If it's tough at the top, it's even tougher at the bottom - and Danny Murphy is doing everything he can to move Cork City out of there.
Murphy has connections with Cork going back to his childhood, when he made regular visits to family from London.
He had three spells at Turner's Cross as a player between 2004 and '14, winning a League title in '05, and after spells working as a coach in the US and England, he returned to City last June as manager of the women's team.
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"It's a place that always felt like home," he said. "Nothing changes, you fit straight back in. It's a great club, great people around the club, and it's a great city.
"There were more highs than lows when I was here as a player. The lows were the financial troubles, but that was out of the control of the players and really I only remember the good times.
"I have amazing memories, the stand-out was the game when we won the league against Derry in front of the Shed, I remember the atmosphere and how crazy it was afterwards.
"Even the build-up to the game was unbelievable - all of a sudden we won and it was scary how good it was.
"You always miss playing. I still love watching the men's games at Turner's Cross, atmosphere and buzz, but you've got to move on. I can't move now anyway, I run now and after 20 minutes I feel the belly wobbling, and say 'that's me done now!'.
"I enjoy what I'm doing now. We have a big project ahead of us at the club and it's exciting with the takeover, we're trying to do things the right way. We want to have longevity around what we do."
He returned to the Leesiders after two years as the manager of Welling United's women's section.
"We built it from nothing," he said. "We went from 13 academy players to 160 in the space of a year, formulated a women's team and had two decent FA Cup runs as we moved through the Leagues.
"When new ownership came in I didn't see eye to eye over where the club should invest and we decided to part ways. The opportunity came up to go to Cork and everything fell into place.
"When I came in it was about getting to understand the girls a bit more, understanding their needs and putting a bit more structure on training and fitness.
"It was about implementing all of that, really. I don't think they had a great pre-season and fitness was an issue, but this year it was about having a good pre-season and that sets you up for the year."
Cork finished second from last in the 10-club League last year, well clear of Treaty United but not where ambitious City want to be under new ownership.
The start of this season has been a struggle and the club has picked up one point from four games and in 10th place of the 11 teams in the division.
"We want to improve on last year and it's going to be a lot more open than it was in the past, especially with Shamrock Rovers coming in," Murphy said.
"It's a tough environment, it's about implementing the right things when you're there and have success.
"I'm looking forward to seeing how we get on."
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