Ger Loughnane has finally broken his silence over his departure as Galway hurling manager by launching a blistering attack on those responsible for his sacking nearly two months ago. The double All-Ireland winning manager with Clare claims that some officials wanted him out from the moment he got the job two years ago, adding that hurling board chairman Miko Ryan led the campaign to have him ousted. "Everybody knows that Miko Ryan was against me from the first day I went in. Sean Treacy (a selector with Loughnane) told me that he (Ryan) asked him to go against me, even when I was in," Loughnane said. "But of course Sean wouldn't even contemplate that. The campaign was there from Miko Ryan, Mattie Murphy and those associated like Cyril Farrell and Jarlath Cloonan. The only time the chairman did any work was to get us out. He was campaigning from the very start. As well as that, he never turned up to a training session. "Now I would never back down from any challenge. So if they were going to get rid of us, Miko and his gang, they were going to have to canvass hard." Loughnane, who has ruled out a return to inter-county management and plans to concentrate on his other pastime of hunting, questioned his successor John McIntyre's abilities given his managerial record with Offaly and also blasted Galway for not developing their facilities in recent years. "I don't know John that well. His record in Offaly was very bad. Offaly got relegated and got beaten by 31 points by Kilkenny. He seems to be an intelligent type of guy, he knows the Galway scene very, very well. He knows where the bodies are buried!" he added. "There was huge neglect there for years and years. The great eras of the '80s and '90s, where the Clares and the Limeircks and all the other counties developed their pitches, Galway did absolutely nothing." Tweet

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