Can Portadown FC stay up this season?
Lauren McCann
“This is probably as cross as I have been as a manager. I could have done nets for Carrick tonight. This club deserves better, and I am going to make it better with or without some players”. These were the cutting words from Portadown boss Niall Currie following their 2-0 defeat to Carrick last week.
It was not that Portadown had lost, as Currie would go on to explain (they’ve been doing that all season), but rather their limp performance in that defeat. ‘Poor at the back and blunt in attack’ sums up what has been going wrong at the club all season, and why Currie was plucked from Dundela to replace the outgoing Paul Doolin over three weeks ago, tasked with addressing these glaring issues at hand.
Portadown parted company with Paul Doolin last month after a poor start to the season.
However, this may be easier said than done. Currie has an unenviable job on his hands, as the league table makes for grim reading for Ports fans. The club are winless and rock bottom with just one point from 15 games and a goal difference of -36. To put it bluntly, they are poor in both boxes, which at the bottom of the table, is a huge concern.
For many Irish League fans, seeing Portadown near the bottom of the table will not be a surprise. Their aim this year has always been to stay up, particularly after last season. They were sitting at second-from-bottom when former boss Doolin first took charge in January, and they finished last season in the same position. They managed to maintain their topflight status by beating Annagh United of the Championship in the two-legged promotion/relegation play-off.
After such a close shave with the drop, Portadown were expected to strengthen a depleted and young squad in the summer, and add the required Irish League experience to help them in their battle for survival.
Yet despite losing an outrageous 19 players in the window, they brought in just 13. What’s more, only one of those - Jordan Jenkins, a loan arrival from Glentoran - had previous Irish League experience.
The loss of Adam Salley, who moved to Ards on loan after a fallout with Doolin, has been huge, as the striker provided a focal point for Portadown after Lee Bonis left. His absence this season has been keenly felt as Portadown don’t have any physically imposing strikers to match him.
The majority of their arrivals in the summer were young players, but the likes of Josh Archer, Alberto Balde and Ruadhan McKenna are still finding their feet in the league. Although talented, they can’t yet be expected to get Portadown out of their predicament.
The experienced players at the club must do that, and many will admit that their performances simply haven’t been up to scratch this season. So many individual mistakes have been made which they have been punished for, costing them valuable points.
January will be a huge window for Portadown (if they haven’t already been cut adrift by then) for both incomings and outgoings, with Currie admitting that players not up for the fight will be let go.
Niall Currie has returned to the club to try and keep them in the division.
Currie has already tried to address their issues up front, bringing in free agent Greg Moorehouse last week. The former Warrenpoint man had been without a club since leaving Barry Gray’s side after relegation, and brings a wealth of Irish League experience and a goal scoring threat to Portadown.
Fans will also be pleased with the fact that Currie is back at the helm after a previous spell in charge of the club between 2016-18. That period didn’t end how Currie would have liked, and he will be keen to make amends and continue to enhance his respectable reputation.
He had a great three years in charge of Carrick and transformed Dundela’s fortunes in the Championship before they reluctantly allowed him to return to Shamrock Park.
If there is anyone experienced and willing enough for the fight, it is Currie. He is famed for making sides hard to break down, and addressing Portadown’s leaky defence will be first on his agenda.
He has been handed a difficult start to life back in the Premiership with games against Coleraine, Linfield (where they put in arguably their best performance of the season despite the score line) and two in form sides Carrick and Larne - but they simply must start picking up points soon.
They have been saved by the fact that Dungannon have made an equally poor start to the season, but they do have three more points on the board after defeating Portadown at Shamrock Park.
However, it’s difficult to see at present where Portadown will be able to pick up points, especially with a thin squad and games coming thick and fast.
They have been competitive in games against the bigger sides without coming away with anything, so must focus on translating this into winning games against sides around them.
Clearly there is a lot for Currie to fix in a short space of time. If he manages to rescue this sinking ship, it will truly be one of football’s greatest escapes.
Lauren McCann is the Scoop’s Sport Editor and an English and Spanish student at Queen’s University Belfast.