DAMIEN QUITS
Duff’s shock departure adds to problems for under- fire Kenny
DAMIEN DUFF rocked the Republic of Ireland team last night by quitting as Stephen Kenny’s assistant.
The Irel and l egend has not revealed his reasons for stepping down.
But it ’s known that he was furious at the FAI investigation into the videogate furore before the England game.
Duff, who was only appointed in August after leaving a similar role with Celtic, last night said in
a statement: “I want to thank Stephen Kenny for the opportunity he gave me.
“I wish Stephen, Keith ( Andrews) and the players all the very best of luck for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers.”
Ireland boss Kenny said: “Damien is an excellent coach as he proved in his time with us.
“His contribution to the Irish team was greatly appreciated by myself, my staff and the players and I wish him the very best of luck for the future.”
Last month, Duff had come out fighting for
Kenny by poking fun at the ‘ video- gate’ furore.
Kenny had dismissed the pre- England game controversy as a ‘ non- story’ and blasted people ‘ behind the scenes’ for undermining him.
And Duff – who was firstteam coach under Kenny – suggested some people were being overly sensitive.
“It’s obviously up to us staff not to make any motivational videos,” he said at the time.
“Even if they are based on true historical events, Irish events that you should be proud of. They can be very offensive to some people, so we’ll stay away from that in March.”
Duff added: “There’s an awful lot of doom and gloom around the football team at the minute.
“But the Slovakia game – a good team that dominates teams around Europe – we’ve gone there and dominated them.
“We played football the right way, creating chances the right way, playing through them, not just playing more direct stuff that we have been known to do.
“Not just crossing balls for the sake of crossing, it was playing attractive football the way people want it played.”
Kenny must now prepare for the start of the World Cup campaign without Duff, facing an opening date away to Serbia and games to follow against Portugal, Azerbaijan and Luxembourg.