Cork City have confirmed that Richie Holland is to take charge of the first team until the end of the season.
Liam Buckley, the club's sporting director, had been in charge, but steps back to resume that role full time.
Holland, who had previously acted as Colin Healy's assistant, will now be the man in charge for City's remaining games, starting with the home league clash with St Patrick's Athletic at Turner's Cross tomorrow evening.
City have struggled this season, and in their last ten league games have won just once, with 6 defeats and 3 draws, with the club more than likely facing into the relegation playoff for finishing 9th - they're currently 9 points behind 8th placed Sligo Rovers with 5 games to play.
Cork City owner, Dermot Usher, said: “Liam brings a lot to the club, but we are conscious that results have not been what we need in recent games. Following internal discussions, we feel it is best to make this change now as we go into the last six games of the season. Liam will now go back to focusing on the role of Sporting Director, which was the role in which he originally joined us, to focus on player and manager recruitment.
“Richie will assume control of the men’s first team for the remainder of the season. He has been with the club a long time and he knows how much our current position is hurting everyone connected with the club. I have no doubt that everyone from the backroom team to the players to the fans are fully focused on improved performances and results over the coming week.
“The support we have had all season has been great, and I know it is hurting the Cork City fans to see where we are in the table right now. We all know that it needs to be better, and it is important for us all to come together and pull in the same direction to put things right. We have five league games remaining, as well as a cup semi-final, so there is still an awful lot to play for and we need dust ourselves down and face that challenge.”
Speaking to CorkCityFC.ie, Richie Holland said: “first and foremost this is my club that I have supported from a young age, I played for the club underage, I coached in the women's team, academy and I’ve been in with the first team for the last couple of years. I know how much this club means to the supporters, and I know people are hurting right now.
“We know that this is not where Cork City should be, and we know that recent performances have not been good enough. As a collective, we need to get back to the basics that we, and our supporters, expect from a Cork City team. We need to show more hunger and more fight, and we need to be a hard team to play against. We know that we have good players here at the club, and we have a lot of lads who are from Cork or have come through the academy, who know what this club means to people. Starting with Friday’s game against St. Pat’s, we want to put a team out on the pitch that will give everything for the Cork City crest on the jersey, who will fight for everything and who the fans will get behind.”
