Ryan a flip-flop master

HAVING made the ill-advised decision not to speak to the media until after Tipperary’s four-game run in Munster had concluded, Michael Ryan wisely rowed back on it this week.

However, there was one remark in his Tipp FM interview on Tuesday that stood out.

“[It] was a decision we had taken prior to the campaign and we took that decision in the light that we were facing four Sundays in a row and I suppose what we don’t do is factor in that we’re going to lose a match.”

There are two aspects to that.

Firstly, as the figurehead of the group, the manager has an unwritten duty to speak regardless of the outcome. Secondly, while Tipp are rightly rated among the frontrunners for the All-ireland, they’re not so formidable that the thought of losing shouldn’t enter heads.

A few weeks ago, Ryan (inset) had this to say at the Munster Championship launch on the fact that two teams from the province will be eliminated by June 17.

“It is particularly hard on the five teams in Munster such is the standard because I genuinely think there is nothing between us…i would long since contend that anybody can beat anybody in Munster and it has been like that.”

Between team selection, media bans and the strength of the Munster Championship, that’s quite an amount of flip-flopping from the Tipp manager.