JOE Gormley has been around too long in the game to think a few kind words thrown in the direction of his manager would change anything when it comes to picking the Irish Cup final starting line-up on Saturday.
For a good chunk of this season, ‘Joe The Goal’ has been used as an impact sub – but is in Jim Magilton’s eye-line ahead of this weekend’s showpiece decider against Linfield at Windsor Park.
So, when you ask Joe about Cliftonville’s brilliant semi-final victory over Larne, his reply is instant.
“That Larne game – Jim won us that,” said the Cliftonville striker. “People talk about a tactical masterclass; everything we talked about that week played out. Jim’s professionalism and tactics are unbelievable.”
Cliftonville’s ascension to this season’s cup final is all the more remarkable after the side had to absorb the twin losses of Chris Gallagher and Luke Turner in the January transfer window.
Gallagher, who moved to Larne and won a league title, was Cliftonville’s midfield builder and protector.
Turner, who signed for his boyhood club St Patrick’s Athletic, was the left-sided lieutenant of the Reds defence.
Both essential, both quality operators. Their departures had the potential to send Cliftonville spinning.
But some clever tactical manoeuvring by Magilton resulted in a commendable third-placed finish and an Irish Cup final appearance.
And yet, rewind to last summer and the negativity that was spewed over social media platforms decrying the club’s pursuit of the west Belfast native to take the managerial reins following Paddy McLaughlin’s departure was the definition of outrageous, and now looks decidedly stupid given Magilton’s performance in the role.
At last week’s Irish Cup final press night at Solitude, Magilton is sitting in the boardroom with several sports reporters reflecting on his first season and what lies ahead on May 4.
How did he feel when there was so much negativity on social media last summer?
“I didn’t feel anything,” Magilton says matter-of-factly.
“There is this saying about proving people wrong. I never got that; I just didn’t get it because who can you possibly prove wrong?
“All I have is the strength of my own convictions and I largely didn’t listen to it. Obviously, it gets brought to your attention. My brother loves winding me up. He’d put a sheet up and I’d say you’re f***ing out of order (laughing)…
“So, I don’t get carried away with any of it. I fully understand that there are so many social media platforms, and everybody has an opinion, and everybody values their opinion, and everybody thinks their opinion is the right one. I’ll stay in a job, or I’ll lose a job down to my own convictions and that’s the way I see it.”
The Reds, as it happens, got their season off to a solid start under Magilton and assistant Gerard Lyttle and the bitter hyperbole on social media soon disappeared.
A playing career where he clocked up close to 600 appearances in English football and went on to enjoy a management career now approaching two decades, the former Liverpool and Ipswich midfielder had to call upon all of his nous to compensate for the losses of Gallagher and Turner.
He’s in no doubt who was the bigger loss: Luke Turner.
“We lost Levi Ives at the start of the season, then you lose Luke Turner and you lose Chris Gallagher [in January],” Magilton explains.
“Luke Turner has gone to St Pat’s and has flown, so when you lose those three quality players it is going to have an effect but when you talk about a six [defensive midfielder] - I don’t like to pigeonhole midfield players.
“Midfielders are now six, eight and 10. Midfield players are about box-to-box and sensing danger; some can sense danger better than others, some can pass the ball better than others, some can get into the box better than others.
“At the time I just felt we had enough cover to deal with that [when Gallagher left]. Luke Turner was slightly different because of our clean sheet record and our defensive record.”
Magilton’s preferred defensive system is three central defenders and wing-backs. Turner was able to slot in at left back or in the left-sided central defensive position.
New signing Patrick Burns has grown significantly in the left-sided defensive role vacated by Turner.
Magilton adds: “When you lose a defensive lynchpin like Luke Turner who gives you that physical presence, that was the more difficult one to replace because he was so comfortable in that position.
“The added benefit of Luke was that he played half the season at left back. He was probably the tallest, strongest left back in Irish League football.
“So that gave Luke a picture from a left back’s point of view - but to move inside one, the picture is incredibly different, albeit you’re only moving a few yards. It’s incredibly different.
“Luke had this sense of when to defend, when to step in and it suited our set-up.
“So, replacing that was always going to be more difficult than replacing than, say, a Chrissy Gallagher who we supplemented with Shea Gordon who has had a stop-start season with injury, we brought in Ben Wylie who’s been injured. Did we miss Chrissy? Yes.
“But I think we missed Luke more because of our defensive record.”
After playing college football in America for several seasons, former Glenavon defender Burns returned home and signed for the Reds, but he needed time to adapt to the cut and thrust of the Irish Premiership.
“It is to Patrick’s eternal credit because that [January] window drives me insane,” says Magilton, who coached the Crumlin native at Northern Ireland youth level.
“You don’t know what you’re getting until you get into it. For Patrick, to step up like that, and he’s a great lad too.
“I didn’t ask him to come in and be Luke Turner, I asked him to come in and be Patrick Burns because he’ll adapt the more he plays it. And he’s stood up in the big games too.”