Redman: Haveron can steady Glens ship and set us on course
ROSS Redman has cut a frustrated figure on the sidelines of late, his injury meaning he is helpless to do anything about Glentoran’s recent up and down form.
The first signs of dissent amongst The Oval faithful came with last weekend’s home defeat at the hands of Ards, but Redman is convinced that manager Gary Haveron will silence the boo-boys and continue the mission to returntheGlenstothetop.
“Gary has brought in a lot of young lads and with them you have inconsistency and on top of that there have been players injured, the likes of Calum Birney, John McGuigan, big players for us,” explained the roving full-back.
“But I think Gary will get the time, the club know where we’re at, it’s definitely progress from last year and hopefully we can get back on track.”
It is hardly crisis time, well certainly not in comparison to recent times at the Glens, the club sitting sixth in the Danske Bank Premiership, and with four points in hand over the chasing pack ahead of today’s trip to Crusaders.
Having the experience and steadying influence of Redman at the back along with his foraging forays forwards would be a help, and he hopes to back sooner rather than later.
“I have an ankle injury and I’ll be out for another week or two and then get back training and see how I am ahead of the Christmas period and I would like to get back and get a few games before then,” he said.
“I hurt it against Carrick in the fourth or fifth game of the season and was out for a week or two and came back and played, but it just wasn’t totally recovered and I’ve been told to rest it for a while.
“I’m a terrible watcher, if you’re not playing it’s much worse be- Decisions to make: Glentoran boss Gary Haveron and (inset) Ross Redman
cause with so many boys out with bad injuries you just want to help.” Redman is surprised that the natives have become restless in the east, and hopes that they can navigate this spell of choppy water to continue what has been a promising start to the campaign.
“We know where we’re at and with the squad that we have we’re probably sitting about right. When you looked at our results in pre-season a lot of people would have taken sixth coming up to Christmas,” he admitted.
“We’re doing our best to keep on the coattails of those teams above us, and a couple of good results over Christmas and things could turn, because teams are beating each other all the time.
“Top six and an Irish Cup run is the aim and we’ll take it from there. If you look at the likes of Cliftonville they have brought in quality strikers, Coleraine and Glenavon have been the surprises of the league, so I think every team will go through a rocky patch when they’re not picking up results. Some people were saying Linfield were in crisis a couple of weeks ago.
“This is our rocky patch, we’ve had a great start and it has died down but in the camp we’re happy where we are and will try and work as hard as we can to pick up as many points as we can.”
Meanwhile, Haveron has called on his side to show more resolve as they prepare to tackle the in-form Crues.
“I was very unhappy with the result last week against Ards,” he said. “We had three or four very good chances to take an early lead but didn’t take them. Then some very sloppy defending and individual mistakes let us down and we never managed to get control back as Ards were able to close ranks after their first goal. The supporters were entitled to feel let down by that. So did I.
“I never ask players to do what I don’t think they’re capable of but I do want to see them show a lot more resilience and fight.
“We also need to show complete commitment from the start against the most in-form team in the league. They’ve all worked hard and trained well so we can go to Seaview in a positive, focused frame of mind and I’m confident the lads who come in and the returning players will make us more solid.”