Duff to leave Chelsea?

Duff under pressure as Chelsea boss targets Simao move


May 17, 2006

Damien Duff’s future at Chelsea is in peril after Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho hinted that he could be bidding farewell to one of his wing quartet in the summer transfer market.

Mourinho has already dipped into the Abramovich billions to complete the signing of German superstar Michael Ballack, and AC Milan striker Andriy Shevchenko is also tipped to make the move to Stamford Bridge before the start of next season.

And the Blues boss has revealed that he will attempt to prise his Portuguese countryman Simao Sabrosa from Benfica in a bid to bolster his creativity in wide areas.

His arrival would bring about the departure of one of his wingers, and that could mean the end of the road for Duff at the club.

Dutch star Arjen Robben and England ace Joe Cole are seen as safe from the chop, which leaves Duff and the under-achieving Shaun Wright-Phillips in most danger.

But with the Irishman’s contract expiring next summer and no new deal as yet forthcoming, he could be the one forced out the exit-door before the start of the new season.

www.elevenaside.com
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Hope he moves - Mourinho is too negative and doesnt let him run with the ball

ya i think liverpool would be a good move for him.

Paul Rowan in the Sunday Times recently suggested that Duff only had one year left on his contract, not two as was commonly thought. Would make it more likely that he'd be the one to leave in my opinion, though I suspect Robben could be tempted to move too.

It'll be interesting to see how Joe Cole plays in the summer. I have a suspicion that he's great to have against inferior teams, but against the best he's yet to do anything of note (that I can recall anyway). For example, when it was really important, he underperformed badly at Anfield in the CL semi-final. I wouldn't count his miss in the FA Cup semi, it's more his overall impact that I'm referring to.

The article above refers to the "underperforming SWP". That's harsh, he hasn't been given a chance to perform. I suspect Chelsea only bought him to keep him away from their rivals

I saw a headline on Teletext yesterday about SWP going back to Man City next season so maybe it's him.
I didn't read the whole lot but I think it's safe to assume it would be in a loan deal as City would not be able to pay a fee for him or I suppose if they haven't received the whole payment they could write it off.

I hope Duff moves anyway, it'd be nice to see him running at defences again....

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Originally Posted by Stuttgart88

For example, when it was really important, he underperformed badly at Anfield in the CL semi-final.

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Yes, but that was last season. He is now a much better player. On the Duff issue he HAS to move away from Chelsea, although I doubt there is any truth in the Simao rumour as it looks like Mourinho will play without wingers next season, unless he wants to sign him to stop him going to Liverpool like stopping SWP from going to Arsenal last year.

Not one quote in the article though.

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Originally Posted by Stuttgart88

Paul Rowan in the Sunday Times recently suggested that Duff only had one year left on his contract, not two as was commonly thought.

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It took me 30 seconds to find out that Duff signed for Chelsea in July 2003 on a 4 year deal - if any colleagues of Mr Rowan look in here can they please show him how to use this interweb thingy.

As per usual there is loads of transfer speculation about ins and outs at the EPL Champions - however not even the most dubious rumour sites have made mention of Duff.

I suspect Mr Rowan and whoever does the 11-a-side site just found themselves with some white space to fill.

totalfootball - Mourinho was misquoted in the first place which is why Sky Sports changed their article.

I was talking about the article in Eleven a side.

Journos are obviously having a hard time keeping up with the special one as the Guardian has the quote as being quite different:
"Chelsea have four great quality wingers and as long as we keep them, I'm not thinking of Simao. If one of them were to leave, then it could be hypothetical."

Going back to the original guff in eleven-a-side:

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Originally Posted by joema

Dutch star Arjen Robben and England ace Joe Cole are seen as safe from the chop, which leaves Duff and the under-achieving Shaun Wright-Phillips in most danger.

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Any Chelski watcher would tell you that:
a) The four would be rated in the following order: 1. Cole, 2. Duff, 3. Robben, 4. SWP
b) Robben's Da (or agent?) has already linked him to a move to Spain
c) SWP has been a total failure and needs a move to rescue his career

In summary - those hoping for a Duff move should dream on.

Yeah I'd have thought Duff was ahead of Robben, certainly seemed to be getting more games than him towards the end of the season. Then again playing 4-3-3 Chelsea don't really need 3 wingers let alone 4.

Surely SWP is out the door? What side does Simao play on, that would surely be a clue.

I think Simao can play both sides.

Simao can play both sides, but regardless I don't see him going to Chelsea. The slight stumbling block earlier in the season regarding the fee in his move to Liverpool will be ironed out and he'll go to Anfield. It does smack slightly of the SWP move last season. He was never going to be a regular but nevr mind sure he wouldn't be at Highbury.

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Originally Posted by fergalr

It took me 30 seconds to find out that Duff signed for Chelsea in July 2003 on a 4 year deal - if any colleagues of Mr Rowan look in here can they please show him how to use this interweb thingy.....I suspect Mr Rowan and whoever does the 11-a-side site just found themselves with some white space to fill.

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From what I can see, both Rowan and 11 a side are stating that Duff has one year left on his contract and you are confirming it.

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Originally Posted by geysir

From what I can see, both Rowan and 11 a side are stating that Duff has one year left on his contract and you are confirming it.

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Rowan and 11 a side are "confirming" 3 year old news - I wish I had a job as easy as that.

I am caught between a rock and a hard plate here.I want what is best for the Irish national team but at the same time i want what is best for Duff. I dont give a flying fig about Chelsea and only watch them to see Duff play. I really would live to see the old Duff back even if it meanns me being selfish and he goes to another club.

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Originally Posted by fergalr

Rowan and 11 a side are "confirming" 3 year old news - I wish I had a job as easy as that.

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Your post implied Rowan got it wrong. :)

I would put robben ahead of duff. Robben wasnt playing mainly because of all the matches he was suspended for.

Morinho was quoted in saying "that only one of his wingers was definitely departing this summer" which would suggest to me to be SWP with all the complaining his ould fella has been doing. Probably go to liverpool I'd say, cannot see any of the other 3 leaving although Robben has said he is thinking of going to la liga and the irish press as usual are nonstop talking about Duff.

Mourinho,I believe considers Duff to be his best winger.He did recognise his poor form,but put this down to injury,whereas he lambasted Robben for his form.One has to say Cole has had a great season but I would say its in this order.

(1)Duff (2) Cole (3) Robben (4) SWP

I still think Robben is the most talented though,while I reckon Cole has been one of the top five or six players in England this year.He's played like Duff has for the last 3 or 4 years(before last season).

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Originally Posted by geysir

Your post implied Rowan got it wrong. :)

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Nope - that I never did.

I was just making the point that Mr Rowan is getting paid a fat journo salary (plus expenses) to "suggest" something that has been public knowledge for 3 years.

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Originally Posted by fergalr

Nope - that I never did.

I was just making the point that Mr Rowan is getting paid a fat journo salary (plus expenses) to "suggest" something that has been public knowledge for 3 years.

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Extremly unlikely, but let's assume you did make this invisible point.
It is clearly evident that Rowan already had his fact spot on to support whatever he was on about. It is clearly an important detail in the context of any discussion of Duff re his future at Chelsea and the signing of a new winger. Any journalist worth their beer would put that fact in an article. Considering also that that contract detail is not common knowledge ie on the tip of peoples' memory and there was also misinformation about his contract details how in the name of sensible internet discussion do you find a justification for the absurd idea that he "should get his internet thingy together"

OK - You've worn me out and I'm sure we're boring the t|ts of everyone at this stage.

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Originally Posted by geysir

"should get his internet thingy together"

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One closing comment: I didn't use these form of words in my original post. FYI - Sensible internet debate is facilitated by the judicious use of the Quote button.

Eidjur Goodjohnsen is about to leave Chelsea for Barca, so I guess that's a bit less competition for him.

not really, more like less competition for essien and makelele. until one of joe cole/shaun wright-phillips/robben gets injured or leaves it won't mean less competition for duffer. personally i'd prefer if he got into the team and kept his place on merit, but mourinho seems to prefer a settled, winning side.

Goodness, I wish he would leave so we can get that player who was a joy to watch back to himself.Remember him turning Denmark inside out just before WC 02.

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Originally Posted by cheifo

Remember him turning Denmark inside out just before WC 02.

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That was only a friendly though. We've often seen him having great games in friendlies. Outside of the World Cup in 2002 there are not many instances of Duff really playing well in competitive games against quality opposition.

Thats a fair point Paulie but at club level he was a joy to watch playing for Blackburn.Remember that goal at Anfield where he played played a couple of one-two's before scoring.

The thing about Duff is that we all know what he's capable of so therefore that is what we always expect. Obviously he won't always be playing at his best but there have been too many competitive games where he has been nowhere near his best which is very frustrating to watch. He has the ability to be a top class player, he has the ability to go down as an Irish legend but in order to achieve these goals he has to start playing better in the big games on a consistent basis. There is no point in playing really well only now and then and for the rest of the time being mediocre. If that continually happens then surely we have to ask whether, on the rare occasion that he plays really well, is he playing above himself and are the average performances that we have gotten used to in the big Ireland games more his natural level?

I think you're being unfair on him Paulie. He was our best player in the Euro 2004 qualifiers. In the WC qualifiers he set up the only goal in Israel, he won a peno against Faroes, he set up the first and also won a peno against Cyprus, he set up the only goal in Switzerland. He set up 5 of our first 7 goals in the qualifiers and played well in quite a few. He was marked out of the game against France but his worst performance was away to the Faroes. While he was marked out of the game against France, it wasn't as if he was losing the ball. Mourinho has just changed his mindset so that he won't even try to take on 2 players now. In the Faroes he tried but kept losing out.

He needs to be beating players on a regular basis at his club to be sharp enough to be expected to do it for Ireland.

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Originally Posted by Paulie

The thing about Duff is that we all know what he's capable of so therefore that is what we always expect. Obviously he won't always be playing at his best but there have been too many competitive games where he has been nowhere near his best which is very frustrating to watch. He has the ability to be a top class player, he has the ability to go down as an Irish legend but in order to achieve these goals he has to start playing better in the big games on a consistent basis. There is no point in playing really well only now and then and for the rest of the time being mediocre. If that continually happens then surely we have to ask whether, on the rare occasion that he plays really well, is he playing above himself and are the average performances that we have gotten used to in the big Ireland games more his natural level?

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I think people are over-reacting to this apparent loss in form of Duff.
Firstly, Duff like any other winger relies on other players to get him on the ball. In the last campaign he played most of the games on the left wing where he had O'Shea and Kilbane on that side of the pitch and their passing ability is not good.
Secondly, he was invariably marked by 2 players.

While you can isolate incidents within particular games where he's had an impact there are still too many for me where he has not. It's not good enough for him just to be marked out of the game when playing the French and while he did set up the Morrison goal in Basle he had a poor enough game otherwise, as did the most of the team. Even if a couple of our big players are out we should still have enough about us to beat the weaker nations, especially at home. My point is that in order for us to be competitive and qualify for tournaments we need our best players to play well against the top teams. I would like to be able to heap praise on him but we all saw how he can really play in 2002 and as such he should be judged by those performances. That is what he is capable of and that is what he should be aspiring to. If those standards are never reached again I just don't think it reasonable that he be judged as one of the greats of Irish football, more as a player who showed us flashes of brilliance but also one who could and should have done so much more.

I don't think it is correct either that this be put down as nothing more than a dip in his form. This, with regard to Ireland, has been going on for 4 years, since the last World Cup. I don't mean to come across as being too harsh on him but he is regarded by Irish fans as a top player. If that is the case he should be assessed on that basis.

He needs to change his mindset back to attacking mode again. As I said, he didn't give away much possession against France, he just didn't try to do anything special. He has to get back to beating players again.

Agreed. It's not enough for him to be content with just not losing possession. In the big games especially, we need our special players to do special things.

Yes but there is no point in him beating players and the losing the ball when we have such a weak midfield. Much of Duff's playing involved him also protecting Harte/O'Shea.

For example, in the game in Paris Duff tracked back on numerous ocassions to help out a clearly flailing John O'Shea. That takes massive amounts of effort and work-rate.

This isn't all Maureenio's fault. Duff himself needs to take responsibility too. In this day and age, players do have genuine power over their managers and clubs - if he is unhappy, he can leave - contract or no contract. It's that simple really. Duff is going nowhere and that's because he is happy where he is.

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed by that because there is no doubt his form has suffered (more down to lack of continuity in playing matches for Chelsea than on any tactics being imposed on him that curtail his style of play). But ultimately it is Duff's career and he is obviously very happy with everything as it currently stands :(

In my opinion the rumoured 18 million pound deal to keep Duff at chelsea is part of Chelseas ploy to keep a potentially leathal player on their books and not in the hands of the opposition i.e Liverpool, Arsenal, Man Utd,. With Chelsea as we saw with Essiens contrasting form for Ghana Duff with succumb to his managers wishes and be far more ineffective.. So how cynical is that?

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Originally Posted by Reality Bites

In my opinion the rumoured 18 million pound deal to keep Duff at chelsea is part of Chelseas ploy to keep a potentially leathal player on their books and not in the hands of the opposition i.e Liverpool, Arsenal, Man Utd,. With Chelsea as we saw with Essiens contrasting form for Ghana Duff with succumb to his managers wishes and be far more ineffective.. So how cynical is that?

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Oh absolutely - just look at Shaun Wright Phillips ... its blatant what they're up to! But it is ultimately still a player's decision to join Chelsea or to renew their contract there. If Duff really made up his mind to leave he could be out of there within six months