Mullane: I had nothing to do with Ryan removal

Legendary Waterford forward John Mullane has been forced to deny he had any involvement in the removal of Michael Ryan from the Waterford senior hurling manager's position.

As the controversy continues over the ending of Ryan's two-year spell in charge, Mullane told the Irish Independent: "First off, and I want to stress this in the strongest possible terms, I want to distance myself from the perception that I had something to do with that players' meeting on Sunday and Michael Ryan's departure as Waterford manager.

"On my two daughters' lives, it's ludicrous to suggest that I, or any other member of the 2012 squad, had anything to do with it. People in Waterford are putting two and two together and getting seven."

It was confirmed on Sunday that Ryan would not be seeking a new term as Déise boss.

It was a surprise move by the Fourmilewater clubman as following Waterford's All-Ireland exit to Kilkenny last month, he had intimated that he was eager to continue.

However, it seems that the majority of Waterford's players wanted a new man at the helm - this was confirmed by an internal vote (absent players voted by phone), although reportedly over one-third of the players were against Ryan's removal.

A meeting took place last week between the County Board and members of Waterford's 2012 panel who allegedly, on recommendation of this year's squad, sought a change of team management.

A further meeting of the 2012 squad members was held on Sunday morning and just hours later, the County Board issued a short statement announcing that Ryan was stepping down.

Mullane, who retired from inter-county hurling in January, has been particularly vocal in his support of former Cork goalkeeper Donal Óg Cusack as his preferred successor to Ryan.

Yesterday, he reiterated his wish from earlier in the year that the Cloyne man, despite his lack of top level management experience, would be an ideal fit for the Déise.

Rumours have been spreading locally that Mullane is favouring Cusack as it could lead to his own return to the Waterford side along with that of Eoin Kelly, but Mullane is adamant his playing days at inter-county level are over.

"Maybe I didn't help myself because I had stated previously that Donal Óg would make a terrific manager some day – and potentially for Waterford," Mullane stated.

"And when I heard that Michael was gone, I did suggest that Donal Óg could be one of the leading candidates to take over. But the conspiracy theorists have taken that to mean that I was behind Michael's departure in some way. Wrong.

"Let me also tell you that I rang Michael yesterday and told him that nobody from the 2012 panel had a role in this. I felt that it was the best thing to do, the honourable thing, and I certainly wasn't having my name attached to any heave.

"And I won't be coming back to play for Waterford next year either, for that matter. I was in Ring last week recording a 'Laochra Gael' documentary for TG4. I would not put myself in that position, taking part in a programme like that, if I was coming back in 2014."

Although Cusack has been linked with the role, it looks increasingly likely that the new Waterford boss will come from within the county.

Whatever the merits of Cusack or any other potential candidates from outside Waterford like Liam Sheedy or Donal O'Grady, financial pressure on the County Board could dictate that the successor to Ryan is a native of the county.

In terms of finding a suitable replacement, the Waterford County Board have spoken to nobody as of yet, according to chairman Tom Cunningham.

Officials will meet this evening to put a sub-committee in place to consider managerial candidates and recommend one for ratification by the board in due course.

"There has been plenty of comment about replacements but there is no one in the frame and no one has been approached, nothing like that," explained Cunningham.

"The events of Sunday took us by surprise. Michael (Ryan) contacted us to let us know he wouldn't be going forward, and that's all we know. We've had no contact with the players, official or otherwise."

The timing of the board's announcement on Sunday was especially unfortunate as it seemed to overshadow the achievement of the Waterford minors in reaching the county's first All-Ireland MHC final since 1992.

However, Cunningham insisted that the board simply had to act as "news of the developments had started to leak out".

There is sure to be plenty of speculation before the board's September meeting, with De La Salle coach Derek McGrath - a brother-in-law of Mullane - Liam 'Chuck' O'Connor, Peter Queally and recent county stars Ken McGrath and Paul Flynn among those already linked with the job.