FORMER CORK CITY boss John Caulfield has called for ‘cool heads and reflection’ at the club, amid talk of a takeover.
The Rebel Army earned their first points of the season last night with a home win over Finn Harps.
Current boss Neale Fenn will be encouraged by a result he’ll hope will kickstart his young side’s season.
The fan-owned club have been the subject of takeover interest from Trevor Hemmings, Preston North End’s billionaire owner.
But Caulfield, who led Cork City to a double season in 2017 before his departure last term, is not in favour of rushing into a decision.
“We’ve gone from where the club has been, competing at the top and being in Europe every year and lucky enough to win a few trophies to all of a sudden there’s a rush,” Caulfield said on RTÉ last night, while working as a pundit for the Shamrock Rovers-Dundalk game.
“I know there’s interest from Trevor Hemmings, the owner of Preston, to take over the club. I think it’s time for reflection. There’s a lot of sadness around the city and county about the way the club has gone very quickly. To rush and just move the club on very quickly, which is what has been said out there, I think it’s time for cool heads and reflection.
“The club was saved in 2010, there’s no massive urgency to rush into anything. As we know in the League of Ireland, you need money. I wouldn’t be in favour at the moment of selling out straight away.”
City revealed earlier this month that they cashed in the sell-on clauses in the contracts of former players Sean Maguire and Alan Browne to the pair’s present club, Preston.
The FAI had informed Cork City that they would not be granted a licence for the current season if they failed to settle a debt of around €600,000 with Revenue, prompting the decision to relinquish the clauses.
“Funny, when I came in, the club were similarly in debt and the club wasn’t doing well and we built a strong management team and worked really hard and got players in and started competing for trophies and getting into Europe every year and then winning trophies,” said Caulfield.
“But Europe is huge and the money you got helped you to compete against the likes of Dundalk. The money was tight but it was reinvested and the board were strong.
“So unfortunately, when you’re successful like that, you have to be competing to get the crowd and get into Europe. The club has changed around; a new, young board came in last year and they wanted change, which is what they’ve done and what they were entitled to do.
“Last year, I left in the first third of the season, Europe came along a couple of months later — the club didn’t win the European match. That was a big blow, that was your €250,000, the next game was [potentially] against Rangers, which was another huge financial game and then the club didn’t qualify for Europe at the end of the season.
“So, the last 12 months have been really, really tough and bringing money in has been difficult.”
Meanwhile, Cork City goalkeeper Liam Bossin has been discharged from hospital, the club have confirmed.
“Liam got a bang to the head,” said Fenn, “but I am pleased to say that he was discharged from hospital overnight. I’ve had a chat with him this morning and he is in good form. We will work with our medical team and assess him over the next few days, but he is doing well.”
