Rico - the verdict so far?

[pete]

He really can't be faulted with league & setanta cup games so far. We'd always like to have more points & more goals but hes had lpre season preparation with the team.

Defense was good last year but is even better this season. I think as new manager maybe Rico is just trying to ensure has defense sorted first which is a good decision.
Midfield seems to be more agressiver in tackling & hitting on the break.
Forwards are still scoring even with O'Flynn injured. Behan scored 1 goal last season & got 4 already this year.

[Éanna]

Positives:
We've played very well away from home (apart from Portadown), and have played well in patches at home, but not well enough. IMO, other teams come to Cork looking to stifle us, and the pitch not helping at all- we need to improve at home. We've beaten Shels for the first time in 2 years. We're close to the top of the table, and unbeaten. In 7 games, we've scored 8 and conceded 2. Morale in the squad seems very good. Players are happy with training, and a number have publically praised Rico. He's picked an excellent assistant in Hilly.

Negatives:
He's made a couple of strange substitutions and we have played some dreadful football in patches, escpecially at home. Billy Woods seems undroppable.

Overall:
IMO, an excellent start. He's made a few strange calls, and there have been a few infuriating/annoying moments, but he is only getting to know the team. He walked into a job with a lot of pressure and has coped very well. He's been very diplomatic and has handled things very well. If he can just iron out the negatives (as above) we'll win the league IMO.

[Used2BHibs Fan]

This is not a rant at Rico just my opinion of the matches that I have watched so far.

1) Surprised that he does not make more use of the subs - thought that Dolan was wrong when he used to bring subs on with less than 5 minutes. Rico sometimes does not use subs at all.
2) Billy Woods .............................nuf said. Any player that puts on a city Jersey deserves the fans support - if the player is not performing then its up to the manager to make a change.
3) Keeping the same line-up for Bohs when Gamble was available as well as Flynn. Maybe Flynn is still not 100% and needs some game time and also maybe Gamble has a nock - I don't know. But don't just keep the same team for the sake of it.
4) Against Bohs - City had very little width - Kearney kept drifting into the centre as did Billy - its up to the manager to get the players to stay wide and create the chances.

Very good start but could always be better, Points dropped against Bray , Ports and the victory against Bohs was only made safe by the last kick of the game......this was not good enough against a very poor Bohs team.

Hope that Rico brings back Gamble, gives Flynn a run and also starts to use the likes of Roy ,Greg and the other subs - if they are not given a run then they will never have a chance to show what they can do. At this rate Flynn will be restricted to a last 5 minutes if Behan keeps scoring - would like to see Flynn getting a start and then spring Denis from the bench as he has a knack for scoring....

[pete]

I like wingers but isn't realistic to have both wide players hugging the touchline as can be exposed in the middle. Kearney does some great work coming inside & linking with forwards so not alyways a bad thing.

[Peadar]

While out next two league games are important, I think May will be the real test of our new manager.
We've got Waterford, St. Pat's, Shels (League & Setanta Cup), Portadown and Derry City.

If we can get results in these games we'll be in a very strong position.
Hopefully Derry will have leaked a few goals and dropped a few points before they arrive on Leeside.

So far so good for Rico.
Long may it continue.

[yan]

i have noticed that both wingers seem to have a license to roam from side to side, when attacking it seems there under instructions to make diagonal runs past one another to confuse the oppositions!

[Fair_play_boy]

Eanna's comments above are interesting. Can't see anything there I would not say myself.
I was surprised at first when I saw Rico sticking with Dan Murray and Billy Woods when their performances have been less than great. But now I think he is deliberately bringing in few changes, to let the team settle down with him in charge. Give him a few more weeks, and I think we will see movement in the squad.
Overall impression: a safe pair of hands, but not making any big decisions for the moment, until he feels more established. I would like to see this thread resurrected around the middle / end of June, as things will be clearer by then.

[patsh]

Far too early to say really, lets wait until the end of May.
The most impressive thing he has done so far, I think, is to get the team focused on football, and try to forget all the off-season sh*t while they are on the pitch, at least.

[adamcarr]

So far so good! He is a straight talking manager(unlike Pat). We are still unbeaten but we have still to put in a decent performance at home(besides Shels). Some strange decisions and it looks like he has started where Dolan left off regarding subs in the final minutes!( :( )

Overall he looks like a decent manager and hopefully he's the man to bring us the title!