By John Harrington

Tipperary hurling manager, Michael Ryan, has admitted it was a mistake not to speak to the media after Sunday’s Munster SHC defeat to Limerick.

Speaking on Tipp FM this morning, Ryan said the decision not to give post-match interviews had been made before the match rather than after it.

“The reason I didn’t speak to the media on Sunday immediately after the match was a decision we had taken prior to the campaign,” said Ryan.

“We took that decision in light of facing playing four Sundays in a row. I suppose what we don’t do is factor in we’re going to lose a match because we’re always positive about upcoming games.

“But in the aftermath of the loss we should have reviewed that. When you lose there is a void created, hence I’m on this morning to talk about it.

“One of the reasons I’m doing that is to acknowledge our opponents. Limerick came with a very strong game on Sunday and it’s important to me to acknowledge that.

“Of course we should have acknowledged Limerick in the immediate aftermath because a quick exchange with the opposition manager is not sufficient. I certainly regretted that.

“It is what it is, I’m acknowledging it now, Limerick were excellent. We now turn our attention immediately to the next challenge which is just five days away against Cork.”

Ryan admitted that everyone associated with the team was hugely disappointed by their performance on the day and the comprehensive nature of their six-point defeat to Limerick.

“This group and everyone concerned with it, we embark upon a Munster Championship and every campaign we embark on to win,” said Ryan. “We’re in the results business, that ultimately how we’re always judged.

“We’re very disappointed with the performance levels we brought on Sunday, they weren’t good enough.

“No-one goes out to play a bad match and no-one cares more about our performance last Sunday than our collective group of 35 players, management team, backroom team and whole supporter network.

“It hurts us all but we don’t have a divine right to win every game. As you get older and at my stage in life you will lose more than you win. Anyone who doesn’t realise that is not living in the real world.

“This is part of a four-week run. We didn’t have a good result in game one and we have lots of room for improvement. If we were at max capacity and lost by six I’d be more concerned.

“Where we are right now is that we have a hugely important game in five days against Cork and it goes beyond that then the following week against Waterford in Limerick and then Clare in Thurles.

“We’re very happy that our destiny is still in our own hands and we’re 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 too and we need a little bit of luck but we’ll turn up on Sunday and be ready to battle.”

The Tipperary manager raised some eye-brows with a team selection that included five Championship debutants for the clash with Limerick, but defended his decision to put his faith in youth rather than risk more experienced players who  were lacking match sharpness or on their way back from injury.

“If anybody has been watching our progress through the League, and they had eight opportunities to watch it, they would have seen we are constantly trying to expand our panel and give real opportunities to as many players as we can,” said Ryan.

“That’s a philosophy we believe in and Sunday was no different.

“Fellas get opportunities based on performances in training games. As regards how these guys measured up, it’s has always been the case that when you put debutants on the pitch it’s a bit like parenting in that you worry will they be okay.

“But it’s never the ones you worry about that go below the performance that you want.

“We looked at it in terms of these are guys who are playing very well for us in training. This is unprecedented territory, a round-robin Munster Championship where you have to turn around week after week after week.

“The panel will be stretched to the hilt and some of our more experienced players were carrying knocks and not at full tilt. That is improving day on day and we can only look ahead now.

“What we’re trying to do is measure and come up with the best formula we can for every single game. It didn’t work, we didn’t get the result, and now we’re looking forward because we need to turn it around.

“All we’re thinking about is Cork on Sunday. That’s the only thing that matters for the next five days.”

Ryan and his Tipperary team have taken some stinging criticism in the last couple of days from both within and outside the county.

Henry Shefflin suggested that the Premier County have regressed since their 2016 All-Ireland victory, and a number of pundits have also questioned the team’s puck-out strategy and direct style of play.

“There’s always been talk for as long as I’ve been involved as a player and in a coaching background,” said Ryan. “We are a very proud hurling county and we want to be at the top table all the time. Anyone with a long memory knows it has never been a straight road in Tipp.

“There’s a long way to got, we are not the finished article, but we are working toward it as hard as we can.

“Criticism is part and parcel of it. We put ourselves on the line every day we play and our aim is to do our best all the time but sometimes it doesn’t work out all the time. That’s simply a fact of life and sport.

“We are constantly looking to improve. When a team is beaten we’re clearly not doing enough of positive and right things.

“We have the label of being a long-ball team. Call that tradition or what you like, there’s certainly a lot more to our game than that.

“We are not showing the best version of ourselves right now, that’s a work in progress.”

Ryan confirmed that he’ll be speaking to the media after Tipperary’s match against Cork on Sunday and issued a call to arms to the county’s fans to come out in big numbers to support them for a game that could make or break their Championship.

“We need as much Tipp support as we can get on Sunday,” said Ryan. “It matters and it has carried us in the past and we’ll be looking to use it and leverage off it again.”