On Soccer:After the season the young striker has had at Elland Road, it was scarcely surprising that Dennis Wise made the short journey to Belfast last week to see just what it is David Healy seems capable of every time he pulls on a Northern Ireland jersey. The Leeds United manager returned to England, he said, with a better understanding of how best to use the striker's talents and - hey, presto! - the Irishman scored his club's winner 48 hours later against Preston North End.

It's tempting to suggest Newcastle manager Glenn Roeder would have benefited similarly from a trip to Dublin last week to see Damien Duff in action against Slovakia. The difference, of course, is that everyone knows about the Dubliner's array of gifts, and on Wednesday night Irish manager Steve Staunton followed the standard formula for getting the best out of the 28-year-old: stick him out on the left and let him do his thing.

His performance was a welcome reminder to Irish supporters of the impact he can make on a game, although it must have pained Newcastle fans to see that powerful concoction of fluency, inspiration and movement - not to mention defensive endeavour - pour out of him on one of the rare nights he was wearing a green jersey. Few can be satisfied by the number of times they've seen him play even half as well for his club side.

Not that Duff has been all that poor for Newcastle this year: he simply hasn't been especially good, a fact underlined on Saturday when he was largely anonymous as another disappointing team performance led to a 1-0 home defeat by Manchester City.

But then the decision to leave Chelsea for England's northeast always looked a poor one from Duff's point of view. Under Jose Mourinho he may not have been rated as one of the untouchables, and the arrival of Michael Ballack would have damaged his starting opportunities, but over each of the previous two seasons he had featured in more than 40 games for the club, and he might easily have made a major contribution again this year, particularly in view of the injuries to Arjen Robben and Joe Cole.

When he did leave last summer, there were conflicting reports as to whether the winger was nudged towards the Fulham Road exit or left because his employers were slow to come up with a new contract.

Even if he did have to go, he had what appeared more promising alternatives. At the time Spurs were keen and rumour had it that Duff wanted to stay in London. Compared to both Chelsea and Newcastle, it is a well run club that lives within its means and generally goes about its business with a little bit of reserve.

Martin Jol's interest in Duff made perfect sense; he wanted a left-sided attacking midfielder to provide balance in a team already containing Aaron Lennon on the right. But his bid came to nothing because, it was widely reported at the time, he could not match the basic money on offer from Newcastle due to the White Hart Lane outfit's wage structure.

Instead, he moved from one of football's great circuses to another: the difference being that, under Mourinho, Chelsea's actual first-team squad have been almost a model of collective professionalism, focused on success while on the pitch, largely anonymous away from it. Newcastle, on the other hand, have been a soap opera at every level for years, with directors coaxed by tabloids into bad-mouthing the club's female fans, team-mates coming to blows while away on trips aimed at building squad unity, and one star even rumoured a couple of seasons back to have missed a game because the effects of Viagra taken as a prank during a drinking session hadn't worn off by kick-off on Saturday.

In the circumstances, it's not entirely surprising that Duff, a player who doesn't say too much publicly but who has shown himself in his occasional interviews to be clever and articulate, has struggled to find his best form. True, injuries have again been a factor, but even when fit he has not come close to matching his better form at Stamford Bridge.

At international level, his performance last Wednesday was far and away his best since Staunton's first game in charge, the emphatic win over Sweden a year ago. The day before, Duff made the point, precisely as he had done in relation to Brian Kerr's tenure after his departure, that the players have to carry the can, too, if the team is doing poorly for - he argued - "it's not the manager's fault if we can't pass the ball 10 yards out there".

It's a far more balanced assessment than Staunton's fiercest media critics are prepared to allow, although it remains true that the manager must make the best of what is available to him if he is to have any chance of succeeding in the job.

Perhaps his most naturally talented player, Duff's performances are of particular importance to the manager's job security, and the Slovakia match provided a strong case for giving him the opportunity to play consistently in his best position, even if that means not being able to accommodate others, Stephen Hunt being the most obvious at the moment, within the team.

At his best, Duff's exploits are a compelling reason to go along to see this Irish team play. As Newcastle's season trails off and the club struggles to sell out their games in a football-mad city, however, Duff's inability to hit the heights regularly remains a major concern not just for Roeder but for Staunton as well.