Michael Ryan steps down as Waterford hurling manager

Sully

Michael Ryan has resigned as Waterford hurling manager after two years in charge.

According to an RTE report on the Six-One news, the players yet again called a meeting of the players to discuss whether or not they felt Michael was the right person to take them on into the future. While less than half out of 30 turned up, 18 out of 30 felt he wasn't based on the meeting and phone calls and this appears to be why he resigned. While not pushed by the County Board, he was according to the new 'surprised' at the players development. Though, according to the report, it appears some in the county board will be asking Michael to re-consider his resignation.

This will be the second time the players have met, in the Ramada Viking Hotel, to talk about voting against a manager. They insist it wasn't player power and its up to the county board to decide.

Disappointing to see the players meet like this. I think we were doing very well under Ryan, keeping us up in the league and challenging in the championship, almost knocking Kilkenny out and giving us a good game. The feature on the news didn't show us in a very positive light.

decies

Sounds like lack of class from the players to be honest .

south

Could have picked a better day to have this come out with the minor team playing in a semi final

danjo-xx

Donal Og Cusack and Donal O'Grady are among the names being mentioned as his possible successor, but there are also a number of interested candidates from within the county.

http://www.independent.ie/sport/hurling/waterford-player-power-forces-ryan-to-step-aside-29491314.html

KevIRL

There's been a full blown discussion on this since on the Waterford thread in the GAA forum it was announced yesterday afternoon.

Feel sorry for Ryan to be honest, he's had a tough time from a lot of 'fans' and was on a hiding to nothing since his appointment. But he's done reasonably well with a limited and young squad. Kept them in the top flight when every man and his dog expected relegation. He has shown some naivety, especially against Clare this year but I think he deserved another crack at the whip.

I wouldnt be so quick to completely diss the players though, we dont know the full story of what went on and exactly what was behind it. Also we have no idea of what happens at training etc. Its easy for hurlers on the ditch to have a pop but these guys are giving up their time and may feel there are other options. If it is true though its certainly a worrying trend

Regarding a replacement, I will be surprised if its a big name from outside the county. Our county board is broke plus we have plenty of local talent so why not give it a go. I also hope that the new management team dont go fastracking the likes of Austin Gleeson, Patrick Curran, Stephen Bennett near the senior panel as we have to protect these young lads from burnout

Max Powers

KevIRL wrote: »

There's been a full blown discussion on this since on the Waterford thread in the GAA forum it was announced yesterday afternoon.

Feel sorry for Ryan to be honest, he's had a tough time from a lot of 'fans' and was on a hiding to nothing since his appointment. But he's done reasonably well with a limited and young squad. Kept them in the top flight when every man and his dog expected relegation. He has shown some naivety, especially against Clare this year but I think he deserved another crack at the whip.

I wouldnt be so quick to completely diss the players though, we dont know the full story of what went on and exactly what was behind it. Also we have no idea of what happens at training etc. Its easy for hurlers on the ditch to have a pop but these guys are giving up their time and may feel there are other options. If it is true though its certainly a worrying trend

Regarding a replacement, I will be surprised if its a big name from outside the county. Our county board is broke plus we have plenty of local talent so why not give it a go. I also hope that the new management team dont go fastracking the likes of Austin Gleeson, Patrick Curran, Stephen Bennett near the senior panel as we have to protect these young lads from burnout

agree with That, thanks and good wishes to what M Ryan - seems like a gent. Waterford GAA is skint so they wont be appointing anyone outside county

Shame on the players.

Max Powers

Deleted User wrote: »

Shame on the players.

thats a bit strong, when you/we dont know really anything about the situation. M Ryan hasnt said anything about why he said he wont be doing another season, players havent said anything and on the Indo, John Mullane is saying he didnt have anything to do with it. To sum up, no one knows, so dont go castigating the players for now

gowley

decies wrote: »

Sounds like lack of class from the players to be honest .

your right. surely they could have chosen a better hotel

barneystinson

Sully wrote: »

Michael Ryan has resigned as Waterford hurling manager after two years in charge.

According to an RTE report on the Six-One news, the players yet again called a meeting of the players to discuss whether or not they felt Michael was the right person to take them on into the future. While less than half out of 30 turned up, 18 out of 30 felt he wasn't based on the meeting and phone calls and this appears to be why he resigned. While not pushed by the County Board, he was according to the new 'surprised' at the players development. Though, according to the report, it appears some in the county board will be asking Michael to re-consider his resignation.

This will be the second time the players have met, in the Ramada Viking Hotel, to talk about voting against a manager. They insist it wasn't player power and its up to the county board to decide.

Disappointing to see the players meet like this. I think we were doing very well under Ryan, keeping us up in the league and challenging in the championship, almost knocking Kilkenny out and giving us a good game. The feature on the news didn't show us in a very positive light.

With all due respect, I don't think you have a breeze what you're on about here Sully.

Look at what Dublin achieved this year after a very disappointing year last year under Anthony Daly. He was out the gap after they went out of the championship last year with a whimper, but the players were canvassed and resoundingly confirmed they believed he was the man who could take them forward and that they felt they had let him down. With a fully united squad, they did what we couldn't and beat Kilkenny, hammered Galway to win a Leinster title, and were arguably a controversial refereeing decision away from winning one of the best hurling matches in the last 20 years.

Ditto what Jim McGuinness has achieved in the last few years in Donegal, taking what was seen as a pretty average intercounty team and transforming them into a team that were all but invincible for a period.

Bottom line is, if you don't have the belief/respect/support of the players, you aren't going to get the best out of them. Call it player power if you want, but to me it's common sense - the very fact that the situation reaches a point where that type of players' meeting has to happen in the first place, suggests poor man management and a lack of proper communication.

Max Powers

barneystinson wrote: »

With all due respect, I don't think you have a breeze what you're on about here Sully.

Look at what Dublin achieved this year after a very disappointing year last year under Anthony Daly. He was out the gap after they went out of the championship last year with a whimper, but the players were canvassed and resoundingly confirmed they believed he was the man who could take them forward and that they felt they had let him down. With a fully united squad, they did what we couldn't and beat Kilkenny, hammered Galway to win a Leinster title, and were arguably a controversial refereeing decision away from winning one of the best hurling matches in the last 20 years.

Ditto what Jim McGuinness has achieved in the last few years in Donegal, taking what was seen as a pretty average intercounty team and transforming them into a team that were all but invincible for a period.

Bottom line is, if you don't have the belief/respect/support of the players, you aren't going to get the best out of them. Call it player power if you want, but to me it's common sense - the very fact that the situation reaches a point where that type of players' meeting has to happen in the first place, suggests poor man management and a lack of proper communication.

the GAA is just catching up with every other sport in the world, player power is now the main force. I cant blame them too much, they put in massive committment for basically f-all. I know it can go too far, but if the GAA had played ball with players on some money then they probably would be less likely to flex their muscles in other ways

Jason Todd

I understand that GAA players put in a lot of time for basically no compensation, but to me, it doesn't matter whether you're an amateur in Waterford or on 80k a week in Liverpool, you play when and where you are told to by the manager. He's the boss, bottom line. It is up to the County Board to remove him from his position if they are unhappy with his performance or methods, not the players imho.

barneystinson

Jason Todd wrote: »

I understand that GAA players put in a lot of time for basically no compensation, but to me, it doesn't matter whether you're an amateur in Waterford or on 80k a week in Liverpool, you play when and where you are told to by the manager. He's the boss, bottom line. It is up to the County Board to remove him from his position if they are unhappy with his performance or methods, not the players imho.

The players didn't remove him though Jason.

They simply had a meeting and a majority agreed they didn't think he was the right man to bring them forward. He then had the good grace to resign.

And the difference between these guys and professionals is quite fundamental; the professional has a job to do, their situation is the same as yours or mine if we have a boss we don't like, we still need to go to work. The hurlers are engaged voluntarily in a pastime, for a limited window of time at this level, and they are free to simply jack it in if they reckon they're wasting a huge chunk of their time (Hint: Can you think of any high profile Waterford hurlers who are still at the top of their game but weren't involved this year, but had the dignity not to make it about a personality clash with Ryan). The players should be approached by the county board after a championship year for their feedback and it should be a major factor in the Boards decision making process, and this kind of public airing of dirty laundry could be avoided.

Jason Todd

barneystinson wrote: »

The players didn't remove him though Jason.

They simply had a meeting and a majority agreed they didn't think he was the right man to bring them forward. He then had the good grace to resign.

And the difference between these guys and professionals is quite fundamental; the professional has a job to do, their situation is the same as yours or mine if we have a boss we don't like, we still need to go to work. The hurlers are engaged voluntarily in a pastime, for a limited window of time at this level, and they are free to simply jack it in if they reckon they're wasting a huge chunk of their time (Hint: Can you think of any high profile Waterford hurlers who are still at the top of their game but weren't involved this year, but had the dignity not to make it about a personality clash with Ryan). The players should be approached by the county board after a championship year for their feedback and it should be a major factor in the Boards decision making process, and this kind of public airing of dirty laundry could be avoided.

Some great points there. That's fair. I will admit to not knowing any of the ins-and-outs, so that's fair enough. It all seems to have been done with an air of maturity, which is commendable I suppose. I'd totally agree with what the high profile player did, I'd do the same if I were in his shoes I guess. I'd rather see them do that than publicly airing grievances or performing poorly. (Not saying any of them did) And yes, a yearly 'review' could be beneficial to everybody.

Max Powers

Jason Todd wrote: »

I understand that GAA players put in a lot of time for basically no compensation, but to me, it doesn't matter whether you're an amateur in Waterford or on 80k a week in Liverpool, you play when and where you are told to by the manager. He's the boss, bottom line. It is up to the County Board to remove him from his position if they are unhappy with his performance or methods, not the players imho.

possibly the way it should be but that aint the case, player power is where its at unless you are Brian Cody/Alex Ferguson type and have the record to over rule the players. That aint gonna change anytime soon.

looder

KevIRL wrote: »

There's been a full blown discussion on this since on the Waterford thread in the GAA forum it was announced yesterday afternoon.

Feel sorry for Ryan to be honest, he's had a tough time from a lot of 'fans' and was on a hiding to nothing since his appointment. But he's done reasonably well with a limited and young squad. Kept them in the top flight when every man and his dog expected relegation. He has shown some naivety, especially against Clare this year but I think he deserved another crack at the whip.

I wouldnt be so quick to completely diss the players though, we dont know the full story of what went on and exactly what was behind it. Also we have no idea of what happens at training etc. Its easy for hurlers on the ditch to have a pop but these guys are giving up their time and may feel there are other options. If it is true though its certainly a worrying trend

Regarding a replacement, I will be surprised if its a big name from outside the county. Our county board is broke plus we have plenty of local talent so why not give it a go. I also hope that the new management team dont go fastracking the likes of Austin Gleeson, Patrick Curran, Stephen Bennett near the senior panel as we have to protect these young lads from burnout

As someone who has heard Ryan speak in a dressing room and as someone who has trained under him a few times I would say his training is good, a little outdated maybe but still pretty good.

He's a very good speaker in a dressing room too.

Is he up to Senior intercounty level mgmt? I wouldn't have thought so but it's not like Waterford have an abundance of talent at their disposal so who would be able to do a better job than Ryan?

No high profile manager would dare touch Waterford.

Who are the main candidates from inside the county?

Paul Flynn maybe? - Hasn't he coached Down this year.

south

Sounds like he'll be putting himself forward again going on his interview this evening on RTE