'Below-par' Cork City must improve - and quickly, Neale Fenn urges

Cork City manager Neale Fenn speaking at the press conference at their training grounds in Curraheen, Cork. Picture: Dan Linehan

Cork City manager Neale Fenn wants to see a big improvement from his team if Sunday’s SSE Airtricity League Premier Division clash against Dundalk goes ahead.

Last Saturday, the Rebel Army went down 3-0 at home to Shamrock Rovers, with Fenn lamenting the level of performance. While Sunday’s clash could be postponed depending on how Dundalk do against Inter d’Escaldes in the Europa League on Thursday, Fenn is keen for things to be stepped up.

“It looked like that on Saturday, to be honest,” he said.

“It seemed that we made it far too easy for Rovers. It was a time for us, we felt, that we could go and press them, with the [Milan] game on Thursday.

“We felt that we could get after them and make it difficult with the big game they have coming up, but it transpired that we didn’t really get close to them anywhere on the pitch. It was just disappointing all the way round, it was very below-par.

“I think, apart from the players saying what they felt we wanted to hear, it was a time when we could get things off our chests and myself and Joe certainly did that,” he said.

“The players will hopefully respond to that in a positive way – it’s not meant to be said to them in any bad way, it’s just we’re Cork City, we can’t go down and we’re in a relegation scrap.

“We need to do more, far more, than what we did on Saturday.” Despite City’s current position, Fenn does feel that things will get better once injuries clear.

“It’s a difficult period for the club and the team,” he said.

“We have to be real about it. We’ve got a few injuries and, once they’re back – and it’s no disrespect to the boys that are playing – it’ll make us stronger and we’re not going to be playing Shamrock Rovers every week.

“They’re a very good team and at the next level to us at the moment. It’s hard to say and it’s hard to take and it’s still no excuse for the way we performed on Saturday, because we should have been better and harder to beat.

But, there aren’t many teams who’ll be able to do what they did to us.

However, hampering preparations slightly is the fact that the Dundalk game may not take place on Sunday.

“It’s not ideal for us but I think it’s been used in the past by the club,” Fenn said.

“Obviously, all the clubs in Europe have that benefit of not having to play and we have to get on with it.

“The game would have to be put in somewhere else and, at the moment, the schedule is not bad for us in terms of time between matches.

“It’s not ideal but we’ll deal with it.”