COLIN MILLAR WE NEEDED MORE TIME

By Col: Our plan was taking shape

the right players came in for January – and we had deals lined up for January.

“As a team we were totally confident that we would be ok and we were moving in the right direction, we knew there were inconsistencies and many results simply weren’t good enough.

“We loved working at the Welders, the opportunity to manage such a fantastic club in the Championship was a real chance for us, in an incredible competitive league.

“As a coaching team we have been together for six years and we knew this was a massive challenge for us, we knew this would be a 24/7 job and we would all need to work our socks off.

“Our task at the club was to make big changes, many players moved on – some of them were our decisions and some were down to the players, but it was a big task.

“This season was always going to be about rebuilding, we had to bring in 11 players over the summer and many of them were younger players, so things were never going to click straight away.

“We were totally confident in what we were doing and we were putting structures in place within the club to bring them forward. “Since those conversations over Halloween, we played three leagues games and we won two of them so we did not see the decision coming at all. “The Welders have so many hard-working individuals involved and we wish them all the best, but we feel a little hard done by and we all feel we deserved more time.”

It had been a busy summer for Mcilwaine and his staff as the club had to make multiple signings to replace a variety of stalwarts - Scott Mcmillen, Gary Spence, (circled) David Rainey, William Armstrong and Craig Harris were among those who moved on.

“There were a lot of really good moments and positives in our spell, which almost makes it more frustrating that the opportunity wasn’t there to build on them,” continued Mcilwaine.

“We had a very young team and mixed with the fact there were wholesale changes in the summer, inconsistencies in the first few months would be inevitable.

“When we got the job in the first place it was a massive honour for us because there were some impressive candidates in there, so we really appreciate the club entrusting us.

“We worked very hard over preseason to bring a lot of players in, but to have just one window and 18 weeks of competitive football isn’t enough to do what you want to do.

“That being said, we took the club to their first ever senior semi-final and across this season we have beaten Carrick, Warrenpoint, Portadown, Ards and we beat Newry twice, among other positive wins.

“I really hope things work out well for the club because there is a brilliant bunch of players there, the workers behind the scenes and the new management team.

“I have no doubt they’ll get it right because Gary is a top manager and he will bring success to the club.”

Mcilwaine and O’boyle – a former

Northern Ireland international who enjoyed a distinguished playing career professionally – have enjoyed a long-term professional relationship and will be hoping to get back into the game in the near future.

“The disappointment of losing our jobs will take a little time to go away,” added Mcilwaine.

“But as a coaching team we will stay in close contact because we are all good friends and have worked together over many years.

“Now it is a waiting time for us and there is a period where we can reflect on the past few months and for us all to learn from it.

“We will all dust ourselves down, it will be up to others to judge on whether or time at the club was a failure or not but that is not how any of us see it.

“If something comes up that is suitable for the four of us then it is certainly something we will seriously consider.

“If it pans out differently and openings come up that will split us up, then we will take our time and reflect on things to make the decisions which benefit us both individually and collectively.”