Newboys will raise standards at Linfield, says Healy
DAVID Healy is well aware that his four new summer signings for Linfield created an almighty stir.
On August 1, one after another, the arrivals were announced on the club website; Chris Johns, Conor Pepper, Christy Manzinga and, last but not least, Navid Nasseri, who the night before had helped Glentoran win the Irish Cup.
Given the context, the Nasseri move was always going to hit the headlines but, when asked about how the winger is settling into life at Windsor Park, Healy is quick to talk about all of his recruits.
Northern Ireland’s leading goalscorer makes no bones about his excitement at what the quartet can bring, adding that he is pleased competition is so fierce.
Healy may have won three league titles in the past four seasons, enjoyed success in every domestic cup competition since taking charge of Linfield in 2015 and proved to be adept at gaining results in Europe, but he refuses to rest on his laurels.
He wants more trophies, and feels that Nasseri, the versatile Conor Pepper — who was also signed from Glentoran — goalkeeper Chris Johns — who joined from Coleraine — and ex-motherwell striker Christy Manzinga, combined with the players already in place at the club, can help him achieve that aim.
“I always think at the end of any season it is imperative to improve, even if you have won the title as we have the last couple of years, and by bringing in the new players that we have, I feel we have done that,” said Healy ahead of tonight’s Champions League first qualifying round tie away to Legia Warsaw.
“They have different personalities and are good characters and, although they have not had many games as yet, they have settled well in the dressing room, which is important.
“We won’t be judging them after two or three weeks, or even two or three months. At Linfield, you judge a player over years, and I feel the squad is strong. We now have two players challenging for the majority of positions.
“When Navid came into the Irish League last season, we kept an eye on him and we were surprised he was available because he had such a good season.
“The opportunity arose for us to sign Navid and, as our chairman Roy Mcgivern has said, football reasons dictated why Navid chose to come to Linfield.
“In Navid’s eyes, Linfield are a club that is thriving and he wanted to be part of that, and it was the same with Conor Pepper, who we feel is another very good signing for the club.
“Conor is going to be a real asset to us moving ahead, and
Christy Manzinga is a forward player who really excites me and has the tools to do very well at Windsor Park.
“Chris Johns was at a brilliant club in Coleraine and working for a good manager in Oran Kearney, but he really wanted to come to Linfield and since he has been at the club I have been impressed with him as a person and a goalkeeper, so we are happy with the business we have conducted.”
If the quartet help Linfield past Legia Warsaw this evening, Healy will be ecstatic. Last week he admits his emotions were frustration and disappointment because, while the Blues made it through to face the Poles, they didn’t have to play a match to do it.
After beating Tre Fiori 2-0 in the semi-final of the Champions
League preliminary round in Switzerland, Healy and his team were relishing a crack at Drita in the decider. Just before kick-off, they were informed the match was off due to two of the Kosovan team’s players testing positive for Covid-19 and the entire side being placed into quarantine. Uefa rules dictated that Linfield would be awarded the tie on a 3-0 scoreline.
“To be honest, it was disappointing not to play the game,” added Healy. “Of course we wanted to progress, and that is what ended up happening, but when you prepare for a match it is frustrating not to play in it because for us as a team we want to test ourselves in as many games as possible in Europe.
“I wanted to see our captain Jamie Mulgrew extend his appearance record for Linfield in
Europe and for Andy Waterworth to be given an opportunity to extend his European goalscoring record for the club and for our new players to get more minutes under their belt, but that wasn’t possible.
“We knew it was the right decision by Uefa because health and safety is of paramount importance, and I just hope that the Drita players involved mend quickly.”
At the weekend, Linfield lost 1-0 at home to Michael O’neill’s Stoke City in a Windsor friendly.
Healy said: “We got out of the game what we needed. Stoke had a lot of possession, which is likely to be the case against Legia Warsaw, and they pressed high, which meant we had to be brave enough to play out from the back, which will hopefully help us in Poland.”