DESCRIBING Cork City’s relegation to the First Division as ‘a horrible day for the club’, Bandon man Richie Holland admits it will be hard to bounce back.
Holland was parachuted into the interim manager role at the end of September with City already destined for a play-off, which they lost 2-1 to Waterford on Friday night – a result that relegated City from the Premier Division back to the First Division.
It’s been a painful season for City who won just eight of their 36 league games en route to finishing second bottom of the table, a position that pushed them into a relegation-promotion play-off.
In his post-match interview Holland did suggest that not every player in the squad will be hurting after City’s relegation.
‘I would say it kills a lot of the boys but maybe not all of them. It’s a desperate night for the club and it’s going to be hard to bounce back now,’ the West Cork man admitted, with City now having to rebuild for next season’s campaign in the First Division.
‘Big decisions have to be made in the next few weeks, they are nothing to do with me but they have to be the right ones. We have to rebuild. We’ve done it before, we have to do it again.
‘We needed to manage the game (against Waterford) but we didn't. The performance was poor. Talking to the lads afterwards I was telling them that the fans travel in their numbers. People come to watch them play and on a big occasion here they didn’t show up.
‘I’m part of that as well. The staff are part of it. It’s a dark day for the club.
‘I understand the fan’s reaction. I’ll keep saying it, I’m one of them. They travel and they are so passionate about this club and the way things have gone this season aren’t good enough. It’s a horrible day for the club.’
When Holland took the job he spoke of his connection to Cork City – it’s the club he supported as a kid, he played underage with City, coached the women’s team, has been involved in the academy as well as the first team before his latest role. That’s why this City slump hurts deep.
‘It’s going to take a long time for me to get over it. I’ve sacrificed everything for this and it’s not good enough,’ Holland admitted.
‘I’m not throwing anyone under the bus, character has been an issue. We are lacking experience in the team and we have been all season. We had an opportunity to fix that during the season and we didn’t. We brought in players that were technically good and all the rest of it but it took them time to get up to speed. As I keep saying, it's a horrible day for the club.’
