John Caulfield cuts to the chase on Airtricity League title race

Any conversation with John Caulfield on the eve of the new Premier Division season cannot but cut to the chase — the title chase.

Three times runners-up to Dundalk in the SSE Airtricity League, Cork City go into the 2017 campaign looking to take that final and biggest step up.

And while there are plenty of people tipping them to do just that, the flipside of their consistent progress under Caulfield’s management is that anything short of a title triumph this year will probably be regarded by just as many, not least on Leeside, as failure.