DUFF AS OLD BOOTS
Drill instructor Damien has been dishing out some harsh lessons
DAMIEN DUFF reckons his players ‘hate’ him but makes no apologies for his tough love management style. “I was always told how s*** I was or I needed to do something better – that was the way I was brought up so that’s the way I’m doing it,” he said yesterday. This time eight years ago, the Republic of Ireland legend was swotting up on France ahead of the country’s last appearance in a World Cup play-off. But as Ireland prepare to face Denmark, Duff’s focus is elsewhere as he continues to cut his teeth as head coach of Shamrock Rovers U15s. Dealing with pushy parents, ironing out bad habits in his players or reading them the riot act, ex-chelsea star Duff is doing it his way. “A few (parents) have tried the ‘My little Johnny is this or that’,” said Duff. “P*** off, really. “I try to treat them like adults. I put on adult sessions that I got in the Premier League for 20 years and that’s the way I treat them. “I’m probably too tough on them, they probably hate me, but that’s the way I was brought up at underage with Brian Kerr, and the senior team with Brian. I went to Blackburn at 16; Kenny Dalglish (inset), Alan Irvine, Ray Harford – God rest his soul – there were never any positives really. “I’ll give my players their well dones and what have you, but I don’t think you learn much from that – it’s what you’ve done wrong and what you can do better. “That’s the way I was brought up, in home life, at Blackburn. I was scared of Alan Irvine! He was our youth-team manager but was probably the best coach I’ve ever worked under.” Duff’s U15s can train up to five times a week, and one of those sessions kicks off at 6.30am. It was an idea he developed from his time at Melbourne City at the tail end of his playing days, although getting youngsters in that early has drawn some criticism. But Duff – capped 100 times – hit back, stating: “We are playing catch-up with the rest of Europe. “I was at PSV a couple of weeks ago and their under-15s are doing six sessions a week. “Our clubs here do two or three so I don’t know how you expect to compete with them at senior level when, by the time you get to senior level, you’re thousands of hours behind. “You play the likes of Holland and Poland and you see with their football know-how, how to move it, just the touch, the feel of it, that we’re behind. For me, it’s just hours of practice.” Duff means it when he says he treats his role as if it were “the biggest job in the world”. And he relishes the challenges posed by the teenagers. “If they come in with attitudes or egos, we’ll give them time, a couple of weeks maybe, then they’ll be out the door. But they’re a good group.”