KIRK WANTS TO GROUND OUT RESULTS

Playing right way is Paul’s philosophy

last week in terms of one and twotouch football, of pure possession football – it was fabulous.

“I’m a puritan, I like the game played the proper way and last Saturday I got that in abundance but having said that, my teams have got to work hard to get the ball back, to press hard to get the ball.

“When we’ve got it, we play, but we’ve got to work extremely hard to get the ball.

“We have to do the ugly things too, you can’t expect teams to give you the ball, you have to work hard to get it back and work hard to keep it.

“It’s a new team and we’re still in the building process but I’d like to think we can get ourselves on a run and maybe get a cup run somewhere. This year is all about developing our style of football and then next year, maybe we’ll have a better chance because the team will be pretty much settled by then.

“But so far, we’ve had some good results and we’ve had some poor ones.”

Kirk, back in the Stanley Park saddle alongside his trusted second-incommand Stevie Houston, inherited a club over the summer with virtually no players committed to forms as they awaited a managerial appointment.

But since then, he has steadily built up the numbers, swelling the ranks with experienced Kirk loyalists like Peter Mccann and Mcconnell, while an old charge from the Whites, Ryan Mccann, has come in from Comber alongside former Linfield striker Gary Browne. A number of players who played for Kirk in the representative team also followed their old boss to Stanley Park, with Kirk particularly thrilled with the capture of centre back Elliott Mckimm, claiming his signing felt like a game-changer at a time when his team-building was still struggling to gain traction.

“Elliott is quality, an absolute quality signing, and that was a huge lift, a big lift for me because at that stage we were still very much in the dark about where we were going” said Kirk, who spent four years with Lisburn Rangers before moving to Iveagh Park last summer. “The wee lad (Nigel) Prentice on the wing is fabulous.

“I think he has scored six goals in seven games, he is always a threat, his pace is amazing.

“Then I have Peter and Ryan sitting there, two pros, and then I have a young fella in there too, Ben Whyte, a good passer of the ball, so everything is good.

“I’m pretty happy now with how things are starting to shape up.”