General
- Thursday May 4th, 2023 @ 13:00
Preview: Cork City Vs St Pat's (05/05/23)
Jon Daly will take charge of St Patrick's Athletic for the first time at Turners Cross tomorrow night as The Saints travel to face Cork City.
After Manager Tim Clancy's departure by mutual consent on Tuesday, Assistant Manager Daly was appointed Interim Manager and will be in the dug out for the 7.45pm kick-off.
Over 400 St Pat's fans will be in Cork to cheer their team on, remaining away tickets are on sale via to Cork City website HERE, no away tickets will be available at the ground, they must be purchased online in advance.
The match will also be live on LOITV.
It's been a busy few days for both clubs, following Monday's 1-0 defeat at home to Sligo Rovers, Clancy left the club on Tuesday morning before Daly's appointment, The Saints trained on Wednesday and Thursday in preparation for their trip to Cork.
Daly (40), who holds a UEFA Pro Licence, joined St Pat's as Assistant Manager in December 2021 ahead of the 2022 season.
After an almost 20 year playing career in England and Scotland, Jon moved into coaching in 2015.
His first coaching role was as Manager of Hearts U20s, Jon has also been Hearts interim first team Manager on two occasions in 2016 and 2017 and before joining The Saints, he was Assistant Manager at TPS in Finland.
Shortly after being appointed, Daly said: "We're looking for a reaction from the players and the staff, we're disappointed with the situation and it's something we believe we can turn around, starting on Friday down in Cork."
City lost 5-0 away to Bohemians, they appointed former St Pat's Manager Liam Buckley as their new Sporting Director on Wednesday afternoon before Manager Colin Healy resigned on Wednesday evening.
Former Athlone Town, St Pat's, Sporting Fingal and Sligo Rovers Manager Buckley is expected to take temporary charge of the team tomorrow night, with Cork City Academy Manager Liam Kearney assisting him.
Buckley attended the recent Cork games against St Patrick's Athletic, Shelbourne and Bohemians.
Liam won the league twice as St Pat's Manager (98/99 and 2013), as well as leading the club to a first FAI Cup in 53 years in 2014 and back to back league cups in 2015 and 2016, he'll be in Cork City colours tomorrow night.
Head To Head
These teams have faced off once already this season, that game at Richmond Park was less than a month ago, St Pat's won it 4-0 thanks to goals from Jake Mulraney, Jason McClelland, Jamie Lennon and Mark Doyle.
St Pat's last visit to Turners Cross was in the FAI Cup 2nd round in 2021, Chris Forrester scored from the penalty spot before a late City equaliser made it 1-1 to take things to extra time, The Saints eventually won 4-1 penalties and of course went on to win the cup, current Saints Forrester, Jay McClelland and Ben McCormack were among our scorers in the shootout.
The last time Cork City hosted St Pat's in the league was during the shortened 2020 campaign, St Pat's won it 2-1, an Alan Bennett own goal and a neat finish from Jordan Gibson inside the opening ten minutes was enough to earn all three points for the Inchicore side.
The home side are 9th heading into tomorrow's game with nine points from their 13 matches so far, St Pat's are 7th on 17 points, they could end the weekend in 4th with a win.
Football doesn't stop, we have to focus on Friday - Daly:
New Interim Manager Jon Daly sat down with Jamie Moore for a 15 minute chat earlier this week, you can watch his full interview on our YouTube channel or listen on the Talking Saints Podcast stream.
Daly said: "It's a fresh start for everyone, there are lads who have probably been out of the picture that might come back in. It's very much up to the players now to put their hand up to play.
It's obviously never nice when a manager and a friend loses his job, I'm disappointed to see Tim leave but it's football, it's the nature of the beast.
We have to focus on Friday and make sure the lads are as prepared as they possibly can be, to go down to Cork and hopefully come back up the road with three points and a good performance.
Our job is to try and put a team on a pitch that can win."
Team News:
Captain Joe Redmond remains on the sidelines after hamstring surgery while Eoin Doyle will also miss the match after his red card on Monday.
Daly is hoping that Jamie Lennon (quad) and Thijs Timmermans (ankle) will be available after injuries picked up last weekend, Lennon missed the Sligo match while Timmermans had to go off.
Danny Rogers (thumb), Tom Grivosti (hamstring), Harry Brockbank (calf) are all progressing well in their respective recoveries but are not ready for a return just yet.
Image credit: Sportsfile
Be sure to visit the St Pat's store and check out our Umbro League of Ireland merchandise.
