All Star nominee Kieran Bergin says Tipperary would be taking a “massive step backwards” if Eamon O’Shea was not kept on as manager.
Indications are that O’Shea will stay on for a third season after leading the Premier County to the All-Ireland final last month, where they were narrowly beaten by Kilkenny.
Killenaule clubman Bergin told RTÉ Sport: “It would be a massive step backwards for Tipperary if Eamon didn’t stay on. I think I speak for everyone, all the players, all the backroom staff and everyone. That man has the utmost respect of every player on the panel and there’s not a single one that would like him to leave.
“Eamon took some serious bullets for us earlier in the year when our performances weren’t really showing [what we’d done at training].
"He was so positive. It must have been very frustrating for him because we were doing the training, we were putting it in but the system he was trying to implement just wasn’t working at the time.
“[He] never once turned on one player, never once restricted a player. He always said, ‘Lads, we’ll get the results, don’t worry. We just going to stay doing this.’ That positivity just filtered down to the group and eventually it clicked. And it was very disappointing that we didn’t get to win it for him.”
The All Stars and player of the year awards will be live on RTÉ2 on Friday night from 7pm.
