John Fallon: Cork City's season of woe — month by month
MONTH BY MONTH: Picture: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile
That well-trodden definition of insanity springs to mind when the distillation of Cork City’s second relegation in three years is analysed.
Unlike 2023, this drop was direct. Once City slipped to the bottom in May, they were in freefall, 11 points adrift for the majority, and their fate sealed with four games remaining.
Here we look at what went wrong, and how badly wrong it was from the outset.
Recruitment is the essential commodity in football and there was a sense, a misguided one, that City’s incomings midway through the title-winning First Division campaign would form the foundation for the Premier.
Ruairi Keating and Seáni Maguire were the strikeforce all Rebel Army fans wanted back at the club. Seán Murray, another experienced campaigner, was enticed to turn a loan permanent during the stroll back to the top flight.
“I still do think it's probably a two-tier league,” predicted manager Tim Clancy.
“The Dublin clubs are very strong and Derry are spending a lot of money. Then you have probably the rest of us. People will point fingers, saying that's where the team is going to get relegated from. It's up to us to bridge the gap and get closer to the top as opposed to looking over our shoulder at the bottom.”
Two games in the opening month were encouraging. Twice they led in the 2-2 draw against Galway United before overcoming Bohemians 2-1.
A winless month which began with Maguire’s injury problems returning. His hamstring strain sidelined him for 11 games.
Losing that Munster derby at Waterford, after leading, was a sickener and not helped by the first of three 1-1 draws at home to Sligo Rovers. Crowds at Turner’s Cross which began at over 5,000 soon plummeted.
Another start to the month featured a serious injury. This time Keating was crocked, rupturing his Achilles on the plastic turf at Derry City. That was the first of four straight defeats, punctuated by a late win over Waterford on Easter Monday. Squandering a late lead at Sligo Rovers summed up a frustrating month.
What started with a promising 1-1 draw at home to leaders Shamrock Rovers led into Clancy quitting two games later. Losses to Drogheda United and Derry City prompted him to quit, citing a lack of resources, specifically full-time staff, needed to compete.
Ger Nash, who was close to being appointed before Clancy, was headhunted for his first senior managerial role, leaving his seat in the stand on his arrival to deliver a half-time pep-talk at St Patrick’s Athletic.
This was the month basement side Sligo Rovers leapfrogged City in the table. They never looked back.
There would no new managerial bounce as City went another month winless. Nash – soon joined by assistant David Meyler - promised a fitness regime entailing double daily sessions but they looked the fatigued team as defeats to Bohemians and Shamrock Rovers left them marooned. Finishing the month with draws against Drogheda United and St Pat’s – the first clean sheet of the season – were welcome.
Promised new signings came in the form of defenders Fiacre Kelleher and Rory Feely but a red card for captain Charlie Lyons in a defeat at Shelbourne encapsulated their problems.
July 25 will be circled as the pivotal moment. Ahead by two goals against Sligo Rovers, the gap was heading for five points until City coughed up three to lose at home.
Deflation abounded about the consequences.
Technically the best month of the season for City came too late. It kickstarted by inflicting a defeat on Galway United which dragged their former manager John Caulfield back into the battle for the relegation playoff spot. Holding Derry City scoreless in the north-west illustrated the Nash/Meyler gameplan was gaining traction but normal service resumed with a 3-0 slump at Bohemians. Waterford were slayed 2-0 at home but the fact only 2,516 turned up spoke of the disillusion from the fanbase towards the ownership.
An inevitable third relegation in six years left little room for joy elsewhere but goals from Maguire and Evan McLaughlin at Finn Harps secured an FAI Cup semi-final spot. Back on the league beat, Shamrock Rovers once again left Leeside with only a draw but three defeats followed, the 2-1 reverse at Galway United particularly galling.
The biggest night of the year was the 3-0 semi-final victory over St Pat’s, a side who’d meted out a 4-0 beating in Dublin. Fan frustration manifested in a toilet roll protest, effective in delaying kick-off in front of the live television cameras.
Euphoria at reaching the Lansdowne Road decider dissipated when reigning champions Shelbourne sunk City on Monday. Only full points in the final four matches could engineer an 11th hour escape but that thought lasted only 90 minutes. Defeat number 18 – of 33 games – is difficult to deny being worthy of relegation.
Back at base after the drama of another international window, the FAI are struggling to shift personnel on a voluntary basis.
It’s widely known that the corporately fancy title of transformation plan equates to a cull of workforce. Working on the initial uptake, push could come to shove soon.
Staff interested in accepting severance terms will now have until Friday week, October 24 to apply. The extension seems to have scuppered a planned Townhall meeting hosted by chief executive David Courell for this Friday. That’s been knocked back until November 4.
Meanwhile, Siptu are tooling up for battle by referring their complaint over the FAI’s handling of this process to the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC).
The union which represents a rump of coaches were aghast that their request to have a representative part of the staff forum was ignored.
“Our members have not even been allowed sight of the so-called transformation plan,” Siptu said yesterday. “This is no way to conduct change within any organisation, particularly not one with the number of issues which need to be addressed as the FAI.
“Until management demonstrates a willingness to engage in proper industrial relations through agreed structures, our members will maintain their stance of non-cooperation.”
This Sunday sees Athlone Town aim to land the first double in their history when they face FAI Cup debutants in the final at Tallaght Stadium (3pm).
Despite Colin Fortune quitting as manager on the eve of their Champions League second round last month, the Midlanders lasted the distance by retaining their league crown with games to spare.
This will be their fourth decider in a row but a first for Bohs.
It’s a fitting reward for stalwarts like Rachael Kelly, the goalkeeper who has FAI Cup lineage to bank on.
“My granddad Jackie Kelly actually played for Shels in the 1960 season,” she revealed this week.
Very true. Jackie Kelly, part of the Shels team which beat Cork Hibernians 2-0, was also a grand-uncle of Gavin Molloy. He played in the 2022 FAI Cup final in Shels before moving away to join his current club Aberdeen.
Bohs are undisputed underdogs going into the game but pointedly did lead Athlone Town in the league before the champions staged a comeback.
The final could also mark the farewell for many of Athlone’s foreign legion.
