Coleraine FC Reshapes Squad Ahead of Title Push
Ruaidhri Higgins has been around football long enough to know when something simply doesn’t fit.
Ten weeks after Coleraine unveiled Conor McMenamin as a marquee summer signing from St Mirren, the Northern Ireland winger has gone – across the league and straight into the colours of Glentoran. A surprise on paper, less so once Higgins lays out the reality.
“Sometimes in football and just life in general, things don't go as expected or according to plan,” the Coleraine boss said, speaking after being named August’s manager of the month by the Northern Ireland Football Writers' Association. “It's certainly not a personal issue with Conor at all.”
McMenamin’s own verdict was blunt: “It wasn't meant to be” at Coleraine. On this, player and manager are in lockstep.
A move that couldn’t beat the miles
The football side wasn’t the problem. The geography was.
McMenamin, 31, never hid the fact he could not commit to relocating from Downpatrick to the north coast. Family and personal matters weighed heavily. So did the road.
The daily round trip from Downpatrick to Coleraine is roughly 75 miles each way, about a 90‑minute drive there and the same back. That’s training, travel, recovery – and then the car again.
Higgins didn’t dress it up.
The commute, he said, was “not sustainable”. The two spoke regularly over recent weeks. The conclusion was inevitable.
“Conor and I had regular conversations over the last couple of weeks actually,” Higgins explained. “We've come to this conclusion and I think it's best for everyone.”
Best for McMenamin, who stays closer to home and lands at a club with title ambitions of its own. Best for Coleraine, who refused to let a difficult situation drift and used deadline day to reshape the squad.
Because while McMenamin was heading to the Oval, Joe Thomson was travelling in the opposite direction.
Thomson’s edge for a title push
Coleraine’s midfield needed help. Injuries to Mark Coyle and Rowan McDonald left them light in the centre of the pitch, just as expectation around the Showgrounds was rising.
Thomson, a familiar face to Higgins from their time together at Derry City, arrives to change that dynamic.
“Joe is so different to the players that we have. He plays with an edge and he has a goal in him,” Higgins said. “He's very much box-to-box and all-action, and I've worked with him before so I know what I'm getting.”
That “edge” matters. Coleraine finished just three points behind eventual champions Larne last season after a late surge. The club has gone full-time, investment has ramped up, and the Bannsiders now carry the weight of being widely tipped as genuine Gibson Cup contenders.
They have only one league title in their history, back in 1974. The next one, if it comes, would land in their centenary year. The stakes are obvious. So is the pressure.
“To me it's trying to win the second league title in the club's history, and it would be extra-special if you could do it in the centenary year,” Higgins said. “On a daily basis, I put myself under massive pressure and that's why we are here. We want to be part of a successful, ambitious club.”
Brooks, the Robbie Keane throwback
McMenamin and Thomson dominated the deadline-day headlines, but Coleraine’s business didn’t stop there.
Higgins also moved for Adam Brooks from Crusaders, a signing that feels as much like a long-term bet as an immediate boost.
Brooks, a former Celtic striker, spent much of last season shunted wide at Seaview yet still started this campaign sharply and hit a hat-trick against Portadown in a 3-2 win. Higgins had seen enough.
He had been tracking the 22‑year‑old Scot “for a while” and talks about him like a coach who has spotted a project he genuinely believes in.
“For not the biggest lad in the world he scores good headed goals, with his right foot, left foot, he can score from distance and inside the six yard box,” Higgins said. “He's got good awareness and so much to his game. I think if he was six foot two he would have never played in this league because he would be somewhere else.
“We see it as an investment and someone we can develop, and I've no doubt that Adam can kick on and once he establishes himself here, it wouldn't surprise me if he went on to another level in the coming years.”
This isn’t idle flattery. Higgins remembers watching Brooks for Crusaders at Portadown last season and being instantly sold.
“Straight away I really liked what I was seeing,” he admitted. “I know he's a brilliant boy and he played out of position a lot last year, but there's no doubt in my mind that he's a top, top centre forward.
“He's very like a Robbie Keane sort of mould and that type of centre forward, and there's a lot I like about him.”
For a club with eyes on trophies and resale value, that comparison is no small statement.
Unbeaten, under pressure, and enjoying it
All of this plays out against a strong start that has only sharpened the focus on Coleraine.
Higgins has guided his side to an unbeaten opening: three wins and a draw from four league games, including a point against champions Larne. Three clean sheets in those fixtures, goals flowing again at the other end, and a manager who insists he is “very lucky” and “loving” life at the Showgrounds.
“We're obviously really happy with the start, and we're particularly happy with the three clean sheets out of four, and we're scoring goals again which is pleasing,” he said. “We're four games in, so we'll not get too excited, but the players have been fantastic and it's a joy to work with them and the staff on a daily basis.”
Next up is Crusaders at Seaview on Saturday evening, a 18:00 BST kick-off and a swift reunion with Brooks’ former club.
The commute that broke one signing has already been consigned to the past. The question now is whether the new arrivals can carry Coleraine those last three points further – all the way to a second title, in the year the club turns 100.
