Coleraine players ‘buying into’ Shiels’ football philosophy

“Coming in every day to play football, it’s what you want to do”.

It’s been a summer of massive change at Coleraine, as they became the latest Irish Premiership club to adopt a full-time model ahead of the forthcoming campaign, and new team captain Lyndon Kane is clearly buzzing about it.

Kane will skipper a much-changed Bannsiders squad as new arrivals replace departed long-established players, with Dean Shiels the new head coach and Oran Kearney moving “upstairs” to become the new Sporting Director.

“It’s amazing. To be fair to the club they’ve done unbelievable work over the summer,” said Kane.

“Towards the end of the season we thought we were coming back to a part-time set-up but within a matter of weeks it was full-time and all go.

“They’ve put in the hard work and for us as players we couldn’t be more thankful.”

Kane says the squad has been adapting to the possession-based style of football preferred by former Northern Ireland international Shiels, who previously managed Dungannon Swifts and assisted his father Kenny in coaching the NI women’s national team.

“It’s weird for me because he [Oran] was always the person you would have gone to. He was your senior head.

“The good thing that happened for us was Dean came in the last six months of last season so everyone got a feel for him and we saw how he worked. The players that are still there now knew the way he worked because Oran kind of let him be hands on and he took a lot of coaching towards the end of last year.

“We knew the ideas he wanted to bring to the table. He’s got his own stamp on it and everyone’s enjoying it.”

‘Lot of teams possession-based’

Kane believes Shiels’ footballing philosophy may have been more difficult to accept a decade ago but the improved standards and professionalism in Northern Ireland’s top flight now make it a more viable proposition for teams.

“I think 10 years ago if Dean had come to manage in the league it would have been a complete shock to see someone coming in and playing a lot of football.

“But now the league is evolving that way. There are a lot of teams that are possession-based. He believes in his philosophy and even in the space of a few weeks together you’re starting to see week by week things coming together off the training pitch that we’re working on.

“He drives it forward. You maybe work on the same thing every week but he wants to get it perfected and as players we’re all buying into it. Everyone’s enjoying the way he wants to play and hopefully it reaps rewards.

“You want the players coming in to buy into the project that the manager is setting out.”

Europe ‘a massive goal’

The 27-year-old defender explains that no specific targets have been set in the Coleraine dressing room but adds that qualifying for Europe has been highlighted as a goal.

Last term the Bannsiders narrowly missed out on a spot in the Europa Conference League as an injury-time Jordan Owens winner gave Crusaders a 3-2 win in the play-off final at Seaview.

“Being full-time some people may expect everything to change overnight but we know it’s not going to be that easy. The last three years we have finished sixth in the league and we have lost in two cup finals so for us to better that, we just want to get off to a good start and see where it takes us.

“For me I want to play in Europe every single year and everyone that’s coming in is being told that Europe is a massive goal.

“I think this year is probably going to be the most exciting and competitive year we have seen because the bottom six have strengthened the most in the league.”

Coleraine start their new campaign on Saturday 10 August with a game away to Shiels’ former club Dungannon, with a home fixture against Ballymena United to follow on 16 August, a game which will be broadcast live on BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website.

Former Coleraine players Jack O’Mahony, Josh Carson and Aaron Jarvis, plus ex-skipper Stephen O’Donnell are all now plying their trade at Ballymena.

“It’s going to be strange. Obviously I lined up in the same team as Stephen O’Donnell, Josh Carson, and other players, but those two mostly for seven years,” reflected Kane.

“Seeing them walk out with Ballymena, side-by-side on the tunnel, it’ll be strange but once you cross the white line I play for Coleraine and they play for Ballymena and we’re all aiming for three points.

“It obviously adds a bit of spice that they are our biggest rivals.”