Oh Christian Nanetti, the Montenotte Totti as he was dubbed in the Facebook comments underneath the post announcing his departure, what could have been, you will always be remembered.
On a brighter note though, another game, another win and another clean sheet, granted it’s only 12 games in, but if City were to throw away the league title from here, it would go down as one of the most monumental cock ups in world football.
One things that’s going to be crucial for The Rebel Army this season is defence, and one player who is really proving his worth is Ryan Delaney. Burton Albion just secured their place in the Championship for next season, so I imagine, if he were to go back to his parent club at the start of July, it would be very difficult break into the starting XI.
Hopefully, Johnny C and Nigel Clough can sort something out for the former Wexford Youths man to stay until, at least, October. It certainly has not been easy for him, considering he’s played with a different centre back partner nearly every two weeks, but he has done very well so far.
Conor McCormack has been unreal since signing from Derry, keeping Bolger out of the team is by no means an easy feat. Bolger has an instrumental part of the team last season, even captaining the side during the European run, so to basically dethrone the New Ross native is some achievement in his first three or so months of his time here.
Another player that catches the eye actually is Steven Beattie. Despite the fact it is very very frustrating he is being played out of position, he still manages to stand out week in, week out. He seems to be one of those players that Neal Horgan was talking about during the Bray Wanderers game, Beats has really bought into what Cork is all about. The Skerries Rebel, if you will.
On the subject of full-backs, Kevin O’Connor is one player who seems to have gone off the radar altogether. Granted, it is very hard to change the game from the left back position, I dunno is it because the spotlight is going on everyone else in every other position, but the Enniscorthy man just is unable to recreate the performance he was able to last season. It’s a shame really because he is one of those players who I really want to see go far, he has the potential and on his day, he is one of, if not, the best player in the country, in my opinion, but he just looks a shadow of him former self in recent weeks.
I’ve made a promise to myself not to highlight Sean Maguire anymore in these blog posts. I don’t need to mention how good he is anymore, because everyone knows, so we’ll move on.
Sticking with the front line though, Stephen Dooley has come on leaps and bounds in the last year or so. He’s gone from only doing step-overs, to actually fooling defenders and scoring goals. His goal on Friday night came at a time where City were able to break down the defence, but unable to put the ball into the back of the net. Up stepped the Loyola Maryland graduate to break the deadlock. Absolute class from him.
Stick with Derry men actually, how great was it to see Paddy McCourt back in Turners Cross? For one night only, we got to relive the awesome battle him and Joe Gamble (this time replaced by Gearoid Morrissey) had during that famous 2005 season. If it is the last time seeing him down The Cross, it was an absolute pleasure to see him one final time.
John Caulfield’s men look to make it 13 from 13 next Friday, as they travel to Eamon Deacy Park to take on a rejuvenated Galway United. We should have LIVE coverage of the game with Dave, starting from 7:30.
Picture Credit: Doug Minihane