"I'm no badge-kisser but I am a real Shelbourne man," said Damien Duff after seeing his side earn a point at home to Bohemians.
Duff was pictured sprinting in front of the Shelbourne support fist-pumping the badge as he made his way into the dressing room at full-time.
He has focused new eyes on the domestic league. A former Premier League winner, an international centurion and a high profile departure from the international senior men’s coaching ticket, Duff remains box office.
His first steps into senior management at Shelbourne has been eye-catching. The Drumcondra side sit in seventh position and remain 14 points ahead of the relegation places despite playing two fixtures less.
There has been a determination to play football in a progressive style - an admirable, if sometimes risky approach. Many newly promoted teams in the past have aimed to be durable, hard to break down and proficient at getting men behind the ball in an effort to be as tough to beat as possible.
"Considering it’s a team that's just been promoted, I think the style of football he’s tried to play has been great. You see what he’s been trying to do, he’s trying to own the ball, he’s trying to move teams around," said Graham Gartland on the RTE Soccer Podcast.
"Normally when a team comes up, and I’ve been there previously whilst playing in Scotland, you come up and you’re trying to stay in games, you’re trying to be more dogged, he’s really attacked the league in terms of trying to play football in the right way where normally you just try and get up and survive."
Despite the attacking intent, Sean Boyd is their top scorer with seven goals, Jack Moylan is next with five. Together with former Rovers’ defender Joey O’Brien, Duff has overseen a team that has held their own in the top division.
"They’ve only scored 25 goals, it’s probably something he would like to put right, they’ve conceded the lowest amount of goals among the teams in the bottom half of the table, which is something I think he and Joey O’Brien would be happy with," added Gartland.
After suffering relegation under Ian Morris’s stewardship during the Covid ravaged year of 2020 in their first season back in the big time, fans will not want a repeat of what happened that year.
"You can see he’s trying to galvanise a club that’s probably been a bit of a yo-yo club since they collapsed after winning the league in 2006. They haven’t really been stable, I think with the new owners going in and Damien, they just want to have a stable club and try and build it again and build their academy too," said Gartland.
Shels host Derry City on Monday night in the league, but before that they travel to non-league Bonagee United in Donegal on Friday night for a second-round cup tie.
Gartland worked alongside Duff in the Shamrock Rovers academy and is well placed to cast his eye on Duff’s ambitions.
"He doesn’t know any other way other than to be successful and go all in on it. It’s the same way he was as a player, he was dedicated to being a footballer.
"He practiced to a point to where it wasn’t healthy, he’s probably doing the same as a coach because that’s what brought him success as a player and that’s what he’s relating it to."
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