Coleraine boss Oran Kearney: Takeover talk has been a distraction

Oran Kearney says injuries have hampered his team this season

Oran Kearney has addressed Coleraine’s stuttering form this season insisting that the impending takeover of the club off the pitch has not helped the team on it.

After losing 2-1 at Linfield on Friday night, the sixth placed Bannsiders are now a whopping 23 points behind the league leaders and just two clear of Carrick Rangers in seventh.

Kearney’s side have won just once in their last seven Premiership games and a section of the club’s support have been highly critical of the manager.

In Kearney’s first spell as Showgrounds boss, after being under severe pressure due to a desperate run of form, he transformed Coleraine from no hopers to title challengers, just missing out to Crusaders in 2018 and winning the Irish Cup in the same year.

Having returned from a season with St Mirren, Kearney guided Coleraine to the League Cup in 2020 and finished twice in the Premiership but in the last two seasons the Bannsiders have been sixth and this term are in danger of dropping out of the top half if current form continues.

In the background, as Sunday Life Sport first revealed in July, a takeover from outside investors is ongoing with Kearney suggesting it could be completed early next year leading to the club receiving major investment and potentially moving to full-time status like Larne, Linfield and Glentoran.

Quizzed on how he viewed this season so far, Kearney said: “It’s been really frustrating. It’s been so tough in relation to I suppose bits and pieces off the field.

“Where the off the field stuff should bring us to is needed in relation to where we have to get to as a club and where we want to get to, to try and compete but ideally you want that stuff happening