John Cleary: Even though you have another year, you just sit down and see what’s best for everyone

CORK football boss John Cleary will leave the dust settle before discussing his future following Sunday’s All-Ireland SFC preliminary quarter-final defeat to Louth in Inniskeen. 

The aim of reaching the All-Ireland quarter-finals for a third season on the bounce went begging. The disappointment couldn’t have been more obvious after the game and it will be a match that will sting for some time to come.

Louth won by a point, 1-9 to 1-8. Sam Mulroy converted a free deep in added on time when extra time looked a real possibility. It proved to be the winner. 

When the Leesiders reflect on this one, they will be wondering how this match slipped away from them. Leading by three points at the short whistle and up a point with 14 minutes remaining, it was another last quarter in which everything failed to spark from a Cork point of view. Devoid of ideas. 

Cleary was crestfallen when speaking post-match, and that was only natural. A man who bleeds Cork football and there is no one hurting more than he is. This was his second full season in charge and there were high expectations on the group on the back of All-Ireland quarter-final appearances in 2022 and 2023 and also after solid league finishes in Division 2 under Cleary.

But, 2024 feels like a step backwards. What next for Cork football? Cleary has another season on his term at the helm and after Sunday’s defeat to the Wee County, the Castlehaven club man was non-committal about remaining in charge for the 2025 campaign.

“We’ll see now. I’m three years at it,” Cleary said.

“Anyone involved in a county team will tell you it’s tough going, it’s a full-time job. Look, I’ll sit down with the lads. I’ll make no decision one way or the other now. Even though you have another year, that doesn’t really matter. You just sit down after every year and see what’s best for everyone.

“It’s definitely not a definite because the amount of effort that goes into it from all and I just have to see how the lads that worked with me this year are fixed. And even my own circumstances, it is tough going and we’ll just mull on it now for a few days and see after that then.” 

If Cleary did decide to stay in situ for next year, including the 2022 season when he took over as interim manager from Keith Ricken, it would be a fourth campaign at the helm. Whether he should stay on or not will depend on who you ask.

The team had made progress in 2022 and 2023, but this year feels like a campaign where things have regressed.