Coleraine's Strategic Moves: McMenamin's Exit and New Signings

Ruaidhri Higgins has seen enough of football to know when a plan is dead.

Ten weeks after welcoming Conor McMenamin as a marquee summer signing, the Coleraine manager watched the Northern Ireland winger walk out to join Irish Premiership rivals Glentoran. No row. No bust-up. Just a move that never settled and a commute that made little sense.

“Sometimes in football and just life in general, things don't go as expected or according to plan,” Higgins said, his words carrying the weight of experience rather than frustration. “It's certainly not a personal issue with Conor at all.”

McMenamin, who joined from St Mirren in June, had been open about the strain. Living in Downpatrick, facing a 75‑mile, 90‑minute drive each way to the north coast, and juggling family and personal commitments, the 31-year-old concluded “it wasn't meant to be” at the Showgrounds. Higgins did not argue.

The manager had been speaking after being named August’s manager of the month by the Northern Ireland Football Writers’ Association, yet the headline around Coleraine was the winger’s swift exit to the Oval.

“The daily commute was not sustainable,” Higgins admitted. “Conor and I had regular conversations over the last couple of weeks actually. We've come to this conclusion and I think it's best for everyone.”

Best for everyone, because Coleraine did not walk away empty-handed.

Thomson’s edge for a stretched midfield

The deal that sent McMenamin to Glentoran brought Joe Thomson in the opposite direction, a midfielder Higgins knows well from their time together at Derry City. With Mark Coyle and Rowan McDonald injured, Coleraine’s midfield had been stretched thin. Thomson arrives as more than a makeweight.

“Joe is so different to the players that we have. He plays with an edge and he has a goal in him,” Higgins said. “He's very much box-to-box and all-action, and I've worked with him before so I know what I'm getting.”

That familiarity matters. Coleraine already have technicians like Will Patching and Dylan Boyle. Thomson brings something rawer, more combative, a player who can break lines and still arrive in the box. In a title race that often turns on intensity as much as invention, that profile feels deliberate.

Deadline day, though, did not stop there.

Brooks the “investment” with a striker’s instinct

While the McMenamin-Thomson switch dominated the noise, Coleraine quietly completed another significant move, prising Adam Brooks from Crusaders.

The 22-year-old Scot, once of Celtic, spent much of last season operating out wide at Seaview, but still showed his instincts in front of goal. He has already underlined that this term, hitting a hat-trick against Portadown in a 3-2 win.

Higgins has been tracking him for some time and sounds convinced he has landed a striker with a ceiling far beyond the Irish Premiership.

“He's a young player with huge talent,” the Coleraine boss said. “For not the biggest lad in the world he scores good headed goals, with his right foot, left foot, he can score from distance and inside the six yard box.

“He's got good awareness and so much to his game. I think if he was six foot two he would have never played in this league because he would be somewhere else.

“We see it as an investment and someone we can develop, and I've no doubt that Adam can kick on and once he establishes himself here, it wouldn't surprise me if he went on to another level in the coming years.”

Higgins recalled watching Brooks for Crusaders at Portadown last season and being instantly sold.

“Straight away I really liked what I was seeing. I know he's a brilliant boy and he played out of position a lot last year, but there's no doubt in my mind that he's a top, top centre forward.

“He's very like a Robbie Keane sort of mould and that type of centre forward, and there's a lot I like about him.”

A Robbie Keane‑type leading the line for a club with growing ambitions and full-time backing: it fits the picture Coleraine are trying to paint.

Pressure, expectation and a centenary target

Coleraine finished just three points behind champions Larne last season after a powerful surge in the run-in. That late charge, combined with serious investment and a shift to full-time football, has dragged expectations up at the Showgrounds.

They are no longer plucky outsiders. They are one of the favourites to lift the Gibson Cup.

Coleraine’s only league title came in 1974. Half a century on, the club is approaching its centenary year with the chance to make history all over again.

“To me it's trying to win the second league title in the club's history, and it would be extra-special if you could do it in the centenary year,” Higgins said.

“On a daily basis, I put myself under massive pressure and that's why we are here. We want to be part of a successful, ambitious club.”

So far, the players are matching that rhetoric. Coleraine are unbeaten after four games, with three wins and a draw – that stalemate coming against Larne – and three clean sheets in the bank. They head to Crusaders on Saturday evening with momentum and a manager who sounds utterly at home.

Higgins describes himself as “very lucky” and “loving” life at Coleraine. It shows in the way he talks about his squad.

“We're obviously really happy with the start, and we're particularly happy with the three clean sheets out of four, and we're scoring goals again which is pleasing,” he said. “We're four games in, so we'll not get too excited, but the players have been fantastic and it's a joy to work with them and the staff on a daily basis.”

A marquee winger has gone. A trusted midfielder and a hungry young striker have arrived. The table already hints at another title push.

If Coleraine do turn this season into their long-awaited second crown, the story might not start with a glittering signing, but with a tough decision that Higgins insists was “best for everyone” – and a squad that looks stronger for it.