Damien Duff

[paul_oshea]

dunne should do the honourable thing now and come back too...

it's a pity he isn't in for this week and back with mcphail and farhee for the odd game. although probably better if he was available for the even game when they need someone to hold up the ball and win frees.

[Stuttgart88]

Dunne there too would be amazing.

[paul_oshea]

stutts you've loads of money make it happen.

[DeLorean]

All You Need Is Duff (http://pogmogoal.com/league-of-ireland/all-you-need-is-duff/21679/)

[KK77]

Dunne there too would be amazing.

I think he said he won't be playing in the LOI at any stage.

[Charlie Darwin]

I wouldn't be surprised if he hung up his boots this summer. He was asked if he'd come back to LOI about a year ago and he more or less said he wants to play close to the top level for the rest of his career and if he can't do that he'll retire. Which is fair enough.

[seanfhear]

Fair dues to the Duffer for displaying his talents in the League of Ireland.

[GypsyBlackCat]

Newcastle & Rovers. Damien Duff is Satan in my eyes.:mad:

Joking aside it's a good move for both parties and the league. It got us a bit of news outside Ireland and might help to raise the profile. I don't think Duff is doing this to just see out his days. I honestly think he is committed to this as much as he was when he played in England and Australia.

Plus it's nice that Shamrock Rovers are offering a nice little retirement home for ex-Ireland international!:p

[KK77]

I think Man City own the club he played for out in Australia.

[Crosby87]

Duff: Me was born to be Shammy Rover.

http://www.irishmirror.ie/sport/soccer/damien-duff-insists-no-brainer-6257242

[DeLorean]

Duffer the bandwagoning barstooler (http://www.irishmirror.ie/sport/damien-duff-ireland-were-not-6266551)


I haven't really watched that many (Ireland) games. I haven't been back to watch a game live at the stadium but I'll probably go. Are they playing in September or October? If it's hotting up and there's a chance of us qualifying, otherwise I'll probably stay away and wait for the rugby.

[OwlsFan]

Terrible. What really got to me was the use of the words "they". I thought it was an made up quote. Thumbs down for that one, Duffer.

[DeLorean]

We should take that Hungary cap off him for this :)

[OwlsFan]

Interesting I suppose that player doesn't necessarily mean supporter.

[jbyrne]

Interesting I suppose that player doesn't necessarily mean supporter.

id say he was taken out of context or wasn't being too serious. over the years duff is well know for travelling to away games under his own steam when injured

[DeLorean]

I'd imagine so, the waiting for the rugby bit definitely seemed tongue-in-cheek.

[tetsujin1979]

He's turned up at u21 games as well

[Charlie Darwin]

He only retired from internationals a couple of years ago so watching them might be a bittersweet experience for him. More bitter than sweet in recent years, I fancy.

[KK77]

To be fair to Duffer he did say he couldn't watch recent Ireland games because he was putting his kids to bed at the time!

[nigel-harps1954]

http://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2015/1221/755517-damien-duffs-career-comes-to-an-end/

Despite having another year on his contract, Duff retired today. Sad way to end such a glittering career, being stopped by injury and it's a pity he couldn't have played a full season here before hanging up the boots.

[SkStu]

hopefully the balance of his contract will be paid to the charity that it was going to.

[Yard of Pace]

"Hey, diddle diddle, this guy did a dribble, all over the Cameroon;
The fans all laughed to see such fun and the Germans said: we play them soon.
At football he's really no bluffer, his name is _________".........and if you think you know the answer....

[shakermaker1982]

Good audio interview with the Duffer on ITunes with Graham Hunter. The big interview.

Well worth a listen.

[geysir]

Good audio interview with the Duffer on ITunes with Graham Hunter. The big interview.

Well worth a listen.

Here's a direct link to the big interview (http://grahamhunter.tv/damien-duff-the-street-footballer-2/)with Duffer.

[Olé Olé]

That's a really great interview. Duff is incredibly honest and Hunter manages to guide him through his whole club and international career (both under-age and senior for both) seamlessly. Really enjoyed his points in relation to the plight of under-age football in Ireland, Mourinho and his time at Newcastle. Very honest speaking about all three.

He stated that Mourinho is the only man for Manchester United.

[DeLorean]

That's a really great interview.

That was an absolute treat.

[tetsujin1979]

Watching Horgan's goal against Cork on Tuesday night reminded me of Duff's goal against Canada in 2003 (goal on 15s)
Him1bVjkVGc

[DeLorean]

Interesting because when Horgan scored I was thinking you'd never be allowed to score a goal like that in international football. I'm not sure who was worse, Bolger for his half arsed tackle on the half way line, the left centre back for not closing the shot down quick enough or McNulty for being beaten with a shot into the middle of his goals.

[SkStu]

Yeah but its Canada...your original thought stands.

[DannyInvincible]

An in-depth interview of Damien Duff by Brian Kerr: http://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/international-soccer/you-hear-so-many-sad-stories-and-i-didnt-want-to-go-down-a-slippery-slope-35584259.html

He discusses the importance of keeping himself occupied since retiring, having over-done things physically during his career, his frustration with youth teams playing long-ball tactics, former managers, dressing-room egos (particularly in relation to the treatment of his former manager Claudio Ranieri at Leicester this season) and, amusingly, having met John Delaney in the Wetherspoon's pub at Heathrow Airport in order to receive his one hundredth international cap over a shandy.


When I first retired, for two months, I relaxed. I enjoyed that period, too. I'd go for a few pints. It wasn't like I was drinking from lunchtime but almost every evening, I was having a couple of drinks.

And then, after a couple of months, it dawned on me that I could end up on a slippery slope.

You hear so many sad stories about former players. So I had to stop all that and get myself busy.

The full thing is well worth a read.

[mark12345]

An in-depth interview of Damien Duff by Brian Kerr: http://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/international-soccer/you-hear-so-many-sad-stories-and-i-didnt-want-to-go-down-a-slippery-slope-35584259.html

He discusses the importance of keeping himself occupied since retiring, having over-done things physically during his career, his frustration with youth teams playing long-ball tactics, former managers, dressing-room egos (particularly in relation to the treatment of his former manager Claudio Ranieri at Leicester this season) and, amusingly, having met John Delaney in the Wetherspoon's pub at Heathrow Airport in order to receive his one hundredth international cap over a shandy.



The full thing is well worth a read.

A lot of excellent points by Duffer, particularly the part about our underage teams doing nothing but hitting the long ball. And if we want the national team to play like Spain then we better make sure our U-14's are playing that way now, which of course they're not. Saying it since I was blue in the face, but it all comes down to coaching. Just a little window into two different coaching systems we witnessed last week. One is ours, where a team of essentially second and third stringers showed very little cohesion at the Aviva Stadium and tested the opposition goalkeeper but once. The other (Iceland) was a team which was also thrown together. But the difference was their technique and their ability to play in a system which maximizes their abilities. They made themselves quite fluid going forward, very hard to break down and aware of each others positioning at all times. That's the benefit of proper coaching they likely got as young kids in Reykavik versus the tried and tested and failed English long ball system our lads grew up with. And Iceland (lest we forget) were the whipping boys of Europe barely four years ago. Proper coaching and proper education in the game yields results as Iceland have shown us. If we want results, we've got to follow their example.

[nigel-harps1954]

In fairness, 99% of kids are being taught the correct way to play football now.

I've watched a fair share of the national under-17 and under-19 leagues since their formation and the football played, for the best part, has been excellent.

[DeLorean]

Saying it since I was blue in the face, but it all comes down to coaching.

And what were you saying before you went blue in the face? :)

[mark12345]

And what were you saying before you went blue in the face? :)

Tended to talk about the red blotches

[mark12345]

In fairness, 99% of kids are being taught the correct way to play football now.

I've watched a fair share of the national under-17 and under-19 leagues since their formation and the football played, for the best part, has been excellent.

Good to hear. Can only bode well for the future

[Closed Account 2]

Delaney and Duff meeting at the weatherspoons in Heathrow to hand over the cap is almost real life Partridge

[tetsujin1979]

Duff preferred that he got it that way: http://m.herald.ie/sport/soccer/i-was-given-my-100th-cap-at-a-wetherspoons-in-heathrow-29330243.html

[DeLorean]

Duffer picks the best XI he's played with for Sky Sports. He must have fallen out with Shay Given! (not to mention Petr Cech). I had forgotten he played briefly with David Villa at Melbourne. He obviously rates Mousa Dembele very highly, I do as well, making the side ahead of the likes of Makelele, Tugay and Jonathan Douglas. :)

http://www.the42.ie/damien-duff-one-to-eleven-3388207-May2017/

http://img2.thejournal.ie/inline/3388212/original/?width=630&version=3388212

[nigel-harps1954]

And not a single Shamrock Rovers player..

[tricky_colour]

Jonathan Douglas was a surprise!

[geysir]

Who's that Harte fellow at LB?

[DannyInvincible]

A FIFA TV feature on Duff's career and move into training with Shamrock Rovers:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yP06k9fWMnw

[tetsujin1979]

Early mornings and late nights help Damien Duff earn his stripes (https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/early-mornings-and-late-nights-help-damien-duff-earn-his-stripes-fqczznh8z?shareToken=283a89737f68ab886a65e5011f109 1b1)

[OwlsFan]

Early mornings and late nights help Damien Duff earn his stripes (https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/early-mornings-and-late-nights-help-damien-duff-earn-his-stripes-fqczznh8z?shareToken=283a89737f68ab886a65e5011f109 1b1)


Sorry...The article you were trying to read was free only for a limited time :(

The Times & The Sunday Times
March 23 2017, 12:01am,
The Times

[DeLorean]

Early mornings and late nights help Damien Duff earn his stripes


The ex-Ireland international is in his element coaching Shamrock Rovers’ under-15s


It’s 5.45 in the morning and Damien Duff is switching on the floodlights at the Roadstone sports complex in Tallaght where Shamrock Rovers do their training. Slowly does it, one floodlight after another, or there will be an explosion and the Rovers under-15s who are on their way to join him will be left in the dark. The floodlights have cameras in them and his wife Elaine blew a fuse in Easter week when Duff took his computer out and started watching training sessions taken by the other coaches for the under-15s while on a family holiday in France. “My missus told me ‘get a life, you’re obsessed’. I said ‘I know I’m obsessed’. That is the magic formula.”

Famously, Duff’s obsession as a player was getting his sleep — hence the Rip Van Winkle comparison made by Niall Quinn — and it tickles people when they find out that his coaching role with the under-15s means a lot of late nights and early starts.

Before the dawn on Tuesday morning it was foggy and wet as Duff paced out the 4G pitch and placed down his cones. As he disappeared into the mist at the far end of the pitch, it was difficult not to forget that he could still be in Melbourne, where he finished his playing career, eating sea food and enjoying the 25C heat.

“If I didn’t have kids I would be there now. The lifestyle was great,” Duff says, before a pause. “I hate that phrase ‘if I didn’t have kids’. It’s the best thing that ever happened to me. We came home because we wanted to bring them up in Ireland, with our parents. I have two kids at home and 17 here. I, literally, love my 15s.”

This is the first group of teenagers that Duff has coached and perhaps when a few different sets of boys have passed through his care, his emotions won’t burn quite so brightly. He does some television punditry, but this is his full-time job, albeit one for which he receives no pay.

“Other underage coaches and managers probably aren’t able to put in the same hours as I do because they are in full-time jobs. I am fortunate that I can put my heart and soul into it.” Duff takes five training sessions a week, mostly for two hours in the evenings, and then there is a match in the FAI’s new national under-15s league at the weekend.

“It was my idea; let’s train them as much as we can. It’s unheard of in this country, even at senior level, but they need it. I run it like a Premier League academy. We are hard on them, rightly or wrongly. I have seen presentations in the past few years by people here to under-15 squads where they say train for 40 minutes, take a day off, do an hour there. These people are telling kids to train less and I want them to train twice as much. One of us is wrong and it’s not me.”

The session is all about encouragement and positivity and is built around a series of drills where the boys get as many touches on the ball as possible. They are ones he learned from Jose Mourinho at Chelsea and at Melbourne and he has sketched them out in green ink in his small notebook. “I just go off memory. I should have written them down at the time, but I didn’t think I would be doing this.”

Duff has been up till midnight washing the bibs and putting the final touches on devising the session, but his energy and enthusiasm is infectious, as the boys join him and the session begins. He has left the motivational banners at home this morning, but he doesn’t need them as the balls start pinging about.

“Believe in it. If you don’t believe in it you will yank it.”

“Just a soft little touch back, not a pass.”

“One touch. Might need to give the eyes on this one now.”

“Somebody has to take the sting out of the ball.”

“Disguise, disguise.”

Duff joins in a keep-ball drill, even though his hip is bothering him because he played a charity game in Derry the day before. When a breathless session ends, he distributes breakfast from a paper bag; protein bars and pastries which he has purchased at a garage the night before. In a normal week, he would drop a couple of the lads at school before heading home, but instead he hangs around afterwards waiting for the senior squad to show up. As he picks up the bag of balls and heads back to the trailer where they are stored, he is walking like Mick McCarthy, which is somewhat worrying.

“The FAI doctor, Alan Byrne, told me never to play football again so I obviously haven’t listened too good to him. I am just at my happiest on the pitch, whether it is with these lot or playing myself. If I do play, I don’t move too well the next day, but I will fight it all I can. I am not going to get a [hip] replacement any time soon.”

The senior Shamrock Rovers manager Stephen Bradley provides a different type of advice: “Stephen said to me, ‘what about this, what about that?’ and I said, ‘how do you know?’ He was watching the sessions on the cameras. There is no hiding place. If he misses one of our games, he will watch it back. That is what you are dealing with here.”

So why does he do it? He is not a Rovers fan and doesn’t follow the League of Ireland at senior level. Is it a form of penance after the excesses of the Premier League, a payback perhaps for the “****ty” time at Newcastle, the only club in England at which he was a flop?

“When I came back to play here, I don’t think I gave back much on the pitch, so this is my way. I don’t want to sound arrogant, but I don’t think anybody else in this country can teach kids a football education and what it takes to become a player better than myself and my staff. Nothing would make me happier than to see one of them go on to have a career.”

Duff has done his B and A licence and is mulling over whether to go down the Pro-Licence route, which might lead him off in a different direction. “I am starting to think I might just stay with this age. The coaches laugh about it, but when I pass them on in October or November, I will be proper devastated. I have a bond with them and I would like to think that I have improved them.”

It is time to turn the lights off and lock up. He thinks of his old friends and teammates, Robbie Keane and Richard Dunne, scattered around the world. “It’s horses for courses. Richie is in the south of France, Robbie is managing a team in India and I’m in Tallaght, which is where they are both from. Say no more.”

[tetsujin1979]

Duff interviewed on Off The Ball this morning
w5a26gpaaa8

[backstothewall]

I've an awful lot of time for Damien Duff. He is clearly both intelligent and articulate in equal measure. I think he does a great job on rte and what he is doing in coaching is wonderful for Irish football.

But I think he has laid it on a bit thick here.

He is obviously angry and I understand why. Liam Miller was clearly a friend of his and what happened was a tragedy.

But the real issue here is that in a county of half a million people the biggest soccer stadium only holds 7500 people. The GAA have got their **** together in a way the FAI and LOI clubs have failed to do. The simple fact is that the GAA have built that stadium and football is a rival sport. Why should they hand over the keys?

[tetsujin1979]

This discussion has spun out of duff's comments on the GAA, which is fine, but any further off topic and I'll move posts to a different thread

<EDIT>

Posts related to Rule 42 moved to Rule 42 thread

[liamoo11]

newstalk saying duff has offer of reserve team coach at Celtic and is likely to go. might be helpful with okoflex committing to us

[tetsujin1979]

yeah, he mentioned it in the build up to the United - Young Boys game on RTE. Said he'd been over for talks, and he'd love to work there and learn more about coaching, but nothing about a concrete offer