Tiernan Lynch wants to get Derry City fans onside ahead of season opener

​Fans on Foyleside grew increasingly disgruntled last term as the Candy Stripes' potential league and cup 'double' petered out in the most frustrating of season finales.

Shelbourne winning their first top flight championship since 2006 on Derry's home patch in the final league match of the season just rubbed salt into the wounds and a lacklustre display and shock loss against Drogheda United in the FAI Cup Final at the Aviva fractured the relationship between management, players and fans.

Lynch replaced Ruaidhri Higgins as manager and has worked tirelessly to put his own stamp on the Derry team who will kickstart their 2025 campaign against the champions at Tolka Park on Valentine’s night.

There's been no talk of titles or bold statements about what he would consider to be a successful campaign but Lynch is determined to get the City fans back on side with entertaining football and, above all, hard graft.

There’s been plenty of change with seven new faces and a transformative move to their temporary base in Owenbeg as Lynch tries to end that 28 year wait for a top flight title.

Should he deliver, he will go down in history with club legends Jim McLaughlin and Felix Healy but for now he’s just keen on winning the fans over by delivering intensity and excitement which was so often missing from Derry’s performances last season.

Asked how he's found his first pre-season as City boss and the all-consuming role as manager of the Brandywell outfit, he admits it's a challenge he's relishing.

"Everything is about mindset and how you look at things," he began.

"You can look at it as a great challenge and really enjoyable. We haven't had any [competitive] games yet obviously so the fans haven't any reason to turn on me just yet," he laughed.

"And I hope they don't. I hope we have a great relationship and know that everything we do, we do it 100 percent.

"Everything the football club does should always be about the fans. It should always be about the people that pay in the gate.

"One of the things we make our business is to try and play a brand of football that Derry fans have been accustomed to over the years.

"I see the DNA and philosophy of Derry City Football Club very much being a team that goes forward and is exciting, enjoyable to watch and gets people off their seats.

"Not quite sure winning 5-4 will be great for my heartrate or anything like that so that's definitely not something I'll be trying to implement," he smiled.

"We do want to, as we call it, keep the back door shut and by all means be excited going the other way and I hope we can do that for them."

The players have all bought into Lynch's style of coaching and his demands for professionalism, hard work and playing on the front foot.

The fact he's got an insatiable desire to improve in all facets of the game certainly keeps the players on their toes.

Asked how the players have embraced his coaching style, Lynch responded; "Absolutely brilliant. Well, to my face anyway.

"I don't know what they're calling me behind my back. I think they're a hungry bunch. I think they're probably hurting a bit from being so close last year and falling at the final hurdle.

"I think if there's a way and means of them improving then they're quite open and seem like they want to do that."

Derry concluded their pre-season fixtures with a 2-0 win over Glenavon at Mourneview on Friday night with an own goal and a Dom Thomas goal ensuring an unbeaten run under Lynch before the real business of competitive games begins against Damien Duff's men who clinched a 2-0 win over their own over Drogheda United in the President's Cup Final.

"You're never happy and I think the players are learning that more and more everyday that you're never happy.

"You always want more and my job over the next however amount of games we're here is that there's always more in you.

"There's always another level you can get to, whether that's with fitness levels, whether that's the body fat coming down lower or whether that's more goals, conceding less goals or more box entries - whatever that may be.

"I'm always going to be pushing them and keeping them on the edge. Again, up until now they seem to have bought in.

"Like anything. You can talk all day but the proof is in the pudding. At the end of the day it's about results.”

Will the hurt from last season's failures fuel the desire to bring success to the club once more this year?

"If I'm going to have to use that to fuel desire to play for Derry City then we're in trouble,” he responded.

“The big thing we need to make sure to instill here is that when you pull that shirt over your head, that it means everything to you. It should be a privilege to play for this football club.

"The big thing we need to make sure is that we get the fans behind us.

"The one thing that I've taken from talking to players and meeting all the people that goes with it, the fans just want to see 100 per cent.

"Everyone is giving 100 per cent and if we can bring some form of exciting football to Brandywell then I think we will get the fans to where we want them to be.”

Lynch has made the shrewd move to employ former City skipper Patrick McEleney as coach – someone with an encyclopedic knowledge of the League of Ireland, opposition players, styles and venues which the Derry boss might not be all-too familiar with.

Without being disrespectful to the Irish League where he’s honed his coaching skills, Lynch acknowledges the League of Ireland will bring different challenges.

"I don't think I'll be disrespectful to anyone in the Irish League because that was a test every week also. Lots of good managers with David Healy, Declan Devine, Rodney McAree, Jim Magilton, they all have great experience as managers and lots of success in their careers.

"There's huge differences between the Irish League and the League of Ireland. There's no doubt about that and lots of great managers, players, teams and lots of great history.

"We know this will be extremely tough and we will have to be at our very best every single day and have to be on this every single day in order to be anywhere near."

His first test as City boss is a visit to the Drumcondra where Shelbourne will be intent on following up on their President’s Cup triumph with a statement of intent against one of their expected title rivals.

Lynch knows the result on Friday won’t ‘make or break’ his team’s season. One match at a time is his mantra.

"Winning, losing or drawing against Shelbourne won't make or break our season.

"I've been asked about 50 times today about where I think we will finish in the league. The only thing we will concentrate on will be Shelbourne. We will always go one game at a time and never look too far ahead.”