Devine to leave Glentoran after two and a half years

Glentoran manager Declan Devine is set to leave the club amid the east Belfast outfit’s poor start to the Irish Premiership season.

An agreement over his departure was reached on Monday with the Glens winless in their past three league games and sat eighth in the table with seven points from their opening six fixtures.

Devine’s last game in charge was a frustrating 1-1 draw with Bangor at the Oval on Saturday and the full-time whistle was met by a chorus of boos from the home faithful.

Former Glens goalkeeper Devine took over at the 23-time league champions initially as interim boss in March 2024 after Warren Feeney was sacked.

He was given the role as permanent boss the following month and guided Glentoran to the County Antrim Shield in the 2024-25 season, their first trophy in five years.

But, despite significant investment in the playing squad, they have finished no higher than third under Devine and fell to defeat in back-to-back BetMcLean Cup finals against Cliftonville and Linfield in 2025 and 2026.

Glentoran now face Coleraine on Tuesday looking for a new manager for the fourth time since January 2023.

Devine the latest boss unable to transform Glens’ fortunes – analysis

Glentoran owner Ali Pour warned on Saturday that the pressure was on Devine to deliver this season.

Pour explained that Devine had at his disposal a squad that he had “hand-picked” after being provided with “the biggest budget of any manager”.

But, as has been the case for much of Pour’s time at the club, big spending off the pitch has not returned success on it.

Pour was in attendance for Saturday’s drab draw with Bangor when supporters certainly made their feelings clear.

Despite an inconsistent campaign last season, the Glens were in control of their own destiny in the title race with two games to go.

Knowing two wins would secure a first title since 2009, they drew 0-0 at home to eventual champions Larne before they were then thumped 6-2 by Coleraine on the final day, with the Bannsiders pipping them to second spot.

Disappointment from the previous season has perhaps seeped into the current campaign as they were knocked out of Europe at the first hurdle by RFS and then lost to rivals Linfield and suffered back-to-back defeats against Crusaders and Larne.

The loss of midfielder Cammy Palmer in the summer has been keenly felt, while injuries have hampered Devine in the early part of the new season too.

They have struggled for a focal point in the absence of last season’s top scorer Pat Hoban, while new signing Conor McMenamin will need time to ensure his second stint at the Oval lives up to the expectation established by his brilliant first spell.

The Glens still have a talented squad for whomever comes in next, but they will have to change the mentality of the players, who Devine’s assistant Tim McCann said on Saturday needed to start taking “accountability” for their “unacceptable displays”.

With ground to make up already in the title race, Glentoran supporters will hope that the new boss can quickly spark a new manager bounce to inject some life into what has been a listless campaign.

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