Drogheda United On 5 December 2017 Clancy was appointed as Manager of
League of Ireland First Division side
Drogheda United. This was his first role in management, and he was assisted in the role by newly appointed Director of Football
Dave Robertson. During his first two seasons at the club, his young Drogheda side missed out on promotion twice. Ahead of the 2020 season, Clancy added more key members to his squad, and the club lifted the
2020 League of Ireland First Division Title, gaining promotion to the
League of Ireland Premier Division. This was his first honour at the club. In his first season in the Premier Division with Drogheda, Clancy guided the Drogs to seventh place, securing top flight football for another season for the Louth club. Despite having one of the lowest budgets in the league, Clancy led the club to impressive victories against
St Patrick's Athletic,
Derry City and rivals
Dundalk.
St Patrick's Athletic On 2 December 2021, it was announced that
St Patrick's Athletic had met the release clause in Clancy's
Drogheda United contract and had joined the club on a 2-year contract effective immediately. With
Kevin Doherty staying at Drogheda to become first team manager, former
Dundee United striker
Jon Daly was appointed as Clancy's assistant manager. Clancy had to deal with the losses of
Robbie Benson,
John Mountney and Sam Bone who followed former head coach
Stephen O'Donnell to
Dundalk, while also losing other key players such as
Lee Desmond,
Alfie Lewis,
Matty Smith and
Vítězslav Jaroš. In terms of incomings, Clancy signed
Joe Redmond,
Mark Doyle and
David Odumosu who he had worked with previously at
Drogheda United, along with former
Hibernian teammate
Eoin Doyle and
Joseph Anang, Jack Scott,
Tom Grivosti,
Anthony Breslin,
Tunde Owolabi and
Adam O'Reilly. Clancy's first league game as manager of the Saints was a comfortable 3–0 away win over
Shelbourne in what was their manager
Damien Duff's first game in senior management. His first taste of managing in European football was in Pat's
UEFA Europa Conference League campaign, which started out with a 1–1 draw at home to
Slovenian side
NŠ Mura. The second leg saw his side advance 6–5 on penalties following a 0–0 draw after extra time. The next round saw Pat's beat
Bulgarian side
CSKA Sofia 1–0 away before suffering the heartache of a 2–0 loss in the second leg following a controversial late penalty. Clancy's side finished in 4th place at the end of his first season in charge, securing
UEFA Europa Conference League football for 2023. Clancy was awarded his
UEFA Pro Licence in December 2022, the highest coaching qualification in world football. On 2 May 2023, Clancy departed
St Patrick's Athletic by mutual consent with the club in 7th place, 13 games into the
2023 season.
Cork City On 24 November 2023, Clancy was announced as the new manager of
Cork City, who had recently been relegated to the
League of Ireland First Division. He led the club straight back to the
Premier Division at the first time of asking by winning the
2024 League of Ireland First Division title by a staggering 22 points ahead of second placed
UCD. On 9 May 2025, Clancy resigned as manager of the club following a 2–1 defeat to
Derry City, leaving the club second from bottom in the
2025 League of Ireland Premier Division. ==Career statistics==