Tipperary will ‘take time’ to find Peter Creedon successor, says Joe Hannigan

Tipperary football board chairman Joe Hannigan says it is not set in stone that Peter Creedon’s replacement will be pulled from the outgoing backroom team.

Creedon ended his four-year reign as Tipperary football manager in the wake of the county’s third round qualifier defeat to Tyrone on Saturday and filling the vacancy, according to Hannigan is a “massively important decision in terms of progressing Tipperary football”.

From Creedon’s backroom team, Michael O’Loughlin and Tommy Toomey are being viewed as the early front-runners for the post. O’Loughlin served as Creedon’s right-hand man since March 2012, while fellow selector Tommy Toomey oversaw Tipperary’s progression to this year’s All-Ireland U21 football decider. Toomey also worked under previous manager John Evans.

When pushed on the advantages of keeping a familiar face at the helm and the continuity that would be achieved handing the bainisteoir’s bib to either Toomey or O’Loughlin, Hannigan replied: “There is nothing set in stone”.

“Peter told me three months ago that he wouldn’t be in a position to continue beyond 2015 because he had secured the position of principal at a school in Cahir. I was hoping against hope he would continue. He hasn’t and we are now at a crossroads. We must go down the right road,” said Hannigan.

“We have to take our time making a decision and see what we think is the best route forward for Tipperary football. We are building. We are hoping to close the gap. We will learn from playing teams like Tyrone. We have to be exposed to that level of competitiveness on a more regular basis.

“We have to get this decision right. You saw Mickey Harte on the line there for Tyrone, we want a Mickey Harte in charge of Tyrone. To realise the potential we have is a massive, massive job. We are looking for someone who is capable of continuing that progression.

“We would like to think we are top 12 at the moment, but to get further than that is a really, really big jump.”

Responding to Creedon’s assertion that football must become the sole priority of players if the county is to achieve a breakthrough at senior level, Hannigan remarked: “There is an awful lot feeding into the situation that is pulling players left, right and centre.

“It was far from ideal that Colin O’Riordan had two football qualifiers and a Munster U21 hurling semi-final in the one week. Steven [O’Brien] then picked up a knock in a club hurling match. It is hard on them.

“And while there will always be problems at that age-group, as far as the dual mandate is concerned, you have to give them their chance up to U21.

“Added to that, we have 32 senior club hurling teams and 18 club football teams in Tipp. That is leading to a huge amount of club games for these players. A lot of streamlining has to be done there as well.”