Former Clare hurler Niall Gilligan reckons "a couple of mistakes" this season may have been what led to Michael Ryan's decision to step down as Tipperary manager.

Ryan confirmed his departure yesterday evening after three years in charge of the Premier County, with his backroom team of Declan Fanning, John Madden and Conor Stakelum following suit.

Tipp failed to win any of their four Munster championship games this summer, with Ryan confining a number of key players to the bench for the opening clash against Limerick before bringing them on as substitutes in the six-point loss.

"I'd say he's very frustrated (with) the way the year has gone," Gilligan told 2fm's Game On. "I know Michael Ryan and the Tipp fans would have great respect for him. He's had good success in management but I think he made a couple of mistakes this year.

"I would have been fancying Tipp at the very start of the year to go places but I think the day of the first round against Limerick, he left off definite starters in Séamus Callanan, Brendan Maher, and Bonner [Patrick] Maher to name but three.

"I think he was trying to create a hunger that if they left off those three and got over that there was going to be savage competition for places and I think that backfired."

Stay up-to-date with all this weekend's football and hurling championship action on the hoganstand.com live match tracker.

Tweet

Most Read Stories