to go down and fight a relegation battle with Cork. I'd never sign for Drogheda because that would be the one loyalty I would definitely always have for Dundalk. "Waterford were interested but I didn't want to go there. Obviously the big one for me was Galway but that fell through for a certain reason. It's disappointing but things happen for a reason and Glentoran came in and said they wanted me and did everything they possibly could to get me. And that's what players want. They just want to feel wanted. "I know Decky and when I met him and Paddy, they couldn't stress how much they wanted me. I was like, 'come on, let's do it.' "It's a good squad. They'll be competitive when it comes to Linfield, Coleraine, Larne. I'm just excited to experience a different league and play through the winter. I'm just looking forward to playing again."