Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Talk’s cheap for Ballymena new boy Mcgrory who wants Jeffrey’s high-fliers to stay grounded..
YOU can just picture the scene if Andy Mcgrory started talking up Ballymena United’s title chances in the press.
“Absolutely, I think the lads are in the driving seat now, who’s going to stop us?”
No sooner had the newspaper hit the shelves and Mcgrory’s phone would be ringing off the hook – an incandescent David Jeffrey incoming, the Showgrounds chief apoplectic with rage at how one of his own could be hoodwinked into such an obvious gaffe.
It’s an unwritten rule in the game these days that title talk is strictly off limits, even more so at this stage of the season, and Jeffrey is one of the most pugnacious adherents to this creed, as many hapless journalists subjected to the hairdryer treatment having dared mention the t-word would testify.
Jeffrey can rest easy, however, as it’s the kind of schoolboy error the downto-earth and discerning Mcgrory would never succumb too, even amid the jubilation of their 2-1 win over Linfield on Saturday – a record ninth victory in a row no less – and a result which returned them to the top of the Danske Bank Premiership.
As the old adage goes, there are no prizes handed out in December and the Sky Blues remain 8-1 long shots despite their swashbuckling, swaggering start to the new season.
That said, every player is allowed to revel in the good times while they last and Mcgrory, enjoying a real purple patch personally in a team that is thriving collectively, admits he’s loving his football right now.
“It’s been a good start for me,” smiled Mcgrory, with the kind of understatement Jeffrey (circled) would be proud of.
“My intentions at the start were only to try and get into the team and basically stake a claim but everything else has fallen into place so it’s all going good at the minute.”
Football is peaks and troughs, and Mcgrory’s appreciation is no doubt sharpened and sweetened by memories of tougher times.
Last season, in what was a first during his five seasons at Glenavon, he found himself on the edge of things and admits it was hard to take – but he says the lowest point in his career came before his move to Mourneview.
A promising youngster at Linfield’s academy, he was sent out on loan to the Welders.
Upon his return, he suffered medial ligament damage and, sidelined for a few months, he started drifting away from the game.
For someone so young, and who had invested so much in trying to cement a breakthrough at Windsor, to see his dream slipping away was soul-destroying.
Thankfully, an outstanding halfa-season at his local team Ballymacash Rangers put him back on the map, with former Lurgan Blues hero Gerard Mcmahon signing him for Glenavon’s reserve team, and the rest is history.
Nevertheless, Mcgrory reckons those kind of experiences are vital in bringing some kind of perspective when things are going well, and when they take a turn for the worse.
“I’ve always enjoyed my football,” said Mcgrory. “I find when I’m on the pitch for 90 minutes, that you forget everything else, but obviously towards the end of my Glenavon time I wasn’t playing as much and sort of fell out of love a wee bit. “But I had great times there too. The highlights had to be the two Irish Cup finals in 2014 (right) and 2016. “The first one I played in, the second one I didn’t, but I played right up to it and got injured just before.
“But I worked my way back and just made the squad. I never came on but I felt that I played my part in the leadup to it.
“And the other one was the penalty which secured Europe, that will live with me for ever. It’s probably the best highlight of my career so far, but hopefully there’s more to come.
“I’ve always enjoyed my football and the start of my Ballymena career has been great.
“I’ve scored a couple of goals and we’re going well in the league and in a couple of semi-finals so it’s all going well. I’m loving my football at the minute.”
As the dust finally settles on Saturday’s dramatic win over Linfield, what does Mcgrory consider is realistic this season?
Certainly, there is an arguable case this season’s Gibson Cup is there for the taking more than in previous years, with all the top teams having looked vulnerable at one stage or another.
But while fans are permitted to dream, players and management talk in more prosaic terms, with Mcgrory adamant a return to Europe is all they are thinking about.
“First and foremost, David’s idea was it has to be top six and looking at Europe,” said the winger, who turns 27 later this month.
“Obviously we are sitting where we are sitting, but David will never let us talk about title challenges or anything like that.
“It’s too soon to be talking about titles. You need to leave that until after Christmas when you know more about the league. But at this moment in time, the top six and getting into Europe is our main objective.
“Looking at the table at the minute, there are five or six teams all close together, but it just takes a bad run or a couple of bad games and you can fall away pretty quickly.
“So it’s all about trying to keep up the momentum and trying to win as many games as you can to try and stay up there.”
Mcgrory arrived at the Showgrounds as part of a huge summer refit by Jeffrey, with no fewer than 13 new players checking in at Warden Street ahead of the new campaign.
For Jeffrey, more attuned to tweaking squads than totally overhauling them, it was unprecedented.
But a devoted scholar of the game
and emboldened by his track record, the United chief had the courage of his convictions as he sought out players of a certain profile, many of them already proven at this level – the likes of Mcgrory, Ryan Mayse, James Knowles, Jude Winchester and Reece Glendinning – yet still somehow with it all to prove. Even so, the speed with which his newly-assembled team found their groove has taken everyone by surprise.
“I don’t think there’s been a secret behind what David’s thinking was,” said Mcgrory, who turned down a new deal at Glenavon to join the Sky Blues. “He identified a certain kind of player and certain ages, and he’s brought them all to the club and every player that he brought, he brought because they understood his ideas and what he wanted them to be doing.
“But I think to be fair, we’ve shocked ourselves at how far we’ve come on.
“I think we’ve shocked ourselves at how easily we’ve gelled. It’s all going to plan so far and hopefully that continues.”
Jeffrey’s CV in the local game is unsurpassed, of course, and Mcgrory, like so many before him, found the prospect of working under the charismatic Ballymena boss too intriguing to resist.
With 33 trophies and counting, silverware is his currency and Mcgrory is no different from any other player in wanting to boost his personal medal collection. “Obviously he’s been around a long time and he knows what kind of things to say to players,” said Mcgrory.
“Speaking to him and Bryan [Mcloughlin], they both pitched their ideas and I liked what they had to say. It was only a matter of hours before we got the deal done.
“They’ve both been around for so long and won that many things, it made my decision that little bit easier.
“Obviously I went there to try and win things and over the next couple of years hopefully I can add more medals to what I have in my career already.
“But first of all, my targets are just to get into Europe and hopefully I can just stay in the team and keep playing games.”