Michael 'Babs' Keating has claimed he laid the foundations for Tipperary's All-Ireland success during his second spell in charge of the county from 2005 to 2007.

The outspoken Keating, who managed Tipp to All-Ireland successes in 1989 and '91, also defended his criticism of current boss Liam Sheedy when speaking to Ivan Yates on Newstalk's Breakfast Show yesterday morning. On the eve of Sunday's final, Keating voiced his displeasure at what he described as his successor's 'Riverdancing' along the sideline during games.

"There was a book written by (former Wexford hurler) Martin Codd and it was entitled 'The Way I Saw It'. If I am on to you or any other national station or writing for a paper I will tell it the way I saw it," he said.

"Maybe I passed a few comments about Liam Sheedy and the management structure based on what I went through in Tipperary and I made difficult decisions which might have helped Liam Sheedy in the success we had.

"When I took over Tipperary five years ago and I was interviewed for the job, 95 per cent of the interview was devoted to discipline and that was something that I hadn't been aware of - the problems that Ken Hogan and Michael Doyle had. I dealt with that and I think Liam Sheedy might have got some benefit from the decisions that John Leahy, Tom Barry and myself took. We took those decisions in the interests of the people who paid their money to go to Croke Park (on Sunday)."

Keating stated his belief that Sunday's victory dwarfed his own managerial victories and that of Nicky English back in 2001.

"It probably compares up there if not ahead of those wins in so far as that everyone feared Kilkenny and their dominance. This was a great watermark for the game of hurling," he added. Tweet

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