Damien Duff

Wouldn't mind Lubo but will never happen as he's settled back home.

Would like to see us go for a proven coach for a change though instead of yet another inexperienced ex player.

 

Family reasons the young family couldn’t settle apparently according to JK

 

Any word on who might becoming in to replace him?

 

Nah Kennedy said we will take our time.

 

DAMIEN Duff's departure to take up a full-time role in the Republic of Ireland set-up under Stephen Kenny leaves a serious hole in the Celtic coaching staff to be filled this summer.

Those aren't just the words of interim FAI CEO Niall Quinn - that is what the Parkhead manager told HIM when it was confirmed that the Irishman would be leaving his post as first-team coach at Lennoxtown at the end of the season.


Speaking on the Sky Sports football show, Quinn revealed that Lennon had told him that the departure of the former Newcastle United and Blackburn winger - he joins the FAI formally on August 1 - was a blow to the Glasgow side's bid for a historic tenth top flight title in a row.

Sun Sport told you recently how former heroes Stephen McManus and Darren O'Dea were both in the running to replace Duff in the club's coaching hierarchy beneath Lennon and assistant boss John Kennedy.


Lennon is also expected to consider external applications for the post - with no appointment made as yet.

Quinn is delighted with the staff he is assembling with the Republic of Ireland national team and Duff and Keith Andrews are a key part of that.




In conversation with Andrews, he said: "There's a positivity in the air here.

"We inherited the fact Stephen was getting the job and we wanted to get the identity right from bottom to top.
"That is what we tried to do behind the scenes and that is why Keith here got his job.


And we were very very impressed by the work Damien Duff was doing at Celtic.

"You only need to speak to Neil Lennon to know how difficult he will be to replace there.

We are really pleased with Stephen Kenny and Keith's appointment and Damien Duff at the top end.

 

DURING a playing career that spanned three decades, Damien Duff captained his country, won two English Premier League titles and played in two European finals.

Despite these great achievements, the Irishman considers the last 16 months working under Neil Lennon as Celtic’s first team coach to be the best of his sporting life.

The 41-year-old departs Paradise for family reasons, and will now concentrate on his new role as assistant manager to Stephen Kenny with the Ireland national team.

“The role I had at Celtic was my dream job,” said Duff in an exclusive interview with the official Celtic website. “I’m absolutely gutted, devastated to be leaving, especially at this time, when we’re going for 10.

"It was absolutely a family decision. There is no job in the world that would have taken me away from the role I was in. I’d love to be a brilliant coach one day, but I think it’s more important at the minute that I’m just a brilliant dad, I guess.

“For the first while I was away, my kids were like, ‘Daddy, Daddy, stay for nine and 10’, but as time went by, it was more, ‘Daddy, Daddy, when are you coming home?’ Celtic is one big family, but my family is here as well.

"It was the best year-and-a-half of my sporting life, and I include my football career in that. It was an absolute dream with amazing people. I’m gutted, but my kids need me, which is always the most important thing to any dad.”

Having joined Celtic as assistant manager of the reserves side in January 2019, Duff graduated to the first team six weeks later after the unexpected departure of Brendan Rodgers and his backroom staff.

He, in turn, worked with Neil Lennon and John Kennedy, helping the Hoops win the Treble Treble of 2019, the League Cup of 2020 and the club’s ninth consecutive league title this season in the process.


He added: “I’d never really planned out a coaching career. When you retire it can be quite a scary time, so I thought I’d try my hand at my coaching badges, and from there everything happened a lot quicker than I would have thought. In the space of three to four months, I went from coaching 15-year-olds at Shamrock Rovers to being on the sidelines at Tyencastle.

“Like anything in life, I guess I got there because of hard work, 24/7, I was the same as a player. It was amazing, and listen, I’ll be watching every game here from home. Like most Irish people, I was always a Celtic fan before all of this, and now having been in there, loving the guys so much, I’ll be keeping tabs from afar every game on the TV.

“It was great to get a few trophies along the way, in such a short time, and it was an absolute rollercoaster. Working with top people, it was great and amazing learning experience.

"Like I said when I came in, the only club that would have taken me away from home was Celtic, but then with my family based in Ireland, the only thing that would have taken me away from Celtic was my family.

“It was one big rollercoaster and me leaving was one big catch 22, but it was an amazing 18 months working with great staff. The gaffer in the best in Scotland. John Kennedy is the best assistant manager around – I’ve worked with many coaches in my life, but John is one of the best coaches in the world, without a doubt. It’s been amazing learning off him, and Stevie Woods as well, he’s well-respected all around the world and a world-class coach.

“Align that with the players. The players are the best group in the country, amazing characters, amazing talent. The likes of Brown, McGregor, working with them day-in, day-out, that was a dream. It’s all in a good place, and I’ll definitely be back as a fan, hopefully to celebrate, at the end of this season if not before.”

 

Would not shock me if that came to pass. He certainly has started his coaching life off well and seems to be very highly rated by everyone who has worked with him. Certainly will be very difficult for us to replace him.

 

By the sounds of what duff and others have said i could see john Kennedy in the hot seat too after lennon possibly, seems to garner alot of praise by players, managers and colleagues for his coaching ability.

 

Damien Duff is set for a League of Ireland return after accepting an offer to become Shelbourne’s U17 head coach.

The Reds approached the Ireland centurion when learning of his intention to quit Celtic and return to Ireland for family reasons.


Duff had been confirmed in April to feature on the backroom team of new Ireland boss Stephen Kenny, whose team kick off their campaign with the September Nations League double-header against Bulgaria and Finland, but he'll combine that job with domestic duties.

The 41-year-old is familiar with the national underage league landscape, having managed Shamrock Rovers’ U15s for two seasons before landing a job at Parkhead in January 2019.

It had been expected that he’d return to the Hoops but Shels have swooped to land one of Ireland’s most highly-regarded coaches. Kenny insists he'll have a concise role in his set-up which also features Keith Andrews.

Duff will reunite with two of his staff from Rovers, including Shels defender Luke Byrne.

A year ago, Stephen Henderson was recruited by the Shels to become head of youth development, just a week after he concluded a second stint as manager of First Division club Cobh Ramblers.


The Reds’ underage teams play their home games at the AUL complex in Dublin.

Duff's squad are due to restart training next Monday but are awaiting a date for fixtures to resume as senior clubs remain deadlocked on formats around the senior league kicking back off.

“It was absolutely a family decision,” Dubliner Duff said last week about his decision to depart Celtic.

He had been swiftly promoted from reserve side assistant boss to a similar role with the first-team, once Neil Lennon returned to the club to succeed manager Brendan Rodgers.

“There is no job in the world that would have taken me away from the role I was in.

“I’d love to be a brilliant coach one day, but I think it’s more important at the minute that I’m just a brilliant Dad, I guess.”

 

It's a shame he couldn't do both us and the Ireland gig, but it is very clear this is all family reasoned.

Good luck to the lad and all the best.
Hope he keeps in contact with the club, sure we can both help each other if and when needed.

Sent from my F8331 using Tapatalk

 

He was leaving anyway regardless of the Ireland job

 

Yes a shame he could not do both the Ireland job and stay with us. But this again shows us that his move was indeed for family reasons. Coaching Shelbourne's U17's cannot be anywhere near as demanding schedule wise obviously as what he was doing with us never mind the money must be close to nothing by comparison as the academies are only just getting started in the League of Ireland and very poorly funded for the most part. Given what we know about what a top quality up and coming coach he is that is some coup for Shelbourne's academy.

 

Great interview, massive praise for john Kennedy and mcgregor particularly. I know being a great coach and a manager are different but when someone of duffs calibre as a player and with the coaches hes had throughout his career says that kennedy is the best coach hes ever worked with you have to believe the board would be taking notice when selecting the next manager after lennon.

 

That was good enjoyed that

He proper loved his time at Celtic

 

Kennedy is a shoe in for after Lennon. PL has had him earmarked for the top job for a couple of years now. It's a matter of when not if.