Eons ago, Damien Duff mentioned in a 3,000 word feature that his Chelsea wages are handed over to the mother. That line followed him around, probably convincing his younger self to pull up the interview bridge, prompting Dion Fanning to write that “there was never a more enjoyable, decent, smart and funny interviewee who hated every moment of the interview than Damien Duff.”
Duff returned to a free-flowing discussion on Wednesday from at an airport hotel as Shelbourne and the League of Ireland unveiled the first Irish international of true greatness as coach since Johnny Giles finished with Shamrock Rovers in 1983.
The symbolism is unquantifiable.
“I’m no expert on the game,” claimed Duff. “I guess, who is? I probably get too emotional, too angry but that’s probably developed over time.
“I think I get it from me ma. I dunno, it just came on to me later in life. I think you all know me for a long time and I was always a calm, passive guy but maybe it’s the coaching that’s done it to me. I probably need to calm down.”
That is unlikely and unwanted by everyone paying attention. Duff’s appointment as Shels manager on a two-year contract coincides with a dramatic shift in his media persona. Replacing the elusive samurai of Suwon we find an insightful 42-year-old keenly aware of the rocky road that lies ahead.
The ‘Save Tolka Park’ campaign was the only topic that went unmentioned on Wednesday, but there is plenty of time for that and plenty more “soul searching” in the months ahead.
Duff has yet to build a squad past two re-signed players, with no backroom staff besides the Shels infrastructure he has worked within for the past 18 months as academy coach, while his only guarantee to chairman Andrew Doyle and the board is that the newly promoted Drumcondra outfit will lose an “awful lot of games next season”.
Survival rather than qualification to the lucrative Europa Conference League is the primary aim.
But Duff is wide awake and has plenty to say about issues that really matter in the grand scheme of Irish sport. It swirls around his children and the magnetic pull of the local GAA club.
“I pass Ballyboden because I was born and grew up there. Even the entrance – wow! – I don’t need to go inside.
“The Wicklow centre of excellence, Bray Emmets around the corner from me and Kilmacanogue, where I am, it’s incredible. The environment they built is beautiful and I love going to watch my kids. Especially the girls’ Gaelic, watching them battering each other.
“But, honestly, it breaks my heart. I’m sending pictures to Stephen Mulhern from the Shelbourne board every Sunday, saying ‘Look at this, look at this, it’s a joke’.
“But whose fault is it? Why did the FAI and why did the League of Ireland . . . I don’t know so I’m not criticising anyone but it’s night and day. What do you do? I absolutely don’t know.”
Describing Shels as a “sleeping giant,” Duff opens a Pandora’s box about facilities in soccer when compared to the rival sporting behemoth.
“I’m not hammering what’s gone on here, but my kids have gone massive into GAA over the summer. I’ve been to a lot of Gaelic training grounds and they wipe the floor with football.
“It startles me. I remember getting criticised for calling [the GAA] dinosaurs over the Liam Miller testimonial. That was just to prod them. I’d never take it back because I think it went a long way to getting the game moved to Páirc Uí Chaoimh. I knew what I was doing, to get a reaction.
“But what a job they’ve done. It’s ridiculous what Gaelic have and then I look at the football. Everybody raves about Roadstone [Shamrock Rovers’ training facility] but compared to any Gaelic place it’s bottom of the pile.
“That’s what we have to give the kids. I don’t know who’s to pay for it because I’m not educated enough on it but the Gaelic is unbelievable.
“It’s a discussion for another day,” added Duff before making it a current news story. “This is how much I care about Irish football. Forget about Shelbourne and me, this is the most important thing that I’ve said today.
“Forget about Shelbourne and the 24 players at the academy, I’m thinking about the whole country. The League of Ireland facilities across the board, Premier and First Division, are horrific when you compare them to Gaelic.
“Who is responsible and where has it gone wrong? That’s the future of Irish football and it’s poor, so poor.
“I know what it’s like, sometimes fighting for a quarter of a pitch to train. You can’t put on a meeting for the kids because there’s no meeting room. There’s nothing there.”
Tongue in cheek, it is suggested that he might have to curb such enthusiasm.
“Shelbourne have plans for the AUL [in Clonshaugh] but, listen, I’ve told the gang here that I was at the AUL for Irish trials nearly 30 years ago and it hasn’t changed one bit. The toilets I’m going into and chairs I’m sitting on are exactly the same. How has that not improved?
“Am I biting my tongue? No, but I know what’s ahead of me with Shels. They’ve got plans to invest in the AUL and improve it to have a separate entrance. I trust all of that but I’m just talking here as a passionate Irishman who cares about football in this country.
“We’re light years behind everywhere. This isn’t me having a pop at the FAI. It’s factual. Go see every country, the training grounds, what players are given, so it’s gone wrong somewhere along the line.”
Somewhere, not long after Suwon.
Duffer on Duffer
On perfectionism
"If there's a bottle out of place, I'm not going to say that I've had enough of Shelbourne Football Club. Absolutely, the way you dress or if you're late for a meeting, in my head that's the most unacceptable type of behaviour. The one thing I pride myself on is standards and I refuse to meet people halfway."
On managing
"I remember Brian Marwood at City Group, when I was at Melbourne City, he said managers have to be the best actors in the world after disappointments. I think you all know me by now, I'm not a good actor, what you see is what you get, so I might have to get good at acting."
On ego
"I realise we all have egos but I don't think I have a particularly big one. If I did I wouldn't be here today. I want to be involved in Irish football, I want to help young and old, men and women. I am not going anywhere any time soon because my kids are happy here, my wife is happy here, so Ireland is stuck with me."
On coffee
"I know a lot of the managers when they do fail in their first gig, they probably never get another managers' role again but that's stuff I am fine with. I'll happily be a barista, I'm halfway through my course. So if does doesn't work out you might see me in a coffee shop."
On coaching
"It probably got out of hand. I didn't want to be a TV pundit because I don't like being on TV. I didn't want to be a coach because I just never saw myself doing that. It has just grown legs. I started my B Licence and I was probably the worst one on it because you're learning the game all over again. Gradually, I think, got better. I'd like to think I'm half-decent now."
On strengths
"I think my biggest strength in a dressingroom is I'm good at connecting with people, I'm good at building relationships. I don't lie when I say I'm here for players 24/7. Ask any young boys that have played for me and it's going to be the same with senior boys."
On initially rejecting Shels
"I rang everybody on Friday out of respect and said I wasn't doing it, I'd be happy as Larry today but they wouldn't leave me alone. They were great to be fair: 'Take the 48 hours and have a rethink' which is what I did. It was as simple as that really, I wasn't speaking to people. It was me just soul searching."
