Collins: Cork promotion a "piece of cake"

Roddy Collins has stated that getting Cork City promoted from the First Division would be a “piece of cake” with the resources available to Tommy Dunne this season.

After the Monaghan United boss was quoted as saying Dunne is a ‘boy in a man’s job’ earlier today, he told ExtraTime that getting the Leesiders promoted is the easiest job in the league.

“They’ve got the finances, the players, the best stadium in the league…if you can’t achieve promotion in the First Division with a club like that, you should be shot,” the forever controversial Collins proclaimed.

“It’s a no-brainer. Cork City getting out of the First Division, that’s a piece of cake. What pressure? Pressure is when you’re at the bottom of the league and looking to stay up. Pressure is when you’re one game away from dropping out of the Football League. That’s real pressure, not down in Cork. It should be a pleasure going to work down there at a club that size, not pressure.”

The Dubliner had briefly managed City before they were temporarily put out of existence prior to the beginning of last season under previous ownership, and he astonishingly stated that the Leesiders would have been promoted if he was managing the club last season.

Instead, Dunne was handed the job ahead of Collins when FORAS took control on Leeside, and he thinks that if he was in the dugout at Turner’s Cross last season, City would now be back in the top tier.

“There’s no doubt about it, I would have got them promoted last season for sure. There’s no pressure down there. Getting Cork promoted from the First Division is a piece of cake. It’s easier than being at any other club in the country, and I mean all 32 counties. You’ve got Shamrock Rovers and Bohs and then you have Cork City. They’re the three big clubs in the country.”

Collins is likely to receive a frosty welcome from the home support when he takes Monaghan to Turner’s Cross this Friday night, but the former Bohemians, Shamrock Rovers and Dublin City manager believes he deserves a good reception after leaving the club with a “Premier League” squad. His undeniably harsh comments in today’s Evening Echo are likely to incite the Cork support even more however.

“I’m not thinking about that, it doesn’t concern me. If you want to judge me on what I done down there, I should get a great reception. I left them with a Premier League squad that would have got them promoted last year. I worked very hard under very difficult circumstances when I was there and I couldn’t have done more for Cork City.

“Cork is a Premier League club, with a Premier League squad at the moment so anyone going there is going to find it extremely difficult. To get anything from the game would be a massive bonus. The mentality I have going down is that if we can keep a clean-sheet that would be fantastic.

“They’re top of the league with Shelbourne and it’s what you’d expect from a big club. Shels and Cork will be first and second in the league this year, that’s for sure. You can buy success at this level, we all know the ones with the biggest chequebook will be successful.”

In terms of Monaghan, the 49 year old thinks his current squad will be too far off the pace to battle for promotion this season, with Shelbourne and Cork “miles ahead of the rest.

“I’m still settling in, getting to know the lads and figuring out the players we have. We’ve lost six of the squad that got to the play-off final last year and I’m hoping to replace some of them in July. I don’t think we’ll be promoted this year, not with the depleted squad we have. I’ll be looking to rebuild a bit in July and then get ready for next season over the winter.

“We’ll have a right go at it next season then, because I think Cork and Shels are miles ahead of the rest with their finances and squad this season. You’re also looking at Waterford being there, so to get into the top three would be beyond us this year.”