Coleraine's Transfer Shake-Up: McMenamin Out, Thomson In
Ruaidhri Higgins has been around long enough to know when a move just isn’t going to work.
So when Conor McMenamin’s short Coleraine stay ended with a swift switch to Glentoran, the Bannsiders boss didn’t try to dress it up. He agreed with his former winger’s blunt verdict: “it wasn’t meant to be”.
McMenamin out, Thomson in
McMenamin only arrived at the Showgrounds from St Mirren in June. Ten weeks later, he was posing with a Glentoran scarf at the Oval in one of the most eye-catching deals of the Irish Premiership window.
The move wasn’t a straight exit. It unlocked a key piece for Coleraine’s midfield, with Joe Thomson heading the other way.
For Higgins, speaking after being named August’s manager of the month by the Northern Ireland Football Writers’ Association, the decision was rooted in reality rather than emotion.
“Sometimes in football and just life in general, things don't go as expected or according to plan,” he said. “It's certainly not a personal issue with Conor at all.”
McMenamin, 31, had already laid out the reasons from his side. The Northern Ireland international talked about family, personal matters and the simple logistics of trying to juggle life in Downpatrick with full-time football on the north coast.
The numbers tell their own story: around 75 miles each way, roughly a 90‑minute drive, every day.
Higgins didn’t sugar-coat that either. The commute, he said, was “not sustainable”.
“Conor and I had regular conversations over the last couple of weeks actually,” he added. “We've come to this conclusion and I think it's best for everyone.”
Thomson brings bite and balance
If McMenamin’s departure grabbed the headlines, Thomson’s arrival quietly solved a problem.
Injuries to Mark Coyle and Rowan McDonald had left Coleraine light in the middle of the park. The engine room needed reinforcements, and Higgins turned to a player he knows inside out from their time together at Derry City.
“Joe is so different to the players that we have. He plays with an edge and he has a goal in him,” Higgins said. “He's very much box-to-box and all-action, and I've worked with him before so I know what I'm getting.”
That familiarity matters. Coleraine’s midfield already has the craft of Will Patching and the industry of Dylan Boyle. Thomson arrives as something slightly different – a runner, a tackler, a player who can break lines and still arrive in the box.
On a deadline day dominated by one high-profile swap, Higgins quietly reshaped the spine of his team.
Brooks the long-term bet
Just as the McMenamin-Thomson deal seemed to define Coleraine’s window, another signing underlined the club’s broader ambition.
Adam Brooks, snapped up from Crusaders, is more than a squad filler. Higgins has been tracking the 22-year-old Scottish forward for some time and speaks about him like a manager who believes he has found a gem.
Brooks, a former Celtic striker, spent much of last season shunted wide at Seaview. Even from there he made his mark, starting this campaign strongly and hitting a hat-trick in a 3-2 win over Portadown.
Higgins likes almost everything about him.
“For not the biggest lad in the world he scores good headed goals, with his right foot, left foot, he can score from distance and inside the six yard box,” he said. “He's got good awareness and so much to his game. I think if he was six foot two he would have never played in this league because he would be somewhere else.”
That line tells you how highly he rates him. Coleraine see Brooks as an investment, a player to polish and, potentially, to sell on.
“We see it as an investment and someone we can develop, and I've no doubt that Adam can kick on and once he establishes himself here, it wouldn't surprise me if he went on to another level in the coming years.”
Higgins remembers the moment Brooks truly caught his eye – a Crusaders game at Portadown last season.
“Straight away I really liked what I was seeing,” he said. “I know he's a brilliant boy and he played out of position a lot last year, but there's no doubt in my mind that he's a top, top centre forward.
“He's very like a Robbie Keane sort of mould and that type of centre forward, and there's a lot I like about him.”
Big expectations on the north coast
All of this is happening against a very different Coleraine backdrop.
Last season they finished just three points behind eventual champions Larne after a storming finish to the campaign. Investment has pushed the club into full-time football. With that comes a shift in how people talk about them.
They are no longer plucky outsiders. They are one of the favourites to lift the Gibson Cup.
Coleraine’s only league title arrived in 1974. The next one, if it comes, would land in the club’s centenary year. The symbolism is impossible to ignore.
“To me it's trying to win the second league title in the club's history, and it would be extra-special if you could do it in the centenary year,” Higgins said.
He doesn’t hide from the pressure. He embraces it.
“On a daily basis, I put myself under massive pressure and that's why we are here. We want to be part of a successful, ambitious club.”
Right now, he is exactly where he wants to be. Higgins says he is “very lucky” and “loving” life at Coleraine. The table backs up the mood: three wins and a draw from their opening four games, including a point against champions Larne, and three clean sheets along the way.
They head to Crusaders on Saturday evening with momentum and a growing sense of purpose.
“We're obviously really happy with the start, and we're particularly happy with the three clean sheets out of four, and we're scoring goals again which is pleasing,” Higgins said. “We're four games in, so we'll not get too excited, but the players have been fantastic and it's a joy to work with them and the staff on a daily basis.”
A winger has gone, a midfielder has arrived, a young striker has been backed to climb levels. The commute that never made sense is over. The road Coleraine care about now runs straight towards a title race they no longer watch from a distance.
