It has been confirmed this morning that Cork City have parted company with manager John Caulfield.
Recording only three league wins from their opening twelve games, a dramatic dip in form has already left Cork City sitting some twenty-one points shy of first-placed Shamrock Rovers.
After initial rumours emerged this morning, Cork City have since confirmed Caulfield's departure via a statement released on the club's website.
Discussing his departure from the club, Caulfield expressed in the statement that he felt "the time is right."
"I feel the time is right to part ways with the club," said Caulfield.
"I would like to thank the players and backroom team for the huge success brought to the club since 2014.
"I wish everyone the best for the rest of the 2019 season and look forward to attending games as a supporter in the stands."
For the foreseeable future, Cork City have announced that an interim manager will take charge of first-team affairs.
Guiding Cork to Irish Premier Division success in 2017 and FAI Cup success in 2016 and '17, Caulfield was perhaps unfortunate that his tenure coincided with the development of Stephen Kenny's all-conquering Dundalk; three successive second-placed finishes behind the Louth club indicative of this.
Speaking ahead of this morning's announcement at yesterday's press-conference, John Caulfield, acknowledging the club's poor start to the 2019 season, appeared intent to remain in the role, nevertheless.
"It's a difficult period...at the end of the day, I’m the manager of the club and I have to show leadership," Caulfield stated.
"There’s nobody more sick for the supporters than myself. There’s nothing like the buzz of a win and then, as a supporter, when you lose it knocks you and you get your hopes up for the next game.
"There’s nobody that takes it to heart more than myself but I have to deal with it, it’s a difficult period. I know in the club where we’re at and what we have to do, it is difficult but I have to deal with that. That’s part of management."
However, Caulfield did share pointed concerns he had with the manner in which the club was being run.
"The goalposts changed, we changed the scenario within the club at the start of the year, we didn’t want to invest as much, so things have changed and we have to work within that," Caulfield noted.
"At the end of the day, the bottom line is that we have worked incredibly hard, the management team have had five unbelievable years, all of a sudden are they not good enough?
"Does that say that the management team that has led and brought players through and competed and won trophies and made money for the club over the last five years, all of a sudden have become bad? I don’t think so.
"I think we’ve fantastic people, highly qualified people, all working extremely hard, but we are going through a difficult time.
"It’s up to us to rally the lads, if their confidence is down, you have to get it up and that’s what we’ll try to do."
Ultimately, this task will now fall to someone other than John Caulfield.
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