Originally Posted by
CorribsideSteve
All very valid points. The period around the time they played Genk was the last time I personally saw them play great football however. Records have a way of glossing over performances. In one way, fair play to JC when in some of those cup finals, which were poor spectacles, forced Dundalk to play Cork's way and they couldn't overcome it. Then there's the Maguire factor. Fair play to Caulfield, nurtured him, brought him along. But his individual significance was out of this world.wins the cup in the last minute, scores a hattrick in the Levadia home game (a game Cork were 2-1 down in at one point) and got one vs Dundalk for example. going 20 out of 21 happened largely because he was one of the best LOI players for decades, spending a year or so on absolute fire. He couldn't miss.True, it would have been a Shaktar Donetsk/BATE type dominance without Cork, but the lack of quality and title challengers below Cork and Dundalk was evident the last few years also. Seems to be changing this year. I wish Caulfield the best, and the record can't be denied, it was just time to go, and he must have known that himself for a while.