Ushering in a new beginning - again

I haven’t done this in a while so apologies if as always, this blog ends up meandering from one point to the next with a lack of structure and solidity on which to build a secure foundation.

I have just realised as I write that, that it may also apply to Cork City FC since the beginning of the Usher era.

Its Saturday morning, around twelve hours since the club tweeted the news that men’s first team manager Tim Clancy had quit his post and had travelled the Meath Cork Road for the last time in his reign. As the dust settles, it becomes really difficult to see where the club goes from here, stranded eight points from safety and just three clear of automatic relegation, with a club structure and set up that lets say, does not have a good reputation in footballing circles, it becomes increasing likely that the next appointment is the one that makes or breaks the Usher era, at least in the eyes of the fans.

Let’s firstly look at the Tim Clancy leaving situation. Its not unreasonable for a fan base to want the head of a manager who had just two wins in fifteen games, in fact the majority of fanbases worldwide would not just want a manager’s head in those circumstances but demand it. Yet, the vibe on leeside was different this time round, why? I think firstly, as a fanbase we are tired of the managerial merry go round, very few people had the stomach for another go at the arguments both for and against the multiple number of candidates who will now be put forward. Managerial fatigue had set in and we were not a fan base who wanted to jump on that carousel again, but now against the wishes of a large portion of the fan base, that is where we find ourselves.

More importantly there was an understanding that Tim Clancy was working in shall we say somewhat difficult circumstances. In all likelihood this wasn’t exactly the squad he wanted to enter the division with. I have long argued that the formation of this squad was negligent, the lack of a third striker behind Seani and Keats was a error so grave that it can barely be put into words, the lack of another starting calibre centre back if not two was equally as appalling. Injuries hit every squad and yes, the number we have had far outweighs the XI (expected Injuries) but that is why you have squads, to allow you to perform at 85% instead of 100% until you get your injured players back. The problem was once Seani and Keats went, we were operating at sub 50% and even if there, they weren’t going to be in a position to defend our own box for ninety minutes.

Ultimately that is where it has gone wrong for Tim this season, the absolute failure of our defensive unit to be able to defend our own box. At any level of football, it is one of the most basic commodities, the ability of your defensive unit and primarily your CBs to defend that area. To head, kick, toe balls away, to die defending the clean sheet and yet in fifteen games, we haven’t had one nor have we looked like having one, bar maybe Sligo away. Some if not all of that has to fall on Tim, a CB himself at a higher level than LOI should have been able to instil that in those defenders, and yet he didn’t. Could he not coach them up to be better as a unit then the sum of their individual parts? In that case there is nowhere else you can look, other than straight at the manager and ask, what were you doing? How have you failed to make them better?

There are things Tim did that were mystifying at times, not starting Kitt Nelson last night against Derry was an absolute head scratcher. Not living in Cork for the last twelve months and commuting up and down to Meath is always going to take its physical and emotional toll. The biggest failure was never correcting our inability to hold onto leads when we got them. We scored the first goal in seven games this season and took four points from the twenty-one available, nobody can look at that and say its acceptable and that management plays no part in it.  But the vast majority of the fanbase were still behind him, still willing him on, still believing that he could accomplish something here. The question then becomes, when did Tim Clancy cease to believe that he could achieve something at the football club. The answer appears to be when Declan Toland blew the final whistle last night.  

I’m not going to talk about budgets, player recruitment, wage costs etc as that has all been done to death but one thing that struck me about last nights statement from the club was that the departing manager had returned once again to being Tim, and that the more endearing, even loving Timmy had been cast aside, I presume never to be uttered again. Its funny how quickly things change.

I will never understand why the club issued its statement at 2310 last night, I don’t care how insistent Tim Clancy is that he is gone, everyone needs to sleep on it, have an overnight think and if everyone feels the same today then do the necessary with a club statement before lunch. The conspiracy theorists amongst us, of which I am NOT one, will say that the club were happy to get it done and dusted and make it impossible for Tim to row back as he was walking without a settlement and this was by far and away the best outcome for a club fully focussed on finance as their primary decision making influence.

It’s now 51 premier division games we have played in Dermot Usher’s reign as club owner or Co -Owner. We have won 10. There are many different narratives as to why that is, none of the managers were good enough, none were given big enough budgets, one went two months without support staff. Whichever narrative you believe, the truth is as always, probably, somewhere in the middle of all of them. There are numerous reasons but whatever those reason’s are it is up to the club’s ownership group to finally get a grip on on field matters. The obvious first step is to appoint a Director of Football, just because it didn’t work out with Liam Buckley does not mean that the idea was incorrect. The philosophy was IMHO spot on and should be gone back to and Liam Kearney given the job as soon as possible. When a DoF is appointed the ownership group then need to remove themselves from all football related and decision-making roles. Let the football people look after the football and the business people look after the business. Its clear from our off-field successes that there are brilliant business people involved at the club, it is also clear from our on field abjection, that the same business people know absolutely nothing about football on the field. Skills aren’t always transferable, and football is an industry that is out on its own.

We will head to St Pats next weekend with our fifth different manager in 52 PD games, we presume we will hit manager number six before we reach game 60. There is no way that those numbers are not reflective upon an ownership group that has largely failed to deliver for a fan base that trusted it enough in the first place, to place the future of the club they love into their hands.

The usual names will emerge in the coming days, those on the LOI managerial merry go round who want another go. I’m not going to mention them as I’m sure anyone reading has at least three in their head by now. There will be the usual names from left field that people haven’t thought of, Richard Dunne, Gary Breene and a whole host of former Irish internationals who have connections through the football advisor to the owner, Damien Delaney. I’m sure names like Conor Hourihane as a player manager will be mentioned but is this really a job for a rookie, even a rookie, any rookie, with his playing background and someone who has already started on his coaching career? In my honest opinion, no, absolutely not. John Caulfield will be a popular shout but I’m pretty confident in saying that John won’t be returning to the club. So, it once again falls to the club to execute a search for a new football leader, the problem is, it doesn’t now feel like the fanbase trust the club to get it right.

No matter how well you do off the pitch, football will always, always come down to how well you do on it. How fans view off pitch matters will always vary according to how things are going on the pitch. They care little about comedy nights, reunion tours and golf events, when things on the pitch are going well, and they care a lot when things aren’t. Fans will give credit for good off the pitch events and to be fair, Cork City deserve credit for what they have done in these areas, but the ultimate deciding factor will always be how a team performs on the pitch, and a club marooned eight points from safety will always experience the wrath of the fan base.

The question then becomes does the club deserve what it is going to experience in the coming days/weeks/months? Everyone will have to answer that question for themselves, but I will say that for me, there is no question, but it does. You cannot get relegated in your first season, then promoted early, which allows you to talk about an extra six months of preparation time, not repeating the same mistakes as before, learning from the past, and all the other cliches we were presented with. Then have a first half of a season like we have had, that shows that those words were fickle and that every mistake you swore would not be repeated, has in fact been repeated.

There is a short time frame in which to turn this around and it falls on an ownership group that most of the fans do not trust, to do just that. Only time will tell if they can or not but as always, this managerial appointment is the most important to date, at least until the next one comes around.