Ruaidhrí Higgins unlikely to be at the helm for Derry City reboot - Barry Murphy

Derry City manager Ruaidhrí Higgins has admitted that the club "needs a refresh" but he won't be the man to oversee it, according to ex-Shamrock Rovers goalkeeper Barry Murphy.

Higgins watched his side put in a limp performance in Sunday's Sports Direct Men's FAI Cup final, as they went down 2-0 to underdogs Drogheda United.

This comes on the back of a poor finish in the SSE Airtricity Men's Premier Division, as the Candystripes ended up coming fourth after appearing to be in a two-horse race with eventual champions Shelbourne for much of the season.

A former Derry City player, Higgins took over the managerial reins in April 2021 and while he did lead them to FAI Cup glory in 2022, he hasn't delivered the league title that many expected, given the level of investment in the squad.

This season also saw Derry exit the UEFA Conference League at the first hurdle, where they lost to Gibraltarian minnows Bruno's Magpies, and Sunday's defeat to Drogheda means that they won't be returning to the continent in 2025.

After the loss, Higgins told RTÉ Sport that "it's clear that it needs a refresh, it needs a reboot," but Murphy doesn't see the current manager being at the helm come the start of the new season.

"I don't think he's going to be the man that's there to do that reboot," said Murphy on this week's edition of the RTÉ Soccer Podcast.

"I think things have probably gone too far. They (Derry supporters) came down in hope more than expectation. It felt that if Drogheda put it up to them, would they have the backbone to go and meet that? I don't think they thought themselves that that was going to happen.

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