Pat Ryan addresses Cork All-Ireland SHC half-time row speculation after stepping down

Pat Ryan stepped down as Cork boss on Saturday, having turned down an offer to stay on at the helm

Pat Ryan has strongly dismissed rumours of a half-time dispute between Cork players and management in the All-Ireland SHC final defeat to Tipperary.

The Rebels led by six points at the break only to suffer a second half collapse that saw their Premier rivals triumph 3-27 to 1-18.

In the aftermath, claims were widely shared on social media of a dressing-room disagreement as the reason for Cork’s shock demise.

Ryan stepped down as Cork boss on Saturday, having turned down an offer to stay on at the helm as he resisted changes wanted by the county board to his backroom team. Ben O’Connor is the early favourite to replace him.

“The last three years have been a pleasure to be part of a wonderful journey with the Cork senior hurling team,” said Ryan in a statement.

“I was humbled on Friday to be asked by Cork GAA to lead the group again for a new term but after consultation with my family, I feel now it is best for me to seek a different challenge after five years of managing Cork teams.”

Ryan has now told the Irish Examiner that he only heard of the rumours of the half-time stand-off when he returned to work later that week.

“Absolutely, totally false,” said the 49-year-old. “Absolutely no truth in it. And, look, the disgusting point from my part is that they were totally made-up stories, and then individual names were attached to it.

“Absolutely, under no circumstances did anything like that ever happen in my time with three years involved with Cork.

“I’ve had absolutely no run-in or argument with any players. I’ve had plenty of good discussions with our leadership group. Plenty of honest chats. Same thing with our management group. You know what I mean?

“All those things were absolutely total garbage. And, to be honest, probably the most disappointing thing is that you had people that should know better who were actually thinking that it might be true.

“Not alone that, who goes in and has a big bust-up with a six-point lead?”

Ryan also dismissed a theory put forward that some Cork players disputed management’s plans to take Eoin Downey off after he was shown the yellow card before the break – the full-back was substituted in a Munster SHC clash with Limerick last year in similar circumstances.

But the former Rebels boss said: “If people actually really watched the games, Eoin had been yellow-carded in games and was never taken off.”

There was some controversy over Cork not having a homecoming for fans after the All-Ireland defeat, which was their second final loss in 12 months.

However Ryan has confirmed that he made the decision in conjunction with the county board weeks earlier, and that the players had no input in it.

“There was probably a bit of stick afterwards,” he said. “It was agreed between the county board and myself, not the players, not in conjunction with the players, that if we win, of course, you’ll have a homecoming. If not, why would you?

“I wasn’t even thinking of the players, to be honest, but my thing was, after losing two All-Irelands in a row, why would you subject the public to coming down to do it? But that decision was made weeks and weeks prior.

“And I suppose that was probably disappointing from my side of things, that it kind of looked like we had made that decision in The Burlington on Monday morning.”