Tommy Wright was left disappointed when he missed out on the chance to work with Oran Kearney during his early years in management but he is looking to pile on the agony for the St Mirren boss on Saturday.
Kearney left Ballymena immediately after Wright took over as boss in 2005 but their management careers have had a number of similarities – both cut their teeth at Limavady before eventually arriving in Scotland’s top flight, Kearney via a cup triumph at Coleraine.
Wright is the longest-serving manager in the Ladbrokes Premiership while Kearney is trying to find his feet in difficult circumstances after losing four games in a row following an opening draw against Celtic.
St Johnstone manager Wright has told his compatriot that such runs are not uncommon in the league but he is aiming to make it five in a row at McDiarmid Park on Saturday.
The former Northern Ireland goalkeeper said: “When I took over at Ballymena he was coming out of contract and he had agreed to go to Linfield. I tried to persuade him to stay but I couldn’t. It was understandable, he was going to the biggest club in the country.
“But he’s done extremely well, particularly the last two years. But this is a different ball game for him, he’s coming to a different environment and he’s going to need people around him to help him and support him.
“It’s a difficult job for him to go in and take. They have obviously not started well, getting rid of a manager (Alan Stubbs) that early.
“Oran’s got a good background in football, a very good player and done well in management part-time, a similar route to me, I managed in the Irish League as well.
“The people around him will be important to him because you get runs like that in our league. Our run until we won at Motherwell was similar. It happens outside the top five clubs – every club experiences runs where they go four or five games picking up very few points.
“So he’ll need everyone around him at the club to get through it. I’ve been there, I know what it’s like.
“It’s maybe a new experience for him, when he was at Coleraine he was quite successful for the last few seasons, so he won’t have experienced four or five defeats in a row. But my job will be to make it even harder for him.”
