Pat Ryan is to be appointed as the new Cork senior hurling manager tomorrow night.
The Cork county board has moved swiftly after it emerged over the weekend that Kieran Kingston would not be continuing for another season having completed three years in his second stint in the job, despite reports that the players were keen for him to stay on.
With Ryan set to be rubberstamped by county board delegates this evening, it means that the whole process will have been wrapped up barely two weeks after Cork’s Championship exit at the hands of Galway in the All-Ireland quarter-final on June 25.
READ MORE: Diarmuid O'Sullivan takes swipe at Cork's critics as Kieran Kingston resigns as manager
Ryan was part of the Cork team that won a breakthrough All-Ireland in 1999, their first in nine years, while he also won a Munster Championship that year and the following year, as well as a League title in 1998.
The Sarsfields clubman also won a pair of county titles with his club before managing Sars to two more.
He served as coach/selector under Kingston during his first term in the Cork job in 2016 and ‘17, with Cork winning a Munster title in the latter season.
Most significant in his landing the job, however, is his recent involvement with the county under-20 team, who he managed to successive Munster and All-Ireland titles in 2020 and ‘21.
Ryan will be handed a three-year term and his brief will essentially be to recapture the Liam MacCarthy Cup, with Cork currently enduring their longest ever All-Ireland drought which stretches back to 2005.
The 46-year-old was close to taking the Waterford job in 2018 after Derek McGrath stepped down but pulled out due to work and family commitments, with the role going to Páraic Fanning instead.
"We are thrilled to have someone of Pat's calibre so ready to take up the significant mantle of Cork senior hurling manager,” said Cork chairman Mark Sheehan.
“Having seen his management and coaching skills with our teams previously, I have no doubt that the development of our players is in safe hands."
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