Pat Ryan interview: 'The disgusting point is that they were totally made-up stories'

In first interview since he announced his departure as Cork hurling manager Pat Ryan emphatically rejects Cork bust-up rumours at half time in the All-Ireland final defeat to Tipperary

LIES, DAMN LIES: 'Absolutely, under no circumstances did anything like that ever happen in my time with three years involved with Cork,' says outgoing Cork hurling manager Pat Ryan. Pic: by Seb Daly/Sportsfile

PAT Ryan has rubbished claims there was a half-time row in the Cork dressing room in last month’s All-Ireland SHC final.

In an interview with the Irish Examiner, the outgoing Cork manager also revealed he and the county board took the decision not to stage a homecoming in the event Cork lost the game several weeks in advance of the defeat to Tipperary.

After the game, there was widespread chatter on social media and beyond of a serious disagreement between some players and management despite Cork going into the break six points ahead.

Ryan only heard them when he returned to work in Pfizer later in the week and categorically rejected them. “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.

“And my attitude was, maybe we should have a fight. And that was my take. Absolutely, totally false. Absolutely no truth in it. And, look, the disgusting point from my part is that they were totally made-up stories, and then individual names were attached to it.

“Absolutely, under no circumstances did anything like that ever happen in my time with three years involved with Cork. I’ve had absolutely no run-in or argument with any players. I've had plenty of good discussions with our leadership group. Plenty of honest chats. Same thing with our management group. You know what I mean?

“All those things were absolutely total garbage. And, to be honest, probably the most disappointing thing is that you had people that should know better who were actually thinking that it might be true. Not alone that, who goes in and has a big bust-up with a six-point lead?"

One of the rumours suggested a disagreement had developed around replacing Eoin Downey as the full-back had picked up a yellow card late in the first half. He later incurred a second and was sent off in conceding a penalty for a foul on John McGrath.

In the 2024 Munster SHC round win over against Limerick in SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh, Ryan had substituted Downey shortly after he was shown an early yellow card.

“What fellas fail to remember about that was when we took Eoin off against Limerick in 2024, in the two games previous, we had had two yellow cards (sendings off), Damien [Cahalane] and Seán O'Donoghue, in the Waterford and Clare games.

“And when we took Eoin off, without being insulting, it was like, ‘If we lose again here, we’re out of the championship and we've lost because we've had three fellas sent off’. And we said, ‘Look, we're playing Limerick, we can't be down a man,’ and that's why we took him off.

“But subsequent to that, if people actually really watched the games, Eoin had been yellow-carded in games and was never taken off. He was yellow-carded in the Clare game in Ennis to Peter Duggan and was never taken off. We had made a commitment then that we weren't (going to substitute him if he did).

“Eoin was a young man learning his trade at that stage. Obviously, he played in 2023, but he was still only an U20 player. And we were trying to develop him and trying to get him to the stage where he could be No 3 for Cork and ended up winning an All Star in 2024.

“And look, we had to back him because you go through a situation then when you start creating a narrative where every time a fella gets a yellow card, you've got to take him off. And at that specific time was, it never entered their heads once to take Eoin off.

“He was a huge player for us, a huge player for Cork going forward and he needed to be backed in that situation. Unfortunately, he got his second yellow card. I'm not one to complain about referees, but when you add the two of them together, they were probably two sides to it.

“And you're coming up against a brilliant player in John McGrath that has unbelievably huge experience, has been an unbelievable player for Tipperary, especially in the All-Ireland finals.

“You see even the way he's playing with Loughmore-Castleiney at the moment, what a servant he's been to Tipperary and in fairness to him, what resilience he's shown over the last couple of years when he probably wasn't getting much game-time. He got huge game-time this year and made hay out of it.” 

As for the decision of the homecoming, Ryan explained it had nothing to do with the players, although the statement from the Cork board said the decision not to stage an public event in Cork on Monday had been taken “at the request of the team and management”.

“Well, the decision with the homecoming was decided weeks previous. Look, we got a lot of stick the year previous in that ‘oh, there's a homecoming organised already’, but unfortunately (though in another way very fortunately, with the crowd that we're bringing), you have to organise these things with the city council, with the guards and all that. And that has to be discussed before.

“Like, when we had qualified out of Munster, that was actually the first question I was asked by the county board. ‘If we do get to an All-Ireland final, are we having a dinner? Are we having a homecoming?’ There was probably a bit of stick afterwards. It was agreed between the county board and myself, not the players, not in conjunction with the players, that if we win, of course, you'll have a homecoming. If not, why would you?

“I wasn't even thinking of the players, to be honest, but my thing was, after losing two All-Irelands in a row, why would you subject the public to coming down to do it? But that decision was made weeks and weeks prior.

“And I suppose that was probably disappointing from my side of things, that it kind of looked like we had made that decision in The Burlington (Hotel) on Monday morning.” 

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