There’ll be no quick fix, insists new Derry boss McIver

These things take time.

Derry, beyond a brief flirtation with an Ulster final last summer, have been stuck in the footballing doldrums for the guts of 15 years now.

It, in the eyes of new manager Brian McIver, who was appointed on Thursday night, is not something that can be fixed overnight. The Ballinderry man has no magic wand.

“There’s no quick fix, believe me. There’s no quick fix in football. It takes time to get players to the right level of fitness, and to buy into the right lifestyle to go along with it.

“That’s not to say that for the next few years, we don’t want to see Derry making progress. Of course we want to see Derry making progress.

“It may take three to five years, minimum. There is no quick fix. It’s going to take a lot of time to get players with the right attitude, the right frame of mind, the right conditioning.

“I would hope that happens sooner, rather than later, obviously.

“But I think the Derry public has to realise that we need to start getting a conveyor belt of players together. We have to make it a long-term programme. But believe me, we’ll want to see it working as quick as possible,” he said.

The former Donegal manager, who took the Tír Chonaill men to their first National League Division One title in 2007, had said he wouldn’t manage at inter-county level again after leaving the Donegal post.

Yesterday he revealed that the fear of future regret drew him out of managerial retirement.

“I’m delighted to get the job and I’m looking forward to the challenge. It’s a really big challenge. Whenever I left Donegal, I felt that there would be no way I would ever manage again at county level.

“I got on well with the Donegal players and I didn’t think I could manage against them.

“But I had a couple of years with Down and then I was involved with my son, Paul, here with the Derry minors last year and whenever the nomination came, I honestly didn’t have to think that long and hard about it.

“I always got a great buzz from being involved with games at inter-county level. My name had been mentioned for the Derry managerial post at different times but it had never suited.

“When it came up this time, I thought ‘there’s no point sitting in 10 years time, regretting not having a go at this,” he said.

McIver’s backroom team includes former Derry manager Paddy Crozier and experienced coaches Paddy Tally and Bernie Henry, along with Antoin Moran and liaison officer Jody Wilson.

The new Oak Leaf chief explained why he talked Paddy Crozier into a return, in spite of the fact that he has managed the county in recent times and will presumably be working with some of the same players.

“Paddy Crozier just loves football. Whenever I spoke to him, he was very excited at the prospect of getting involved. He just has football in his blood,” said McIver.