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Stuart Byrne column: Cork impressive but we've got the makings of a great title race
THE INCREDIBLE FORM of Cork City has to be a big talking point at this stage of the season.
Although I think John Caulfield would have been confident of getting off to a good start having come into the job, I doubt he would have expected them to be where they are now — top of the league and level on points with Dundalk and Shamrock Rovers with a game in-hand over both.
The man is so well-liked in Cork and that will have been a big factor to the positive, energetic start they have had. The crowds which have showed up at Turner’s Cross are also a credit to the club and its fans.
Their team has got a lot of young, inexperienced players but that could actually have a beneficial impact at this moment as the young blood has seen them play so dynamically in the opening month of the campaign.
Come the latter stages of the season, however, it could be a different story when the league often becomes mentally tiring and physically draining.
Traditionally, I would have been of the opinion that you need certain elements to win a league title. You have to have experience, luck is huge, and obviously the quality needs to be there. But I think that has changed somewhat in more recent times and I really do think anyone can win it now.
There isn’t much between six or seven teams. You look at St Pat’s, Shamrock Rovers, Cork, Sligo, Drogheda and Dundalk and it’s very hard to pick one.
Pat’s have the best squad and they are the current champions but they’re just not coping with the pressure of being league winners right now and the frustration that came in during their defeat to Dundalk is slightly worrying.
Squads were built around that menatility and if you didn’t have it then you would stick out like a sore thumb and would be offloaded or let go.
Now, it seems easier for any team to win it, but all they will do is win it once and that will be it. The days of teams dominating for years are gone. I don’t see it in any of the clubs.
Three or four years ago I would’ve said Shamrock Rovers could. They had all the credentials — the facilities, resources and everything in place to go and dominate. In doing so they could have brought other teams with them.
They would have been the team setting the bar and the one to strive for. But they haven’t done it at all.
One of the main reasons has to be the fact that clubs can often only offer players one year contracts. It’s very difficult to build a squad when you’re doing that. Having said all that, it could be affecting the league in a good way in that it has made it more competitive.
Drogheda are a good example. They’re playing really good stuff at the moment with Declan O’Brien, who is 35 in June, and as fit as ever and banging in the goals. He got a hat-trick against Athlone last week and is still a quality centre forward. They’ve got a new manager in Robbie Horgan but it hasn’t set them back at all.
Drogheda thumped Dundalk at the start of the season yet Dundalk are now joint top after beating St Pat’s 4-1 on Friday night. You just don’t know where the consistency is going to come from and it can all suddenly change in any one week.
Cork are the most consistent team at the moment and have been beating teams well but we are still at an extremely early point in the season.
Nonethless, it is certainly making for an exciting title race because the more teams you have in contention, the more interest it creates. The main thing I wanted this year was for it to be a competitive league. You can’t have one team walking away with it so that is hugely important.
At this moment in time, I don’t think anyone can deny that the Premier Division is just that.
Here’s why Megan Campbell is being called the new Rory Delap
Ireland and England to play Dublin friendly in June 2015
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column SSE Airtricity League Premier Division Domestic football Opinion SSE Airtricity League Stuart Byrne