Shelbourne manager Damien Duff has admitted that he still does not know if he'll be in charge of the club next season, despite being on the verge of leading them back into Europe.
A dramatic 4-2 victory over Drogheda at Weavers Park on Friday ensured that Shels finished fourth in the league and that could be good enough for European football next season.
If St Patrick’s Athletic beat Bohemians in the FAI Cup final next Sunday (live on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player), Shels will be heading for the continent next summer in the UEFA Conference League.
Fourth place represents a fine return for Shelbourne and a great season for Duff, who helped the Dublin outfit finish ahead of teams with much larger budgets.
With the former Ireland international out of contract in the summer it was expected that a new deal would just be a formality, however a Turkish-led takeover of the club has slowed things down and it’s uncertain whether new owner Acun Ilicali wants Duff to stay.
Duff’s backroom staff and many players are similarly in the dark when it comes to their future and the manager admits he’s unsure what the future holds.
"We'll see what happens in the off season," he told RTÉ Sport. "Nothing's been put in front of me.
"If it was up to Johnny Watson [the club’s kit man] I would have been given the contract right in front me six months ago, but it's not up to him.
"I'm just going to enjoy the night and enjoy the dressing room because like I've said for many months now, the only people that's going to affect what happens on the pitch are the people inside that dressing room and I’ve been proven right."
In a separate interview with the Irish Independent, Duff was even more vocal in his displeasure around the situation.
"I guess it has been a hard few months dealing with stuff in the background, I've sheltered the players but it’s time now to really start planning for next season, signing back players within the dressing room. It still hasn’t happened. Signing staff members back - it hasn’t happened.
"It has been frustrating. I won’t lie. Outside of that I actually don’t know what else to say because I don’t know a lot.
"I’m the manager of Shelbourne Football Club but I don’t know what’s going on at Shelbourne Football Club to be brutally honest."
