Heart and cojones will determine the outcome of Saturday afternoon’s crucial showdown between Crusaders and Cliftonville, says Reds boss Jim Magilton.
The North Belfast rivals meet at Seaview at 3pm in what promises to be an intriguing derby game as both teams are unbeaten in the league.
Cliftonville have beaten Portadown, Dungannon Swifts and Glenavon while the Crues beat Glentoran and Ballymena, with their game against Larne postponed last weekend.
Magilton took on the reins at Solitude last summer and triumphed against Crusaders in the first three derby games last season, with the Crues winning the final encounter.
Ben Wilson scored in each of the three wins as he and Cliftonville proved to be surprise packages last season, ending the season with an Irish Cup win over Linfield.
With Declan Caddell now at the helm at Seaview and bringing his own style of player and new faces to the club, Magilton is aware the Crues could turn the tables on Cliftonville on Saturday.
But when it comes to the crunch in the crucible of Seaview this afternoon, heart and cojones are a prerequisite.
“Every game is about those two aspects, and if you go into any game without that, that would be a worry for me”, opined Magilton.
“Heart and cojones, that is the game and you have to be focused, you have to think quickly, especially in a derby when things can be hectic.
“You need that coolness, you need that clear mind, it’s about players who can perform under that pressure, it always comes down to that.
“It’s those players that have the calmness, the awareness of being able to play through maybe a press, or recognise where the opposition is weakest.
“Then it’s the clinical nature of the game; when you create a chance, how many chances you create and how many you convert, simple as that.
“I think we have clinical finishers, it’s just how many chances we need or create in one game that’s going to give us the opportunity to score.
“Do I think Crusaders can do to us what we did at the start of last season to others?
“The answer’s yes, of course they can. In Kieran Offord, Harry Franklin and Harry Jewitt-White I think they’ve recruited really well, and they’ve got a system that suits them.
“Players seem very comfortable in that system, they all understand their roles and responsibilities and they seem to be enjoying it, which is very, very important.
“And of course they approach today’s game on the back of two wins.
“In the second half against Glentoran, I thought they were excellent and the goal they scored at Ballymena was outstanding, by any stretch, it was a magnificent goal.
“They’re playing a brand of football that suits their players so the answer is yes, they could, but our job is not to let that happen.
“Our job is to withstand anything and everything they are going to throw at us and then come out and really stamp our personality and our play on them.
“We’ve done our work, Declan will have done his work, it’s about players performing on the pitch now.”
While Caddell is just embarking on his managerial career, Magilton has vast experience in the dugout, having managed Ipswich Town, QPR and Melbourne Victory in Australia, where he preceded Ange Postecoglu.
He also helped Michael O’Neill guide Shamrock Rovers into the group stages of the Europa League and was interim boss at Dundalk.
Local managers like David Healy and Tiernan Lynch have made no secret of their ambitions to further their own managerial careers, Healy was linked with the vacant job at his old club Preston North End and now Raith Rovers have approached Linfield about his availability.
Magilton says he can’t understand why talented managers in the Irish League are often overlooked and reveals he would relish another crack at management in England.
“Yes! I’m as ambitious as ever. Why not?
“Players are ambitious. Ronan Hale showed real ambition – and let people know he was ambitious to go again, and he’s got that opportunity.
“Why should it only be players? If you look at what David Healy has achieved in this league, surely, surely...I can’t believe more opportunities haven’t presented themselves to him.
“Tiernan Lynch has done a magnificent job, Oran Kearney did a magnificent job at Coleraine and went to St Mirren, why not?
“Why do clubs have to go further afield? Why do they have to go to Spain or France or wherever else, why can’t they look at Northern Ireland?
“This ego trip that clubs are on, ‘we’ll get a continental coach’, look at their records and look at these lads’ records.
“Surely they’re worth a look, they are in a highly competitive league.
“These Chairmen and CEOs watch the games now, they’re on TV.
“If you look at the content on show, it’s getting better and better.
“The European adventures are highlighted, and rightly so, and I’m devastated I only got two games.
“I waited a lifetime to manage (in Europe). I spent ten months getting there and only got two games.
“For me, the ambition is to manage at the highest level possible. If I can do that with Cliftonville year in, year out, fantastic.
“I want to qualify again and that’s why I’m urging and hoping Larne to do it, because I’ve seen it first hand at Shamrock Rovers with Michael O’Neill.
“I’ve witnessed it. I know what it can do to a football club and I know what it can do for the league.
“Look at Stephen Kenny’s unbelievable record in Europe with St Pat’s and when he was at Dundalk.
“It should elevate the league. Michael was manager of Rovers then became the international manager, how many times does that happen?
“Stephen was the international manager for the Republic. Why couldn’t David Healy go and manage a Preston North End or a Raith Rovers given his success?
“I’m not hoping David leaves Linfield, but why wouldn’t clubs look at him? It’s perplexing.”
