Real reason behind Pat Ryan’s Cork departure ‘revealed’ in report – and it wasn’t amicable

Pat Ryan’s departure from Cork may not have been as amicable as first thought, with reports that a disagreement over backroom staff prompted his exit.

Ryan announced on Saturday that he would leaving the Cork hurling job after three years.

His Cork side were stunned in this year’s All-Ireland, losing to Tipperary after a second-half collapse.

And a report in the Sunday Times suggests that the Cork board wanted Ryan to remain in charge for another three years, but only if he changed his backroom staff.

Ryan reportedly saw the board’s request as a lack of faith and trust in his direction, and were “imposing conditions he wasn’t prepared to accept.”

A line in Ryan’s departure statement on Saturday is a nod to that loyalty to his backroom staff. He said: “In life, sometimes loyalty is a word linked to weakness, but I was reared to believe it to be the ultimate strength of a person’s character.”

Ryan has also rubbished rumours that there was a half-time bust-up in the All-Ireland final defeat by Tipperary, where they were six points up but ended up losing by 15.

He told the Irish Examiner: “To be honest, sometimes fellas think when you’re the manager that you hear everything that’s going on.

“I didn’t hear it until I went back into work on the Thursday or the Friday. And I was like: ‘What are you on about?’ And then fellas were showing me text messages.