Dean Ryan decided to leave his role as director of rugby of Worcester Warriors. The chief executive, Jim O'Toole, said Ryan was no longer interested in being a day-to-day director of a Premiership club and made it clear at a board meeting that he wanted to be released from his contract. While reluctant to see him go, the board eventually agreed his departure was best for the long-term stability of the club. Ryan then left Warriors, but O'Toole stated he would not be joining another Premiership club.

1. Ryanexitwashis
decision–O’Toole
THE departure of Worcester
Warriors director of rugby Dean
Ryan was “driven from his side”,
according to chief executive Jim
O’Toole.
And O’Toole insisted the situ-
ation with Ryan had “escalated
somewhat this week” when the
former England player made it
“crystal clear” he no longer want-
ed to remain at Sixways.
O’Toole denied there had been
any bust-up between the board
and Ryan, and admitted the
50-year-old had his own reasons
for leaving.
However, O’Toole also pointed
out Ryan would not be joining
another Aviva Premiership club,
despite reports linking him with
the vacant coaching role at Bath.
“I want to make it clear to all
our supporters and stakehold-
ers that the decision for Dean to
depart was driven from his side,”
said O’Toole.
“He made it very clear to us over
the last few weeks he no longer
wanted to be a day-to-day director
of rugby at a Premiership club.
“We issued a statement last
week in response to speculation
about a potential move to another
club and reiterated he was under
long-term contract at the club,
which he was.
“We also batted off some con-
cerns raised in national media
about the level of financial invest-
ment in this club and this busi-
ness by our owners.
“We made fairly strong state-
ments about our financial health
and the amount of investment
that has gone into the rugby oper-
ation this year, which we felt was
the right thing to do at the time
because there was some concern
among our supporters.
“The situation with Dean esca-
lated somewhat this week when
at a board meeting on Tuesday
afternoon he made it crystal clear
he no longer wished to be director
of rugby at this club and sought
to be released from his contract.
“We debated the issue long and
hard and were resistant to the
idea simply because we were ab-
solutely delighted with the job he
was doing and had done over the
last three years.”
Ryan joined Warriors in May
2013 and led them to relegation
from the Premiership in his first
season at the helm.
However, Warriors secured pro-
motion from the Championship
back to the top tier at the first at-
tempt and to glory in the British
and Irish Cup.
Warriors achieved a club-re-
cord four successive league wins
last term and a 10th-placed finish
in the Premiership.
O’Toole admitted: “The club
are in excellent condition on and
off the pitch. We were more than
pleased with last season’s perfor-
mance in the Premiership and
we saw no reason why he (Ryan)
would not continue in the role as
we go in to the new campaign.
“The longer the board meeting
went on, it was clear we were not
going to be able to dissuade Ryan
from his position.
“After reflection and internal
discussion, we reluctantly decid-
ed his departure was the only so-
lution for the longer-term stabil-
ity of our club and for the career
development of the 60 young men
who make up our rugby squad.”
Ryan, who was touted as a possi-
ble England coach in the autumn,
left Warriors on Wednesday night.
“He leaves with disappointment
but with our best wishes for what-
ever his next venture might be
but he will not be moving to an-
other Premiership rugby club,”
said O’Toole.
“The facts behind the matter
are he (Ryan) no longer wanted
to be a full-time director of rugby
and he no longer wanted to be our
full-time DoR.”
DEPARTURE: Dean Ryan decided the time was right for him to leave Worcester Warriors
WarriorshavebudgettoboostsquadTHERE is still room in Worcester
Warriors’ budget to recruit play-
ers for the new season, confirmed
chief executive Jim O’Toole.
Head coach Carl Hogg says War-
riors “will travel with the group
we have got” but the club’s board
have pledged to increase the rug-
by budget by 25 per cent.
Supporters have been urging
the club to boost their ranks at
fly-half with Wales and Bath star
Rhys Priestland among the names
mooted by fans.
O’Toole said: “This has been a
difficult situation but we are con-
vinced we are going in the right
direction with this management
team, the squad and our develop-
ments and investments off the
pitch.
“We have been more than happy
with the progress along our long-
term business plan.
“There has been a lot of talk
about five-year plans but we don’t
have a five-year plan — we have a
long-term business plan to make
this a top-six Premiership team
and a club challenging initially
to get into the European Champi-
ons Cup and subsequently to be a
competitive team in that.
“The rugby department will see
a 25 per cent uplift in the rugby
spend. There’s no shortage of
money coming in.
“Nobody said we are going to
achieve the top six this season.
Our goal is to become a top-six
club. We want to move in a north-
erly direction at a pace that re-
flects the quality of the squad we
have at any given time.”
Pitch‘not
toblame’
THE installation of an
artificial playing surface at
Sixways was not responsible
for Dean Ryan’s decision
to quit the club, insists
Warriors chief executive Jim
O’Toole.
The outspoken former
England number eight
labelled the new pitch as
a “commercial decision”
earlier this year, when
Warriors unveiled plans to
remove their grass surface.
O’Toole believes the
artificial pitch can host
concerts and non-rugby
activities, and will bring in
significant amounts of cash
for Warriors.
Supporters on social media
have claimed the artificial
pitch, currently being
installed at the ground and
which won’t be finished until
August, could have driven
Ryan over the edge.
However, Warriors’ high
performance director Nick
Johnston carried out a lot of
research into the new facility
and its benefits.
“The rugby department
under Nick’s responsibility
conducted an extremely
thorough due diligence
exercise on the pitch,” said
O’Toole.
“We would not for one
second put a pitch or
anything else into this
facility that would have
any negative impact on our
players. The science applied
to our due diligence was
comprehensive.
“We went on a trip to Italy
to see the pitches in action.
“I don’t think the pitch was
the final straw for Dean but
he has his reasons. I can only
deal with facts and he no
longer wanted to be here on a
full-time basis.”
O’Toole, who worked at
London Irish before arriving
at Sixways two years ago,
insisted there had not been
a breakdown in his working
relationship with Ryan.
“The development of
this issue has been in the
post-season window,” said
O’Toole. “There’s been no
specific clash.
“We had a very productive
relationship that got
sparky at times, which is
quite normal in any sports
environment, but it was
a productive and adult
relationship.
“The board were 100 per
cent behind him [Ryan], the
owners were 100 per cent
behind him and I was 100 per
cent behind him.
“There was no doubt that
he had our complete and
utter support. He was our
director of rugby and had
done an excellent job against
our objectives as a business.”
By Ian
Morgan
CONTACT
01905 742273
imo@worcesternews.co.uk
Sport worcesternews.co.uk/sport
52 Friday July 1, 2016
Warriors