Graham Cummins: With First Division title won Cork City should give youth a chance in Kerry
Cork City's Greg Bolger and Charlie Lyons celebrate promotion. Picture: David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile
With the league won and promotion secured we could see any sort of City team tonight.
There could be a host of changes, which I would be in favour of, and there could also be a switch in the style of play of the side.
With six games remaining, I believe they should be used for giving some of the younger players a run in the team and also the players Clancy is unsure of whether they have a future at the club or not.
I’m not saying that regulars like Greg Bolger, Charlie Lyons and Brad Wade and others shouldn’t play again this season, because it is a long off-season, but more that they are used sparingly by perhaps playing every second fixture.
Managers will always tell players that every game is important and I can see the point of continuing the momentum that City have built this season and carry it into next year, but it would be more beneficial to give academy players first team experience.
It would be different if City could break a league points record by winning all of their remaining games but they can’t, so why not give inexperienced players a chance.
From my experience when games have very little significance, some players would rather have the night off rather than spend most of the day travelling on the bus for an away game.
Those players wouldn’t have the day off, they would still train in the morning. In most cases of course, players want to play games but given that they have just won the league and probably had a few days of celebrating, and the game is also on astroturf, I think some of the City players would gladly miss out tonight.
Because of their celebrations and playing on astroturf, the risk of injury also increases for the players so eliminating that risk is another reason to leave regular starters off tonight. I would imagine we will see a similar starting 11 to that featured against the Munster FA side in a friendly a few weeks back.
Tim Clancy has shown that he is not afraid to put his trust in younger players, and he did so in important games, so with little significance on tonight’s result, I hope he is willing to again show his faith in the younger players.
Hopefully players like Zac Dunne, Colin Henderson and Harvey Skieters are given a start.
A few months ago, the 19-year-old looked like he could be City’s number one striker but the arrivals of Ruairi Keating and Seani Maguire have seen him drop down the pecking order.
He’s probably City’s fourth, maybe even fifth-choice striker behind Maguire, Keating, Cian Murphy and even Conor Drinan, who has also had a stint as a centre-forward.
His aim has to be to try and make himself third-choice and be that player that replaces Keating or Maguire in games. Clancy might also be looking at bringing in another forward to be back-up to Maguire and Keating.
He might think he needs more strength in that position. Skieters has to convince his manager that he is capable of making a significant impact in first-team football. In the games I have seen him this year, he understandably looks anxious.
He looked like someone trying too hard, meaning he wasn’t doing what was natural to him. Perhaps in games with less pressure, he will be more relaxed and play his more natural game.
Hopefully, we do see him tonight and he gets his first goal.
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