A former Cork City chairman claims John Caulfield was forced out because of ‘player power’.
Brian Lennox owned the Rebels between 2002 and 2007 - a period during which they won the league title in 2005.
That was their last league crown before Caulfield delivered the double in 2017 but he departed the club earlier this month after a poor start to the season.
Lennox said: "I don't like the fact that we lost a manager because of player power and I believe that it was player power - I don't like that in football.
"If I was the chairman I’d have actually gathered all the players together, had a good talking to them and told them to cop themselves on and that there was only one boss.
"I’d be a friend of John's but I’m a friend of the club first. It was sad to see the way that John left but it was also sad to see the way they played recently.
"I thought that they were very poor. I know that John would not like me to say this but that was the way that it was.”
Lennox was at Turner’s Cross on Friday as the Rebels slipped to a 2-0 defeat to arch rivals Dundalk.
After back-to-back wins under interim boss John Cotter, City have slumped back into crisis heading to Belfield tonight.
UCD are now bottom of the table following Friday’s results when they lost at home to Shamrock Rovers and Finn Harps stunned Waterford with a late winner.
But third-from-bottom City are just nine points ahead of them and Lennox insists talk of a second-half-of-the-season charge for Europe is way off the mark.
“Not a hope, mid-table I would think,” he told Cork's 96FM. “I hope we’re not going to be embarrassed by our appearance in Europe this season, I really am.
"I think it's a matter of just getting this year, next year and the following year and then start rebuilding.
“Dundalk are obviously the best team in the country but they’re way behind where they were a couple of seasons ago.
"Unfortunately, Cork City are way, way behind where they used to be.
"I don't know what the wage bill is but I think the players have been overpaid in the last few years and this is beginning to show in my opinion.”
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