Cork hurling has been left at a crossroads with the exit of Pat Ryan as manager.
Ryan was offered a new three-year deal by the Cork county board but announced earlier this week that he would not be continuing in the role, choosing to prioritise his private life away from hurling.
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The nature of Ryan’s statement announcing his departure has led John Mullane to suggest that the departing Cork boss was ‘let down’ by the county board.
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John Mullane thinks Cork should have followed precedent of Clare and Tipp
20 July 2025; Cork manager Pat Ryan during the closing stages of the GAA Hurling All-Ireland Senior Championship final match between Cork and Tipperary at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile
On the Indo Sport podcast this week, John Mullane dissected the departure of Pat Ryan as Cork manager.
I was a bit shocked. I thought he’d stay on for another year.
Look, we’re only getting snippets of what’s coming out now in the aftermath of him being…I wouldn’t say ‘let go,’ but not deciding to go to push on and agree to the three-year term that the Cork county board were asking him to do.
For me, personally, I think the Cork county board have let him down. I think this craic of a “three-year vision,” albeit his three-year term was up…I think he had enough credit in the bank to go and approach the county board on his terms, rather than the county board approaching Pat Ryan and seeking him for their terms.
It has emerged that the Cork board asked Ryan to consider changes to his backroom team, with Mullane saying that the use of the words ‘loyal’ and ‘trustworthy’ in Ryan’s statement hinted at that difference in opinion.
The commitment to a further three years also appears to have been a sticking point for Ryan, and Mullane was confused as to why Cork had offered him another lengthy contract just after the conclusion of his three-year spell.
He pointed to Tipperary and Clare as examples of how to handle these kinds of contract renewals, with the two counties having been rewarded for their faith with All-Ireland final wins over Pat Ryan’s Cork in 2025 and 2024, respectively.
I look at the last two winning All-Ireland managers, Liam Cahill and Brian Lohan.
Liam Cahill got the backing of his county board. The easiest thing for the Tipp county board last year would have been to have the conversation with Liam and say, ‘Liam, we feel like we want to bring it in a different direction and go with something different.’
No, they didn’t. They backed Liam Cahill and, more importantly, they backed Liam Cahill’s management team. Obviously Liam Cahill had a few tweaks here and there.
Likewise, Brian Lohan’s term was up in 2023, he got an extra year. The easiest thing for the Clare county board back then in 2022 after Kilkenny beat them well in the All-Ireland semi-final…that was his year three. They were well beaten in his year three, and 2023 was when Eoin Murphy pulled off the unbelievable save.
But there was no approach from the Clare county board or the Tipperary county board asking Liam Cahill to stay on for three years or asking Brian Lohan to stay on for three years. Now, subsequently, Brian Lohan won the All-Ireland and then the approach was, ‘look, will you stay on for another three years.’
That should possibly have been the approach from a Cork point of view. The Cork county board, in my opinion…I think they should have went to Pat Ryan and said, ‘Right Pat, we want you to be our man next year. Don’t mind your three-year vision, our vision is to win the All-Ireland in 2026.’
Sit down with Pat Ryan, [ask] ‘What do we have to improve? What changes do we have to tweak to get us over the line next year?’ I don’t think Cork have to reinvent the wheel going forward for the next couple of years.
It is impossible to disagree with John Mullane’s point that Tipperary and Clare were both rewarded for taking similar approaches in showing faith to their managers. Whether it is a strategy that would have worked for Cork is a different matter.
There will be plenty in Cork who are sad to see Pat Ryan go, having failed to climb the final mountain during his three years as manager.
However, attention will have to turn quickly to who will replace the outgoing boss, as the county continues to reel from the disaster of the All-Ireland hurling final.
There is certainly a very different mood surrounding Cork hurling looking ahead to 2026 than there was earlier this year.
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