Nov 05,2024
Damien Duff's "unique" character and bond with Shelbourne bodes well for further success down the line, according to former Dundalk league winner David McMillan.
In just his third season as a manager, Republic of Ireland great Duff led Shels to their first League of Ireland Premier Division title in 18 years after the 1-0 win at Derry City on Friday, upending expectations in the process.
In other circumstances, a title-winning manager, especially one of Duff's stature in the game, would find themselves the subject of feverish speculation about moves to more lucrative climes.
"In terms of Duff, it's quite a unique situation," he said.
"He left Celtic as a coach, he left Ireland as a coach. He worked for a while at Shamrock Rovers, comes in as a manager of Shelbourne and even I had question marks of, 'Why does he want to do this? What's driving him? He's left other jobs, how long will he last here at Shelbourne?'
"And he's just blown everything I thought out of the water in terms of his want, his drive, his ambition with that club and to go, in three years, to continually improve year on year and as a 25/1 outsider to go and win the league is a remarkable couple of years.
"I think if it was any other player - look at Damien Duff's career, he's obviously won everything, top Premier League player - you'd be wondering, we speak about Stephen Bradley and would he move to a club in England.
"Damien Duff's profile and what he's achieved in Ireland, you'd be wondering where does he go next? But with the way he speaks about Shelbourne, he seems to be very obviously settled family-wise in Ireland, there's no talk of him leaving Shelbourne which is a really unique, unusual situation.
"If it was somebody else who had the career he had, maybe he wouldn't even be in Shelbourne in the first place and you'd be talking about where he's going to go in terms of management career.
"But there isn't any chat about that. He seems really dedicated to both the League of Ireland and Shelbourne which is hopefully where he stays because for the league, he's (got) a magnificent profile. He's someone who everybody wants to hear speak.
"He's a kind of odd enough character that you don't know what he's going to come out with next. So he's just been a breathe of fresh air for the league."
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David McMillan and Paul Corry also picked their Player, Young Player and Manager of the 2024 LOI season
Duff will undoubtedly be keen for Shelbourne not to rest on their laurels despite what they have just achieved.
While they might have come out on top in the Premier Division, their 63 points was only three more than they accrued on the way to fourth place in 2023.
And with Shamrock Rovers aiming to regain their crown after dipping below the 70-point mark for the first time in the post-Covid title-winning campaigns, St Patrick's Athletic primed for a real push under Stephen Kenny and Derry City also having a big budget, Shels will be aware that they will have to find an extra gear.
To do that, strengthening in midfield and attacking areas will be key, according to former UCD, Shamrock Rovers and Sheffield Wednesday midfielder Paul Corry.
"I don't think you change too much at the back, you maybe bring in a couple of bodies to give you more strength in depth if you pick up a couple of injuries," he told the podcast.
"The obvious gap within the squad lies at the top end of the pitch, just from a scoring goals perspective.
"Sean Boyd offers you a hell of a lot at the top end of the pitch but when he's maybe not there, they look a little bit short in that department and I think when you think of the numbers of goals they score and the number of chances they create, I think they probably need a little bit more quality at that end of the pitch."
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