Written off before a ball is kicked.
That’s how Brian McGinty feels about his Irvine Meadow side ahead of their second season back in the top flight.
But the 42-year-old boss is happy for other sides to hoover up the hype — as he prefers to see his players fly under the radar.
He reckons being regarded as also-rans is all the motivation they need to build on last season’s surprise sixth-placed finish.
“I’ve already heard moans and groans from teams about hard starts to the season, but nobody ever mentions us in the same breath,” said McGinty,
“We had a lot of that kind of thing last year. People underestimated us and I think they will do so again.
“There’s this notion that we have one way of playing and we just make ourselves hard to beat.
“If people want to think that, that’s fine — but as a group I wouldn’t swap us for anyone in the league.”
That’s not to say McGinty thinks his side will push the likes of big-spending Auchinleck Talbot or Hurlford United for the biggest honours in the game.
Quelling expectations and keeping feet on the ground has been his style since taking the job just two years ago with Meadow toiling near the foot of the second tier.
He said: “There’s a feelgood factor at the club just now and that’s great but it has to be remembered that we are still rebuilding from a really low ebb.
“The work the committee has done to get the club back on an even keel has been tremendous but, at this moment in time, it’s about steady progress.
“We don’t have the budgets to match big teams but I’m fine with what I have to spend every season so long as we can sustain it.
“There’s always going to be pressure and demand for success at a club the size of Meadow and I’m not going to stop the fans aiming high.
“That’s what football is all about and no one will put more pressure on us than ourselves. We’ll set our own internal targets but there has to be a degree of realism about where we are as a club and how far we’ve come in a short space of time.”
It raises the question of what would constitute a successful season for McGinty.
“In football, you must make progress, so finishing higher than sixth would be the aim and going deeper in the big cup competitions, the West and the Scottish,” he said.
“I’m not going to make any rash predictions but look at the start we had last year, taking one point from our first eight games. If we can start better this time, we’ll give ourselves a chance of having a good season.”
McGinty’s faith in his squad is exemplified in the fact he felt it necessary to sign only one player this summer.
He said:“Adam Forsyth was our top target and we managed to get him in early. We’ve boys coming back from injury who will be like new players for us. There’s room for improvement everywhere.”
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