Paddy McLaughlin says the chance to rejoin Derry City was too good to turn down.
The former Candystripes player has been confirmed as Ruaidhri Higgins’ new assistant after stepping down as Cliftonville manager on Monday.
McLaughlin, 43, will be in the dugout away to Cork City tomorrow and said: “It was a no-brainer for me coming back to Derry.
“The difficult part was telling the Cliftonville players on Monday night as I was dreading that after four good years.
“But once it was done, I was able to look forward to this new challenge. It could have happened before now, but I couldn’t turn it down when this opportunity arose.”
McLaughlin has succeeded Alan Reynolds in the role after he returned to Waterford for personal reasons, joining the Blues as Keith Long’s No 2.
“Derry City was my club as a supporter growing up, and then as a player. It’s the chance to be part of something over the next few years,”said McLaughlin.
“We’ve been friends for a long time and it would be brilliant to build on the recent success at the club.
“There’s a lot of hard work involved in success- in football and in life generally. It’ll be up to us, the staff and the players to keep improving to reach those levels.
“Hopefully there will be exciting times ahead over the next few seasons and I’m really looking forward to it.”
Derry boss Higgins had refused to rush into an appointment and was glad to bide his time, once it meant getting the right person in.
Higgins said: “Paddy has great history here and was part of the 2002 cup winning team. It’s his hometown club and I’m really pleased to have him.
“He brings a vast amount of experience and quality and he did a fantastic job at Cliftonville. He’ll bring so much to the players.”
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