Graham Cummins on the moves Cork City need to make to rebound in 2024

CORK City don’t have time to dwell on what could have been. 

There can be no time to feel sorry for themselves because other clubs will be preparing for next season already. 

I would like to think that City would have had plans in place for both outcomes of the play-off against Waterford. They should have a list of the players they wanted to keep and recruit for either division made weeks ago.

The club needs to address who is going to be the new manager. Although Richie Holland did get an improvement from the players and was obviously so proud to be City manager, I feel the club will be looking at other options. 

In an ideal world, the man I would want the club to get would be Ollie Horgan. 

The Galway United assistant manager has just been part of a side that strolled to the First Division title and has a proven track record at this level with Finn Harps. 

If you look at Harps’ performance in the First Division this year, it only tells you how good a job he was doing with them during his time in charge.

I have heard that he is an excellent coach and one that surprises many people, because of the type of football that Harps used to play under Horgan. 

However, it appears Horgan was getting the best results he could with the players at his disposal and would have a side that tries to overpower, overrun and outplay their opponents. 

Of course, the club could go down the former player route, as they have in the past, and that has brought success, but I would like to see someone who hasn’t been at the club before given a chance. Horgan would certainly bring a fight to the players. Something which has unfortunately been missing this year. 

DOWNFALL

I imagine wouldn’t accept egos in the team either, which was another downfall of the team this season.

There is going to be a turnover in the squad. We have already heard that the likes of Aaron Bolger, Kevin Custovic, Jaze Kabia and Josh Honohan won’t be staying at the Cross. 

Custovic and Honohan will be losses but you can’t blame them for wanting to move on, as both deserve to be playing at a higher level than the First Division.

Bolger is a talented player but he has been at the club two-and-a-half years, and I think that is long enough for a player not from Cork. 

Things just never got going for Kabia at the club and it suits both parties he moves on.

Ruairí Keating will be sought after. If the right offer comes along, I would be grabbing it if I were in charge. 

Yes, he scored a lot of goals in a relegated side, but I felt he didn’t work hard enough for a struggling team. 

He wasn’t making life difficult enough for defenders. It felt to me he was holding back a little and he could have given more. 

If City receive a fee, then they should use that to reinvest in the first team or to keep developing the academy.

I don’t think the relegation will affect the academy or the club’s women’s team too much, as the academy has been making so much progress the last few years, that the club will continue to invest in that. 

The women’s team might not have had the best season on the pitch, but off it, their profile has risen and if they continue to raise their profile they will increase their attendance and more finance will then become available to invest in improving the team.

LOW PROFILE

It was Dermot Usher’s first year in control of the club and although things didn’t go as planned on the pitch, it’s clear he does care about the club. 

I feel that going forward, he should try to get his work done under the radar rather than trying to communicate everything because there's always someone who will disagree with what is being done or said. 

He needs to be selective in how he interacts with supporters and not feel that he has to respond to fans individually on social media. 

Usher just needs to focus on being the owner of the club and nothing more.