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 situation with Ryan had “escalated somewhat this week” when the former England player made it “crystal clear” he no longer wanted 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 stakeholders 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 concerns raised in national media about the level of financial investment in this club and this business by our owners.

“We made fairly strong statements about our financial health and the amount of investment that has gone into the rugby operation 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 escalated 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 absolutely 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 promotion from the Championship back to the top tier at the first attempt and to glory in the British and Irish Cup.

Warriors achieved a club-record 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 performance 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 decided his departure was the only solution for the longer-term stability 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 possible England coach in the autumn, left Warriors on Wednesday night.

“He leaves with disappointment but with our best wishes for whatever his next venture might be but he will not be moving to another 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.”