Kearney keen to aim high with St Mirren
Oran Kearney insists he is right to aim high after swapping title-challenging Coleraine for struggling St Mirren.
Oran Kearney insists he is right to aim high after swapping title-challenging Coleraine for struggling St Mirren.
Kearney was introduced as St Mirren manager on Monday after making headlines about targeting title glory during an interview in Northern Ireland.
The 40-year-old's first job will be to stabilise a team that have shipped 12 goals in four games and his task begins with the visit of Ladbrokes Premiership champions Celtic on Friday.
But he hopes he can be allowed to build a team worthy of winning silverware after Alan Stubbs' 77-day spell in charge.
Kearney, who lost out to Stubbs when Jack Ross left for Sunderland, said: “If you watch the interview back, it wasn't a Jose Mourinho moment by any stretch of the imagination. It wasn't a big statement that we are going to win the league this year.
“The question was: 'What would you like to achieve with St Mirren?' I was asked that question in my first year at Coleraine with no chance in hell of winning the league when they were 11th, I said my aspiration is to win a league or a cup.
“Now it took me seven and a half years, but we achieved it.
“If the question had been: 'Can you win the league?', the answer would have been quite straightforward. Would I like to? Of course, I would love to do that.
“And also I feel you have got to set your standards as high as possible. If you want to finish 10th, and that's all you are reaching for, I don't think it's enough. My aspiration, with every training session and every match, is to do the best you can. ''
Kearney admitted it was a wrench to leave Coleraine after they came close to a double last season, coupled with family and professional sacrifices - he has taken a career break from his job as a PE teacher.
But he feels he can quickly return the feelgood factor to the Championship title winners.
“We won an Irish Cup at Coleraine in May, the first in 15 years,'' said Kearney, who will keep working with assistant Brian Rice for the time being.
“We took 6,500 people to the national stadium and the next four or five days were carnage, the next four or five weeks were mental. The town is still buzzing, there's still the odd flag hanging off a post.
“I've looked back at some of the footage of the championship win here and the scenes, and when I look at Coleraine, they are just about getting over the hangover for the want of a better description.
“I feel this club has to be in the same place, that there has to still be that feelgood factor. Yes, they have lost their last few games but the overriding emotion still must be one of joy, and it's about tapping into that and getting the fans back onside and getting that identity back with the team more than anything.''
Kearney has already made moves to strengthen his squad by handing a trial to 33-year-old former West Ham and QPR defender Anton Ferdinand, who played 35 times for Southend last season.
“I chatted to him for a couple of hours and it looks like there is still a real good hunger and desire to do well,'' he said.
“Having made that step from Championship to Premiership, players like him with his CV and experience could possibly be worth his weight in gold to some of the younger players around.
“It is probably more about seeing where he is physically.'