CORK CITY HAVE received another boost with the news that Garry Buckley has committed to the club for the 2018 season.
The midfielder has played over 130 games for the Leesiders since making his debut in 2012, scoring six goals for the club in the league this season, while he also grabbed a vital opener away to Levadia Tallinn in the Europa League.
“It was a no brainer for me, especially after winning the double,” Buckley told CorkCityFC.ie. ”There’s no better place to be than Cork City; every player wants to play for Cork City and nobody wants to leave. John is bringing in players who are in their prime and are hungry. We won’t rest on our laurels, we want to push on again next year.”
“I’ve 12 European appearances but this will be my first time playing in the Champions League, so I am really looking forward to it, but the bread and butter is the league.
“Hopefully, we can do well in Europe, but we want to retain the trophies we have won this year. Our main focus has to be on retaining the league; we retained the cup this year, which no Cork City team had ever done, and now we want retain the league.”
BREAKING | @GarryBuckley has #SignedFor2018, putting pen to paper on a 2 year contract this afternoon. Read more: https://t.co/ERTYRljtjA #CCFC84 pic.twitter.com/cYW6tVqWOi
— Cork City FC (@CorkCityFC) November 18, 2017
City boss John Caulfield added: “Obviously, Garry is one of our own lads, who has come through the ranks at the club. He has been in the team every week since we took over and, I think, last year, we could all see his consistency was really high. He is at the stage of his career now where he is in his prime and it is great news that he is here for another two years.”
“We need him to kick on now and be an influential player for us, because he has a massive role to play for this team. To win trophies, you need players to be consistent and guys like Garry are at the perfect age to do that. He gets a lot of goals for us and can play in numerous positions, so he gives us versatility as well. The main thing though is that last year was his best season so far, and we need him to kick on again for the next couple of years.”
Buckley joins a number of other important players in extending their stay at Turner’s Cross, including Mark McNulty, Karl Sheppard and Alan Bennett, while the club have also brought in a number of new faces since securing the double earlier this month.
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Good piece and great to see him doing so well, Munster are certainly in the upper tier of teams in Europe and a real handful at home but the crunch needed against the power teams in a semi or final they are a bit away. This new setup will take time and will have its down days but with the right acquisitions and leadership they could be there in a couple of years.
@mrbryanrussell: What Munster have been missing from the past 8 years is what it is needed to win a Champions cup/ Heinekin Cup – a world class 7 and world class 10. Unfortunately Munster have have just a series of bad luck in this department – constant injuries to TOD, Bleyendaal and now Cloete and Carbery have knocked their season and when you’re relying on 2nd and 3rd choice players in these positions it is highly unlikely you will make it all the way to the final in May.
There’s always a reaction when Munster don’t do well, especially from certain quarters within and outside rugby who like to twist the knife when they get the opportunity.
However Munster are still not far off making a breakthrough but there are a few things needed for that to happen in my opinion.
The new coaching staff and shift in playing style needs to bed in.
We desperately need some players of the right quality to come through the academy. When I say “the right quality” I don’t mean simply international quality but players made out of the same stuff as Clohessy, Galway, Foley, Quinlan, Stringer, ROG etc.
Players who are 100% Munster and would see pulling on the red jersey (of Munster!!) as the greatest honour imaginable.
It might be a big ask now that we’re so removed from the amateur era but a couple of players like that would be gold dust.
We need to shift away from the notion that the HC is the only thing that matters. Too many times in recent years we’ve shot ourselves in the foot by putting ourselves in a poor position in the Pro14 by going after a European Cup we were never likely to win.
Build towards making ourselves as good as anyone in the league, win it and evolve from there.
We need to ensure that any players that are brought in from outside, either IQ or not, are of the required quality and willing to give 100% to Munster.
And probably above all else we need a bit of luck, especially with injuries.