Ryan unsure about his future with Wexford
Jason Ryan has hinted that he might not be able to give the required commitment to the Wexford senior footballers if he is asked to remain as their manager.
Ryan has had four years at Wexford's helm, during which time they reached an All-Ireland semi-final, two Leinster finals and won the Allianz Football League Division 3 title.
He was reappointed for a one-year term last September, having initially suggested that he would be stepping down from the position.
But he gave it another crack and came close to annexing Wexford's first Leinster senior football crown since 1945. Dublin beat them in a close-run final earlier this month, taking a 2-12 to 1-12 win.
Nonetheless, despite the controversial nature of their Championship exit at the hands of Limerick last weekend, Wexford can still look back on an encouraging campaign.
Young forward Ben Brosnan remains the Championship's top scorer with 0-31, while Rory Quinlivan, captain David Murphy, Ciarán Lyng and the evergreen Colm Morris were among the county's other leading performers.
Their U-21s also won Wexford's first Leinster title at the grade, so Ryan or his successor will have a good base to build on.
Speaking to RTÉ Radio 1's 'Sport At 7' programme, Ryan, who works as a schoolteacher and has two children under the age of 2, was unsure of what lies ahead.
"As to my own involvement with Wexford next year, I don't know. I haven't had our end of season debrief with the County Board yet," he said.
"I'm not even aware whether the County Board would be looking for me to be involved again next year.
"I don't know whether I'm the right man for the job and the big thing is I don't know if I'll be able to commit myself - even if I was wanted for the year.
"Regardless of my involvement after the four years I've had with the guys, it's just been incredible. It's been a fantastic experience and I've had fantastic times with them."
If the Waterford man's tenure is at an end, he will always look back on his final game in charge with a degree of frustration.
The Model men were knocked out of the Championship in the fourth round of the qualifiers last Saturday, with Ian Ryan's much-disputed injury-time point giving Limerick a 1-18 to 1-17 victory in Portlaoise.
With the dust still settling on the result, the 34-year-old Ryan focused on his side's untimely dip in form rather than the controversial finish to the game.
"I personally haven't come to terms with the fact that we're out of the Championship. It's hard to take but I'd imagine it's exactly the same for every other manager in the country, except the one who wins the All-Ireland.
"There was a lot of controversy over a number of incidents over the course of the game, but the reality was that we didn't play well enough to get more scores than Limerick.
"When we look back on this year, there's an awful lot of positives in some of the wins and in getting back to the Leinster final.
"You'd hope that it's onwards and upwards, but you never know what's going to happen with regards to injuries and preparations.
"You have the make the most of things when you're in the middle of the season and that's the most hurtful thing. We feel we didn't make the most of it this year."
