Cork already looking ahead to next year
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There might be a game still left in the 2010 season but Cork City manager Tommy Dunne is already putting plans in place for next year.
Speaking after last Friday’s disappointing 2-1 loss to Salthill Devon, Dunne admitted he has been looking at next season for some time now and will be targeting “four or five” new players to improve the squad for a promotion challenge in 2011.
The Leesiders still face an away game against Wexford Youths this coming Saturday night, but with sixth place in the league guaranteed, thoughts have already turned to improving the squad for a sustained promotion challenge next year.
“I’m going to be straight to work once the season is over. To be honest, this is the busiest time of year for me. Between now and the start of next season will be as busy as it gets.”
“With five or six games to go, maybe even before that, we started looking at next season. We need to try and get things organised so we can prepare properly for next year,” says Dunne, who had just nine days to assemble a squad at the start of this campaign.
“We wanted to finish with a home win on Friday night but for me it was already about looking at certain people and next year. For us, next season is the bigger picture and our aim was always to get ourselves right for next year.”
While changes are certainly eminent for a title challenge next year, Dunne’s first priority is to hold on to the bulk of his current squad – including runaway top scorer Graham Cummins – and then look for some new players to strengthen the side.
“I’m hoping to keep the nucleus of the team next year and if I can, add four or five more players. Again, it’s going to be difficult because for a player outside of Cork to come down here and play, you’re going to have to pay slightly over the odds for him to play.
“We’ve got to look at that and see if we can get the right type of player in, someone that we really want. But, we’re not in a rush this year, we have more than a week before the start of the season this time around,” the Dubliner jested.
While the lack of a pre-season and the rushed preparation might have been valid excuses this campaign, no such breathing space will be given from an expectant fan base in 2011 and that’s not lost on the City boss either.
Still, back at the beginning of the season when the team had just drawn 1-1 away to Derry in its first ever competitive game, Dunne declared he would be happy with a mid-table finish by the end of the season.
That was sown up by City with several games to spare, so has it ultimately been a successful campaign considering their humble and hurried beginning back in the spring?
“Well, yeah it has been. But this is a big club at the end of it all,” he reiterates. “Regardless of how we started, we’ll always look to be up there competing and we weren’t actually that far off this year. We were possibly one or two results off competing for a play-off result.
“From my own point of view, with five games to go we were there or thereabouts for a play-off spot. And at the start of the season I’d have bitten your hand off for that. We just didn’t get results at crucial times though, like the Waterford game at home and Shels away. If we picked up something then we would have been right in the running.
“That would have kept our momentum going and would have kept our focus to finish off the season properly. But we’re in no-mans land now and we didn’t have the hunger Salthill showed on Friday night to win the game.”
Throughout this season one distinctly disappointing feature was City’s inability to scratch out results at home, while on the other hand they seemed to prosper on the road. Seven of their ten losses, so far, were at home this year and two of those three away losses have only come in the past couple of games on the road – against Shelbourne and Finn Harps respectively.
Before both of those defeats City had the best away form in the league with the exception of Derry and the lacklustre performances at Turner’s Cross seemed to bemuse many supporters because the side performed so well on the road.
Dunne also finds it hard to put the unpredictable home form down to a specific reason.
“It’s hard to say,” he says. “I think we’ve always been positive and tried to win matches away from home. People coming here [to Turner’s Cross] are going to be expectant because this is a big club. At the end of it all, the fans want results and for the team to play well.
“Throughout the start of the season that expectancy was noticeable and I think away from home it gave us a bit more freedom to play and that allowed us to express ourselves a bit more too. Teams that come here to Turner’s Cross set themselves up and enjoy playing here on a good pitch. We need to prepare for that next year.”
Speaking after last Friday’s disappointing 2-1 loss to Salthill Devon, Dunne admitted he has been looking at next season for some time now and will be targeting “four or five” new players to improve the squad for a promotion challenge in 2011.
The Leesiders still face an away game against Wexford Youths this coming Saturday night, but with sixth place in the league guaranteed, thoughts have already turned to improving the squad for a sustained promotion challenge next year.
“I’m going to be straight to work once the season is over. To be honest, this is the busiest time of year for me. Between now and the start of next season will be as busy as it gets.”
“With five or six games to go, maybe even before that, we started looking at next season. We need to try and get things organised so we can prepare properly for next year,” says Dunne, who had just nine days to assemble a squad at the start of this campaign.
“We wanted to finish with a home win on Friday night but for me it was already about looking at certain people and next year. For us, next season is the bigger picture and our aim was always to get ourselves right for next year.”
While changes are certainly eminent for a title challenge next year, Dunne’s first priority is to hold on to the bulk of his current squad – including runaway top scorer Graham Cummins – and then look for some new players to strengthen the side.
“I’m hoping to keep the nucleus of the team next year and if I can, add four or five more players. Again, it’s going to be difficult because for a player outside of Cork to come down here and play, you’re going to have to pay slightly over the odds for him to play.
“We’ve got to look at that and see if we can get the right type of player in, someone that we really want. But, we’re not in a rush this year, we have more than a week before the start of the season this time around,” the Dubliner jested.
While the lack of a pre-season and the rushed preparation might have been valid excuses this campaign, no such breathing space will be given from an expectant fan base in 2011 and that’s not lost on the City boss either.
Still, back at the beginning of the season when the team had just drawn 1-1 away to Derry in its first ever competitive game, Dunne declared he would be happy with a mid-table finish by the end of the season.
That was sown up by City with several games to spare, so has it ultimately been a successful campaign considering their humble and hurried beginning back in the spring?
“Well, yeah it has been. But this is a big club at the end of it all,” he reiterates. “Regardless of how we started, we’ll always look to be up there competing and we weren’t actually that far off this year. We were possibly one or two results off competing for a play-off result.
“From my own point of view, with five games to go we were there or thereabouts for a play-off spot. And at the start of the season I’d have bitten your hand off for that. We just didn’t get results at crucial times though, like the Waterford game at home and Shels away. If we picked up something then we would have been right in the running.
“That would have kept our momentum going and would have kept our focus to finish off the season properly. But we’re in no-mans land now and we didn’t have the hunger Salthill showed on Friday night to win the game.”
Throughout this season one distinctly disappointing feature was City’s inability to scratch out results at home, while on the other hand they seemed to prosper on the road. Seven of their ten losses, so far, were at home this year and two of those three away losses have only come in the past couple of games on the road – against Shelbourne and Finn Harps respectively.
Before both of those defeats City had the best away form in the league with the exception of Derry and the lacklustre performances at Turner’s Cross seemed to bemuse many supporters because the side performed so well on the road.
Dunne also finds it hard to put the unpredictable home form down to a specific reason.
“It’s hard to say,” he says. “I think we’ve always been positive and tried to win matches away from home. People coming here [to Turner’s Cross] are going to be expectant because this is a big club. At the end of it all, the fans want results and for the team to play well.
“Throughout the start of the season that expectancy was noticeable and I think away from home it gave us a bit more freedom to play and that allowed us to express ourselves a bit more too. Teams that come here to Turner’s Cross set themselves up and enjoy playing here on a good pitch. We need to prepare for that next year.”
About Alan Smith
Alan Smith works as a sub-editor for the Guardian newspaper in London. Originally from Cork, he freelances for several other newspapers and websites. Follow him on twitter @alansmith90. View Full Profile