“I FULLY BELIEVE Derry City can be the biggest club on the island of Ireland. There is so much success that can be brought here both on and off the field and it’s a challenge I’m absolutely relishing.

“I’m not going to sit here and tell you it’s going to be easy. It’s definitely going to be a difficult task but it’s a task we’re up for. As long as the supporters get behind us, we know we’ve the backing of the owner and the board and collectively the goal is to go and fulfil the dreams of the supporters of Derry City.”

It’s not an uncommon message and it’s one that managers of various clubs in Ireland might reach for when they land a top job. But when it’s Tiernan Lynch saying it at this unveiling as the new Derry City manager, then there’s conviction behind the message.

In seven and a half years with Larne, Lynch and his brother Seamus created a culture that transcended what Larne FC had been up to that point. They won Irish League titles and brought European football to the club.

Naturally, they had a wealthy financier in Kenny Bruce that helped with huge investment. But with Philip O’Doherty at Derry City, you’d expect they will back themselves to create something on Foyleside.

“I’m not going to sit here and tell lies that I might not be able to deliver on but the one thing I will guarantee is that there will be hard work,” said the Belfast man.

“There is no doubt this is a massive challenge but I wouldn’t have taken the job if I didn’t think this club had the potential to be the biggest on the island of Ireland and our job is to try to bring that out.”

It was only back in late September that he decided against a move from Scottish Premiership side St Johnstone.

Derry City chief executive Sean Barrett revealed that while they didn’t want previous manager Ruaidhrí Higgins to leave, once that situation played out, they moved fast.

“We sat down then and said ‘What do we need? What’s the DNA for what we need as a club going forward?’ and we went through a list of people, not knowing who would apply or who wouldn’t apply and this stage nobody knew the manager had just decided to go,” said Barrett.

“And every single person around that table, the same person kept coming up and it was Tiernan Lynch. Now we didn’t know whether he’d get him or not. But all those things we required like enthusiasm and vision, he ticked the boxes so we walked out of the room and I made a call to Kenny Bruce to ask ‘is there any chance of speaking to Tiernan?’ and he laughed and said ‘You know what? I was waiting on this call’.

 “I went and spoke to Tiernan and his vision going forward for the club, it was nearly as if he was listening to our board meeting the night before because every single thing…the facilities we have here, the new stand is getting built and will be finished in February, we’re hoping to continue here with the facilities at the Brandywell as well as a new state-of-the-art facility for the training academy, three pitches, and all that going forward as a club, Tiernan has shown and proved that.”

Over the years, Lynch and brother Seamus has been a frequent visitor to The Brandywell. As fate would have it, he finished his Larne career there with Larne playing Institute at the venue on Tuesday night.

Seamus and Tiernan Lynch. Lorcan Doherty / INPHO Lorcan Doherty / INPHO / INPHO

“We have been following the League of Ireland for a long time and we go to as many games as we can,” said Lynch.

“It’s something we’ll pick up very quickly no doubt. We have eight or nine of the Derry games from last year that we’ll spend the next week watching and getting a good handle on where the team’s strengths are and where we feel we need to improve.”

He also serves warning that success with Larne does not guarantee success elsewhere.

“Our job is to make sure that we can put a winning team on the pitch here. But there is a lot of other things that go with just winning football games. Winning football games cannot be a one off, not if you are striving to win league titles,” Lynch said.

“There’s got to be a consistency there, there has got to be an enjoyment factor for the players, there has got to be an enjoyment factor for the fans. There also has to be a culture, as I have said on a million occasions, that this is a massive football club with a massive fan base, and our job is to bring all that together, and to put that pride in the city that we get more young players from Derry City putting on that shirt and running out here on a Friday evening.”

The switch also means a change from winter football to summer football, something that Lynch cannot disguise his delight with.

“I have been crying out for a summer league in the (Irish League) Premiership for many years. I think there’s a real disadvantage (in winter league) when it comes to European football, we went into our European campaign the last five years having not had any competitive games,” he states.

“It gives you a real advantage having nine or ten competitive games under your belt. Better pitches and better weather, you can probably do more. When it comes to November, December and January it’s about keeping players moving rather than implementing things you want to do on the training pitch.

“I’m looking forward to summer mornings and evenings, and coaching in shorts and a t- shirt rather than in a hat and snood.”

And with that, Derry City were heading for a meeting with the Derry City Council about the Brandywell facility. In due course, they hope to install a grass pitch and get rid of the surface that was blamed for many injuries across the last few years, even cited as a factor that might put off prospective players.