Ryan performs U-turn on four-week media ban
TIPPERARY manager Michael Ryan called time yesterday on a four-week media ban, just 48 hours after it had been announced. Ryan, who was criticised for his decision not to talk to the media after his team’s defeat by Limerick last Sunday, took the unusual step yesterday morning of ringing his local station Tipp FM to confirm a U-turn on his vow of silence, explaining he would be making himself available to reporters after Sunday’s showdown in Thurles against Cork. ‘I will be speaking to the media if they want to speak to me after the game, no problem,’ said a contrite Ryan, who admitted that he ‘regretted’ not doing so last weekend. ‘The reason why I didn’t speak to the media on Sunday immediately after the match was a decision we had taken prior to the campaign. We took that decision in the light of the fact that we were facing four Sundays in a row. ‘Anything that is a distraction to our hurling is not welcome ‘In the aftermath of the match, and after a loss, we should have reviewed that decision. ‘When you lose there is a void, a much greater void than when you win. ‘Number one, our decision should have been reviewed and number two, of course we needed to acknowledge Limerick. ‘Look, in the immediate aftermath of a match you get a very quick exchange with the opposition manager, but really and truly it’s not sufficient and that’s something I regretted. I certainly regretted that, but it is what it is,’ added Ryan. The Tipperary manager also hinted that Séamus Callanan and Brendan Maher could be fit to start on Sunday, but he still defended his decision to start last weekend’s game with five players making their debuts. ‘We have loads of room for improvement. If we were at our max capacity last Sunday and lost the game by six points to Limerick, I’d be far more concerned. ‘We are very happy that our destiny is still in our own hands and we are doing everything we can to make sure we give a huge performance on Sunday. ‘That’s all we can do. The gods need to smile on us a little bit too and we need to get a little bit of luck, but we’ll turn up on Sunday and we’ll certainly be ready for a battle.’