Ollie Horgan admits that it would have been ‘easy’ to walk away from Finn Harps – but the easy option is rarely traversed by Horgan, who recently signed a new two-year deal at Finn Park.
Horgan would then be at the club for six seasons and his new contract contains the option of an additional year.
Following Harps’ relegation from the Premier Division, it’s back to brass tacks for Horgan and Harps as they rebuild for 2018 in the First Division.
“It’ll be a much more locally-based side,” Horgan, who confirmed the retention of assistant manager Paul Hegarty, told Donegal Daily/Donegal Sport Hub in an interview today.
“You can’t beg anyone. Hopefully some over Christmas will be able to motivate themselves to commit.
“Galway will be favourites. After that, it’ll be a great man who could say who’ll finish in the top four. We’re starting again and we’re not quite sure at what level we’re starting at.”
For long spells of 2017, Harps looked a good bet to survive in the top flight, but the cord unravelled down the home straight.
Horgan said: “The table doesn’t lie. We came up short in a number of areas. It was hard to take, but you have to take it and move on.
“We probably over-achieved with what we had to offer players financially. We ran out of legs, ran out of confidence and, ultimately, ran out of players.”
While he has managed to persuade Paddy McCourt to give another go, Harps have already said farewells to Ethan Boyle, Danny Morrissey and Caolan McAleer, among others.
Horgan revealed a frustration with players from the local junior and intermediate ranks who have opted not to try their hand at senior football.
He said: “There are players out there who could do a job. Some of them don’t want to give the commitment.”
Listen to the full interview below …
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