Cork City interim boss Liam Buckley has said that it's still possible that a new manager could be appointed before the end of the season despite being rejected by Drogheda’s Kevin Doherty in recent days.
Doherty, whose United side sit six points ahead of Cork in eighth in the race to avoid a relegation play-off spot, spoke to Cork officials at the weekend but ultimately decided to remain with the Louth outfit.
Buckley was appointed sporting director back in May and then interim boss soon after with former manager Colin Healy stepping aside within 24 hours of his arrival.
The club announced at the time that Buckley, assistant boss Richie Holland and academy coach Liam Kearney would remain in charge for the rest of the season but despite not being in conversation with specific candidates following Doherty’s rejection, Buckley said an appointment earlier than that is not out of the question.
"That would be helpful," he replied when asked would it be preferable to have someone in before the season’s conclusion.
"A new coach coming in having a look, you’d have to gauge on the current staff and myself where all the players stand or whatever. It would be ideal but if it’s not the case, it’s not to be."
"We’re not ruling anything in or anything out," he added. "My ambition here is to get this group over the line here and over the line is safe."
Cork’s fight against relegation continues this Sunday when they face Shamrock Rovers in Tallaght and having been critical of his side after their 2-0 loss to Shelbourne last time out, Buckley said that he expects a reaction this weekend and in the 10 remaining league games to follow.
That Turners Cross defeat last time out extended their winless league run to six games with four of those ending in defeat.
"We’ve got to kick ass and make sure we get some sort of performance out of the lads," he said.
"I know it’s hurting but the lads are hurting as well, trust me. You’d like to think that they’ll take responsibility for it; there’s a group of people here and we’ll all take responsibility and give a great go at Rovers now at the weekend – and the rest of the season for that matter.
"We just can't afford to pay like that [the defeat to Shelbourne], we have to have a lot of fight and a lot of effort, there’s a lot of everything that has to go with playing. There’s no point being a good player in training and not doing it in the matches."
"When you win, great. When you lose, it is what it is," he added.
"We just need to get out of this losing run. When we were winning a few matches, there was good positivity around the place but we’ve lost a few and it’s negative. That’s the nature of the business we’re in and the only way we can change that is by us actually making a proper go at it to give ourselves a chance of winning matches."
Despite their disappointing form of late, Buckley feels that they can give a good account of themselves against Rovers having defeated them earlier in the season, albeit the holders picked up three red cards before Ruairi Keating grabbed a late winner in a 1-0 win.
"Who would have fancied us to beat Rovers a while back and Drogheda beating them week before? Nobody, you wouldn’t have gotten money on that.
"That said, it’s a difficult match. They’re a top team, best in the league. From where we are at, we’ve drawn with them up in Tallaght and we’ve beaten them here. Obviously the sending offs had a big bearing on that match but there wasn’t a lot in the game and there wasn’t a lot in the game up in Tallaght.
"We need to play with that free spirit and give it our best shot and see where we go from there."
The chances of a shock victory should be helped by the arrival of 21-year-old midfielder Ben Worman from Cambridge while Daniel Krezic has left the club to return to Sweden.
"He’s 22 this month, a good player and has played quite a good few games for that age." said Buckley of the new arrival, who also confirmed that they will still be hoping to bring in "one or two" out of contract players.
"He’s good on the ball, he can play any of the spots, offensive or defensive, from a midfield point of view."
Buckley also said that Keating is unlikely to feature against Rovers as he continues to mourn the loss of his father Ciarán, who died in a car crash last month.
"I saw Ruairi yesterday and the day before yesterday and look it, he’s still raw. It’s been a terrible tragedy for the family. From where we are at, there’s a bigger picture here – he’s first, we come after that.....it will be Ruairi’s call when he comes back."
Buckley also said that he was unaware of what Cork’s sell-on clause was in regards to Cathal Heffernan who is set to join Newcastle United from AC Milan.
The 18-year-old first moved to the Italian giants on loan in January 2022 before that deal was made permanent five months later with a move to England now on the cards.
The defender impressed for Newcastle’s under-21s in pre-season games against Carlisle United and Barrow and is set to join the club permanently.
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