Sports Direct Irish Premiership: McCourt aims to bring success to Glentoran

Former Northern Ireland star Paddy McCourt says his aim is to help bring Glentoran to 'a place where the supporters deserves to be' after being appointed Assistant Manager at The Oval.

The 40-year-old ex-Celtic winger, who had been Head of Youth at Derry City previously, joins his fellow Maiden City man and Glens boss Declan Devine in East Belfast

“I’m very excited to be coming to Glentoran, by anyone’s standards a huge club in Irish football," said McCourt, speaking to the GLentorabn website.

"I’ve worked with Declan a lot over the years and also I worked with Windy (Paul Millar) for a while at Glenavon so I know them well and they didn’t have to sell Glentoran too hard to me.

"I know the level of support the club has through playing against them in the Setanta Cup and it’s a club I’ve always respected and I’m really looking forward to playing my part in bringing success back to the club.

"I know the level of ambition the owner has for the club and I’m confident that together we can get Glentoran into a place where the supporters deserve to be.”

Manager Declan Devine added: “I’m very happy and excited about this appointment. I’ve known and worked with Paddy for a long time and can guarantee Glentoran supporters that we’ve appointed a real asset for the club.

"Paddy is a great football man with a wealth of knowledge and experience in a full-time environment. He is also incredibly well connected in football right across the UK and Ireland which means he’ll also be an asset to us in terms of recruiting widely. He’s a legend of Northern Irish football and also I would trust him with my life as a man and as a colleague.

"With Paddy in place, I now feel that with himself, Tim McCann, Elliott Morris and myself we have a coaching team with all the attributes and talents to take this club where it needs to be.”

Meanwhile, Ballymena Unitedhave secured the signature of former Northern Ireland international Josh Carson from rivals Coleraine.

The 31-year-old who made four appearances for his country and played for Ipswich Town and York City before returning home to sign for Linfield in 2016, made almsot 200 appearances for the Bannsiders.

However, with Coleraine moving towards full-time football, a deal couldn't be agreed for the midfielder to remain at Ballycastle Road and he has now moved to his hometown club.