Gaynor bemoans Tipp’s approach

Tipperary legend Len Gaynor described the All-Ireland semi-final sideshow involving Lar Corbett at Croke Park last Sunday as “embarrassing.”

Gaynor, who managed Tipp from 1996-98, has also advocated a return to “the core values of Tipperary hurling” — and is highly critical of the tactics employed against Kilkenny.

The two-time All-Ireland SHC medallist (1965 and 1971) insisted “tactics can be overdone” in the modern game and believes Tipp should not be “obsessed by the opposition.”

Gaynor spoke to Tipp’s FM’s Extra Time show and was asked for his opinions on Tipperary’s game plan on Sunday.

Gaynor, who managed Clare from 1990-94, replied: “It was obvious they thought this out a bit and thought that it was going to work. They were going to change Lar on Tommy Walsh and Pa Bourke on Jackie Tyrrell but Kilkenny were never going to allow that to happen. We all knew that from last year’s final and we should have been ready for that, that Jackie was going to be on Lar.

“That puts Lar in the best possible position for Tipperary but instead of that, they were going around in circles and that was embarrassing. It looked unreal — two Tipp players taken completely out of the game. They couldn’t concentrate and were just roaming around, jostling around, digging, dragging, pushing and shoving. Kilkenny were doing it as well but it looked wrong and it was not effective for Tipp. It misfired badly.”

Gaynor added: “I think we need to get back to the core value of Tipperary hurling. The basics are bravery and courage — bravery of mind to go and execute the job that you’ve trained to do, not to be obsessed by the opposition.

“Courage to put that in place and if things go wrong, courage to stand up. Tipperary teams have been beaten as often as anybody else but standing up to the opposition and giving their best for as long and as hard as they can is what we ask for as spectators.

“When you get the heads and bodies right, then you can start tweaking and bringing in tactics. But when you start with tactics, you’re going the wrong way about it.”

Tipperary County Board chairman Seán Nugent was in studio for the show and with more time to reflect upon Sunday’s events, he described the numerous episodes involving Corbett, Bourke, Walsh and Tyrrell as a “circus.”

Nugent said: “In regards to tactics, I don’t think there was a tactic involved in it at all. Lar would be on Tommy Walsh — he [Corbett] was picked there at No 12.

“Things happened on the field after that — Jackie Tyrrell wanted to come out to mark Corbett and the kind of circus that went on seriously disappointed me. I’ve never seen it before going on.”

During the second half, the four protagonists jogged down to the Canal End-Cusack Stand side of the field, close to where the Artane Band enter and exit the playing area.

And Nugent admitted: “I saw that episode myself — I could see no sense or meaning to it. It didn’t help our cause whatsoever on the day. Obviously the management picked Lar at 12 — he was to mark Tommy Walsh. Other things came into the equation and things took off from there.”

Nugent will now meet with manager Declan Ryan and his staff in the coming days. And he admitted following in the footsteps of Liam Sheedy and Eamon O’Shea was always going to be a difficult task.

Nugent acknowledged: “Whoever came in after them [Sheedy and O’Shea] was going to be on a fairly sticky wicket, to emulate them and what they achieved. But they (Ryan and Tommy Dunne) were brave men to come in and do it.”