The legendary League of Ireland frontman has hit out at the Derry City boss claiming Lynch ‘wasted’ six months of his career
Glentoran new boy Pat Hoban has taken a swipe at Tiernan Lynch over how the last few months of his Derry City career panned out.
In an explosive interview with the Derry Journal, Hoban, who made the switch to The Oval earlier this month, said he will “never forgive” the former Larne boss for “wasting six months” of his career.
Hoban was initially signed at the Brandywell by former boss Ruaidhri Higgins, but following his departure at the end of last season the prolific League of Ireland striker found his opportunities limited and he felt he was being “frozen out”.
The 33-year-old claimed he was blocked from making a move to another “top League of Ireland club”, but after only two starts this season Hoban was given the green light to leave the club and join the Glens as he looks to get his career back on track.
“Of course I was frustrated,” Hoban explained. “Even when I was on the bench I knew I wasn’t coming on.
“It doesn’t affect me and my personality or my character. In terms of my career at Derry it does. It ended because of that.
“I didn’t get a run of games and couldn’t show anything to the Derry fans this year at all. He just wasted six months of my career and, to be honest, it’s something I’ll never forgive either.
“It happened to me before at Mansfield when Steve Evans got the job. The January window came and he brought in who he wanted and I was left in the stand until May. I always said to myself I’ll never let that happen to me again but it just happened with Derry.”
Hoban was linked with a move away from Derry ahead of the start of the new season with Glentoran’s ‘Big Two’ rivals Linfield one of the clubs reportedly interested in signing him.
He said: “I was hearing stuff about clubs being in for me like Linfield and you’re wondering, ‘why are they in for me?’ So I think they were trying to offload me at that stage. I firmly believe that but of course the club could say something different.
“He (Lynch) then changed his tune and said ‘you’re not going anywhere. You will score 20 league goals for me’ and that kind of stuff. He said I was part of it and we’re trying to make Derry great again. To be honest I didn’t believe it and I was right in the end.”
Hoban is now relishing his new opportunity with Declan Devine at the Glens insisting he cannot wait to get started.
“I need to play football. I’ve probably got a couple of years left in my career and it was just getting wasted to be honest,” he said.
“There was other interest from the League of Ireland but I didn’t want to go down and fight a relegation battle with Cork. I’d never sign for Drogheda because that would be the one loyalty I would definitely always have for Dundalk.
“Waterford were interested but I didn’t want to go there. Obviously the big one for me was Galway but that fell through for a certain reason. It’s disappointing but things happen for a reason and Glentoran came in and said they wanted me and did everything they possibly could to get me. And that’s what players want. They just want to feel wanted.
“I know Decky and when I met him and Paddy, they couldn’t stress how much they wanted me. I was like, ‘come on, let’s do it.’
“It’s a good squad. They’ll be competitive when it comes to Linfield, Coleraine, Larne. I’m just excited to experience a different league and play through the winter. I’m just looking forward to playing again.”
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