Duff and the Hoops made for each other
It was always going to take something special for Damien Duff to up sticks from his homeland for a second time in his life.
But his fellow Ireland cap centurion, Kevin Kilbane, knew the lure of Celtic would play tricks on his mind.
Duff is about to take up Brendan Rodgers’ invitation to be assistant to reserve team manager, Tommy McIntyre, a role recently vacated by Shaun Maloney, who’s now working as a coach under Belgium boss, Roberto Martinez.
He is one of the most-celebrated Irish footballers of all time, collecting two English Premier League winners’ medals from his spell at Chelsea.
Yet those close to him felt his career-long objective of returning home to County Wicklow with his young family meant he wasn’t for moving again.
From Blackburn to London and on to Australia, this appeared to the final stop. Then along came Celtic.
Two months ahead of his 40th birthday, Duff is enjoying a privilege unfulfilled during his playing career.
While his former team-mate and friend, Robbie Keane, got to play for a short stint at Paradise, the closest Duff came was a visit to the Parkhead terraces a decade ago.
His presence, alongside Ireland colleagues Shay Given and Stephen Carr, was beamed to a wider audience when a video of them singing along to chants was uploaded to YouTube.
Now, Duff is getting to the do the real thing, albeit without a playing involvement.
Kevin Kilbane knew Celtic’s offer would tempt Duff into action, even if it involves his family relocating to Glasgow.
“I’m not surprised Damien jumped at the chance to join Celtic,” said Kilbane, who won 110 caps for the Republic of Ireland, 10 more than Duff.
“There’s a close connection between Ireland and Celtic, and any of the lads I played with in the international team would do the same.
“He’s getting to learn in a great environment but I think the players will really enjoy working with him.
“Brendan would know Damien from their time together at Chelsea, and see him as a vital asset.
“As with his playing career, Damien will dedicate himself to the job, wanting to become a better coach, and I think we could see him around the first-team eventually.”
Duff had filled the two years since his retirement coaching the Under-15s at Shamrock Rovers, declining any pay for his services.
Any sceptics wondering how he would adopt to hanging up his boots soon realised that this position, well below the radar, offered him the outlet he craved.
Duff was content imparting his knowledge to the new breed of youngsters at Ireland’s most-famous club, and Celtic will now reap the benefits.
Kilbane continued: “Damien comes across as a quiet lad – but he’s not afraid to say his piece.
“I remember him being a shy teenager coming into the Ireland squad, although it didn’t take him long to develop into a senior member.
“There was the time we faced France in the play-off for the World Cup in Paris, and everyone remembers the Thierry Henry handball incident knocking us out.
“But we pressed France really high after all the senior players decided we needed to go for it.
“Damien was playing ahead of me on the left-wing and we spoke beforehand about him pushing up on their full-back.
“Damien has a great footballing mind, so I think he’ll do really well in coaching because he’s a good listener and can get his message across.
“He’s very single-minded with how he thinks about the game and will do things his way.”
Duff doesn’t believe in complicating things on the training pitch.
He laments the demise of street football, an art he perfected growing up in his neighbourhood, and became a maverick in the Irish game by arranging training sessions at 6am.
“It was something different and didn’t fit into the mindset of some dinosaurs involved in the Irish game, but I could soon see the benefits for my Under-15 squad,” Duff reasoned.
“Unless players are practising as much as possible, as a footballing nation, we’re in danger of being left further behind.”
His simple philosophy was music to the ears of Celtic – and the rest is history.