Quinn 'owes' success to club

The boss has so far guided the Blues to two eighth place finishes in his 18 months in charge at the club and is now looking to bring his side to the next level. They made a flying start to last season but flattered to deceive as they soon tumbled down the table and Quinn is keen to put that right by bringing them permanently back up the ladder

He said: “I’ll be the first to hold my hand up and say that I’ve made mistakes in my team selections and in my signings. I feel that I owe the club something.

“It’s a massive season for me alone as a manager. Glenavon haven’t brought me on board to be languishing in the relegation area; they’ve brought me on to try and bring success to the club. Success last season was staying clear of the relegation zone but that won’t be good enough this season. Our aim has to be a top six position. If that can be achieved it will be good business with a Cup run as well. Then hopefully we can bring in a few more players next summer and aim to push further.”

However, the gaffer isn’t underestimating the task in hand with 12 strong teams making up the Carling Premiership. Quinn does also concede that his team MUST tighten up defensively if they are to achieve their aims.

“It’s going to be very difficult,” he said plainly.

“You look at Linfield, Glentoran, Cliftonville, Crusaders, Portadown, Coleraine, Dungannon etc and you see that it’s going to be difficult. If we tighten up defensively and get a goalkeeper in to make saves to keep us in games we’ll be OK. We’ve got to stop conceding goals. Again last Saturday against Loughgall people switched off and there was a free-kick taken, they didn’t pick up their men and the ball was in the back of the net before we knew what had happened. We’ve got to work on that and we’ll be working hard on it at least two nights this week.”