CLANCY’S RESIGNED AT LOSSES
TIM CLANCY says there was no chance of keeping stars such as Joe O’brien-whitmarsh and Aaron Bolger at Cork City.
The option of keeping O’brien-whitmarsh on-loan after his move to Southampton was never on the table, while Aaron Bolger’s mind was already set on a move to St Patrick’s Athletic by the time Clancy was appointed.
“I spoke to Joe,” said the new Leesiders boss, of talented teenager O’brien-whitmarsh, whose move to St Mary’s was confirmed earlier this month.
“It never got to that stage of getting him back on loan until the summer.
“It’s a different situation to Evan Weir, I know he signed for Walsall, they have a link with Drogheda which means he’s gone back there until the summer.
“Joe was more sought after, there was more than one club interested in him and they wanted him over straight away.
“I didn’t have the experience of managing Joe on a daily basis, I only saw him from an opposition point of view and he was a player you’d point out and speak about, with the talent that he has.
“You are hoping he goes over and can flourish, develop and improve, please God for himself and for the Cork City fans he can do that, to see him do really well and for him to hit the ground running so he can make big strides over there.”
Bolger, meanwhile, moved to Pat’s last month, joining another ex-cork man Ruairi Keating at Richmond Park.
“I spoke to Aaron and a few others to try to keep. He got offers from multiple Premier Division clubs,” said Clancy.
“I would have loved to keep him but he’s fancied the offer from St Pat’s after having a chat with Jon (Daly).
“It’s a difficult one for me as a First Division manager. Had it been the day after the season finished, you might have a conversation straight away, but I got it three weeks after the season finished and a lot of players had conversations elsewhere.
“It’s a hard sell trying to keep them in the First Division.”