Tim Clancy's record shows he is the right man to lead Cork City

IT'S the start of a new era for Cork City Football Club as Tim Clancy takes the managerial hot seat seeking to start a Rebel revival.

Looking at the work Clancy did with Drogheda United, there are a number of aspects to his role which supporters on Leeside can take encouragement from.

Clancy has a proven track record of not only getting out of the First Division but also helping teams to steady the ship and remain in the top flight of Irish football. 

On top of getting Drogheda promoted, he helped the county Louth side to consolidate in the League Of Ireland Premier Division.

Clancy impressed many in his maiden season of top-flight management, keeping Drogheda free of relegation concerns and playing some fine football along the way.

Despite having one of the lowest budgets in the top flight in 2021, Clancy led Drogheda to impressive victories against the likes of Bohemians, Derry City and Louth rivals Dundalk. 

SHREWD

On their first season back in the Premier Division Drogheda finished in seventh place with a total of 44 points. After overseeing a rebuild of the squad who were relegated in 2017, Tim Clancy gradually improved things at Drogheda as time progressed.

While once Drogheda got promoted to the Premier Division under Clancy in 2021, he showed shrewd recruitment skills to be in experienced and proven Premier Division players in Dane Massey and Gary Deegan to the Louth club. 

His remit at City now is a similar one, now in a full-time setup and the backing of owner Dermot Usher behind him.

While he was in charge of St Pat's, Clancy essentially put a lot of the building blocks in place for the Dublin side, who went on to secure FAI Cup glory under the guidance of Jon Daly, who was the assistant boss to Clancy at the Saints.

Clancy signed players for Pat's such as Joe Redmond and Mark Doyle, whom he worked with at Drogheda. While he also brought Eoin Doyle to the Saints from Bolton Wanderers and also signed Corkman Adam O’Reilly.

2022 saw Clancy’s Pats acquit themselves very well in European football. In the UEFA Europa Conference League qualification rounds, they defeated Slovenian side NŠ Mura, a team who had beaten Tottenham Hotspur in the group stages the previous season. 

St Pat's gave a great account of themselves in the following round against Bulgarian side CSKA Sofia.

Ultimately, Pat's in the 2022 Premier Division finished in fourth place after Clancy’s first season in charge.

At Cork City, he will have a decent talent pool of young players to potentially bring through. Clancy has shown in his past jobs that if you are good enough you are old enough for his teams.

During his time at St Pat's, he blooded talent like Sam Curtis and Adam Murphy into first-team football, both of whom have featured for the Ireland U21 international side in recent times.

While at Drogheda he also blooded a team of young players, some of whom have become established players at Premier Division level. 

Or in the case of Killian Phillips, someone who has played for Ireland at U21 level and who scored in the recent 2-2 draw against Italy at Turner's Cross.

Utilising the City academy system, which is headed by Liam Kearney, could prove crucial in determining how successful the reign of Tim Clancy as City manager will be.

For players in the current U19s squad and others at City, they should take motivation from what Clancy has done with the likes of Pat's and Drogheda and he is not afraid to give youth their chance if at the required standard.

As he embarks on his first season as boss at Cork City, Tim Clancy will be hoping to leave a positive impact and start the journey of cementing his place among the managerial greats at the Rebel Army.

Coming in from the outside and with no previous connection to the club, Clancy should have a fresh perspective on what is required as City undertake a much-needed rebuilding period.

Crucially, from a Cork City perspective, Clancy knows what it takes to get promoted from the First Division and the potential banana skins of not performing.

Assessing his track record in football management to date can provide some indicators he might potentially be the man to ignite the spark at Cork City Football Club again.