'It was disrespectful to the Cork players, staff and fans' - Ger Nash snaps notions of All-Dublin FAI Cup final

FINAL COUNTDOWN: Cork City manager Gerard Nash applauds the fans. Pic: Seb Daly/Sportsfile

Ger Nash has revealed his Cork City squad relished being written off ahead of their stellar display on Friday which secured a place in the FAI Cup final on November 9.

Shamrock Rovers and St Patrick’s Athletic being kept apart in the semi-final led to presumptions of an all-Dublin final at Lansdowne Road.

The cheers which rang out at Richmond Park when Saints were drawn away to the team marooned at the foot of the table and heading for a second relegation in three years were noted on Leeside.

Remarks from elsewhere fuelled the motivation within the dressing room and by the end of Friday’s 3-0 thumping City looked the side in fifth place, rather than the visitors.

Stephen Kenny’s landmark 1000th game in club management went askew from the ninth minute when his former player Seáni Maguire roamed through the Saints defence to slot in his sixth goal of the season.

“The first goal is a mistake from our point of view,” admitted Kenny afterwards. “Joe (Anang) has misjudged it and he (Maguire) finished it.

“It's not like Joe because he’s been brilliant all season but it gave Cork the lead and they then defended in numbers.” It wasn’t merely a rearguard action as City continued to cause trouble.

What began as an ugly atmosphere among the 5,408 due to a protest at kick-off against owner Dermot Usher morphed into a raucous cauldron spurring the hosts on to their best result of the year.

Evan McLaughlin’s brace, a minute apart, accentuated a win that sets up a first national decider since 2018, against the victor from Sunday’s tie between Shamrock Rovers and Kerry.

“I'm not someone who follows social media, I'm not on it, but it's been really clear who people thought the final was going to be,” said Rebels boss Nash, in his first senior standalone managerial job since being appointed in May.

“I've heard a lot of stories about how the final was already picked. I think that's disrespectful to me, the staff, the players - how we work.

“I think it was everywhere as far as I'm aware. It was certainly said to people in the group that it was almost a foregone conclusion.

“So, I'm pleased that we're going to be in the final, for sure.” Relegation will be confirmed in the next fortnight but Nash reckons he has the nucleus of a squad that can regain stability, operating from the First Division base next season.

Not for the first time, he appealed for unity in the face of increased mutiny against the club’s hierarchy.

Tellingly, he disputed that the squad he inherited from Tim Clancy were operating in a full-time professional environment. The former Aston Villa and Ipswich Town coach introduced daily double training sessions shortly after his arrival.

“I don't know what went on before I came but all I can say is the players have fought for me and the owners backed me,” he stressed.

“We need unity here.

“I can honestly tell fans we've tried to put some plan in place where we can have a group that will stay together and build for a bit of time.

“If I'm wrong in doing that, it's on me.

“But I think it's the right approach for this part of the country. Cork is a brilliant place, a brilliant sporting city.

“We need to have a certain core group of players. And I think I’ve actually got them.

“We just need to add a couple more to it, a couple more senior players.

“We've got a core group of young players who care, and older senior players who will guide them.

“That's what I think the future needs to be. Look at Cathal O’Sullivan sitting in that dressing room as well as Matt Murray. Those boys would have been on the pitch against St Pat’s as well, only for injury.” He added: “Somebody asked me a question the other day, if we get relegated, will we stay full-time?

“We haven't been full-time but we're going to go full-time now in the way I think we should be working.

“I've worked 20 years in the game, okay, not in Ireland before, but the way we’re used to work is more than what it was when I first came to the club, that's for sure.

“It’s about the amount of time we spend at the training ground. What you have to do to be successful, in my experience.

"Whether that's in the Swedish league, England or Ireland, you must work to be successful.

“It must be all-in. I've got a group of players who've been doing that now, and we just need to grow that and continue to develop that, because that was a big issue.

“It's not anymore. We've got it right but it was a big issue.”