Duffy, Shane

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Why Celtic defender Shane Duffy isn’t a bad player, but a bad signing

The hands immediately went to the head. Ferociously moved back and forth on the scalp before being chucked down by his sides. Shane Duffy knew he was partly culpable as Aberdeen went back ahead at Pittodrie on Sunday afternoon.By Joel SkedTuesday, 27th October 2020, 4:45 pmhttps://www.scotsman.com/sport/sport-opinion/why-celtic-defender-shane-duffy-isnt-bad-player-bad-signing-3016418The Republic of Ireland international has had a very tough time of it since moving on loan to his boyhood heroes from Premier League side Brighton & Hove Albion. And it only got tougher on Sunday as his side gave up another three goals in the 3-3 draw.
A simple ball was played down the channel. Despite having Scott Wright hot on his heels, Duffy was in control. He had four options: 1) Knock the ball out for a throw-in, 2) attempt to pass the bouncing ball back to Scott Bain, 3) bring the ball under control and assess his next options; 4) try and hook the ball deftly over the Aberdeen attacker.Sign up to our daily newsletter
Options one and two are default for defenders. Number three may have been attempted by his centre-back partner Kristoffer Ajer, but number four is a no-no. Doing so warrants the hoisting of red flags. Yet, that was the one chosen by Duffy.
What made it so egregious is that it was so un-Duffy like and only added fuel to the bonfire of gifs, memes, social media clips and laughter since the 28-year-old moved to Celtic.
Premier League Duffy
The 38-time international was a key transfer target for Neil Lennon in the summer as he sought to strengthen the defence and replace the departed Jozo Simunovic.
Following the announcement of the signing, the Celtic boss said: “He is a leader and a warrior – someone with real ability and who will also give us that great physical presence.”
The battle parlance is often uttered when it comes to defenders. They are the ones ‘putting their bodies on the line’ as such and Lennon wasn’t wrong. Duffy is a leader having worn the armband while playing for Blackburn, Brighton and with Ireland, and there was no question he would add physical presence.
Putting his time for Brighton, where he made 130 appearances, under the microscope, it is clear to see what he excelled at and what kind of defender he is.
In the Seagulls’ first two seasons in the Premier League, he played 72 of 76 matches.
Under Chris Hughton, Brighton were amongst the lower echelons of teams when it came to ball possession, and even more so with pressing. In essence, they were a reactive rather than proactive team and that suited Duffy’s ‘warrior’-like qualities.
Across the 2017/18 and 2018/19 seasons, Duffy blocked the third most shots in the Premier League. No player made more interceptions. And when it came to aerial duels he topped the charts for those in his own penalty area. In 2018/19 only Virgil van Dijk was more successful competing for headers in his own box.
Shane Duffy is a defender who is very good at defending in a particular style. Deep, in a team without the ball, on the edge of or inside the box and backs to the wall.
Therefore it is little surprise that he was fazed out under manager Graham Potter last season, making 19 appearances in the league, starting just 12 times.
Potter sought to make Brighton a more proactive side, their possession share in the Premier League rising to 51.7 per cent in the season he took over from 44.1 per cent the previous campaign under Hughton.
The Celtic dilemma
The issue arises when you take a second to consider what is required of Duffy in a Celtic top. Something you’d have expected Lennon, head of football operations Nicky Hammond and the recruitment team at Parkhead to consider.
Celtic don’t defend deep, they leave space in behind, they have a lot of the ball, defenders can act as de facto midfielders and concentration has to be on point because they need to be ready if a team counters.
What is being asked of Duffy is almost the opposite of what he is best suited for.
As far back as his debut against Ross County there were slight concerns with simple balls being played over the top of the defence and making Duffy turn. That was even more noticeable in the 3-0 win over Hibs. Twice he was caught out by Kevin Nisbet leading to good chances for the Easter Road side to score, the centre-back looking like he was trying to run on ice.
In the 2-0 defeat to Rangers, Duffy’s possession play was shown up. During his two seasons under Hughton at Brighton in the Premier League he averaged 32 passes per game. So far at Celtic, that figure is more than 70. His passing in the Old Firm game was erratic at best.
Now, it is basic defensive errors that are being made.
Turn it around
“Personally my form has not been good at the minute,” Duffy said prior to the Aberdeen draw. “But I’ve been here before, I’ve just got to get my head around it, and get back to playing what I’m used to.
“I’ve had two bad games [Rangers and Milan] where it’s not been to my standard, and I’m my biggest critic so I know it’s not good enough.
“I’ve just got to keep working hard, keep going, keep believing in it and I know I can get back to the form I’m capable of.”
Yes, his form hasn’t been anywhere near good enough. But bigger picture, Celtic’s decision to sign a defender who is adept in a particular style but looks out of depth and uncomfortable in the one Celtic play in.
Duffy isn’t a bad player but he is a bad signing – perhaps a vanity one – and it points to bad recruitment on Celtic’s part. An expensive loan signing who hasn’t improved the team and one which lacks vision and isn’t part of a longer strategy.

Shane Duffy: Celtic target ‘will put body on the line’, says Paul Lambert
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/53992714
1 September 20201 September 2020.From the section CelticShane Duffy is currently with the Republic of Ireland squad preparing for games against Bulgaria and FinlandDuffy is currently with the Republic of Ireland squad preparing for games against Bulgaria and Finland
Celtic will be signing a “proper physical” defender if the Scottish champions can land Shane Duffy, says former captain Paul Lambert.
Celtic boss Neil Lennon has confirmed his interest in the Brighton centre-half and reports
suggest a loan deal for the 28-year-old is imminent.
Lambert, who won four titles in eight years at Celtic Park, managed Duffy at Blackburn Rovers.
“He’s wholehearted, he’ll throw his body into things,” he said.
“If that goes through, it’s a great signing. He will head things you think people aren’t even going to put a foot in for.
“They’re getting someone who is proper physical. He will put his body on the line, that’s for sure.”
Duffy has been at Brighton since leaving Blackburn in 2016 but made just 12 Premier League starts last season.
While Lambert was full of praise for the Republic of Ireland international, he did warn of the pressure that comes with playing at Celtic, who are aiming for a record 10th successive title.
“I’m pretty sure Shane will thrive in the atmosphere when the fans come back,” said the Ipswich Town manager.
“But it will be the first time in his career that he is going to have to win every game. That’s the difference.
“I saw great players coming to Celtic and capitulating because they couldn’t handle the crowd.
“If you thrive on it, you’ll love it, if you think it will be a millstone round your neck, you’ll struggle.”

Shane Duffy: Signing for Celtic is a “fantastic personal moment”Republic of Ireland defender “a warrior”, says LennonBy Andrew SmithWednesday, 2nd September 2020, 11:55 amShane Duffy has joined Celtic on a season-long loan deal from Brighton.https://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/celtic/shane-duffy-signing-celtic-fantastic-personal-moment-2959199Shane Duffy has spoken of his “honour” at signing for boyhood heroes Celtic following the completion of a one-year loan deal from Brighton. The Derry-born 28-year-old has never hidden his personal feelings for the Scottish champions and it is believed the emotional pull proved the decisive factor in his arrival in Scotland.
Both West Brom and West Ham attempted to agree a permanent transfer for the powerful centre-back, with a willingness to meet Brighton’s £5m valuation and match the players £45,000-a-week wages. However, he forced a loan move to Celtic by refusing to countenance any other destinations, meaning that the south coast club will pay half of his wages while also receiving a £1.5m loan fee.Celtic: Get the latest team news, match previews and reports
Duffy, currently in Ireland on international duty, will join up at Celtic next week. And the prospect of donning the club’s colours for the first time when they travel to Dingwall to face Ross County on September 12 is already exciting the defender, a product of the Everton academy who spent two years with Blackburn Rovers before moving to Brighton in 2016. It was only last year that he lost his place with the English Premier League side.
Speaking to FAI TV for the Irish’s team hotel base in Sofia ahead of their Nations League encounter with Bulgaria tomorrow, Duffy admitted the much touted move had been “a long time coming”. On Celtic TV, meanwhile, he admitted his debut cannot come quickly enough.
“It is a huge honour for me to join Celtic, such a huge institution and a brilliant football club that I have always loved and admired It will be a fantastic personal moment for me when I pull on the Celtic jersey,” he said. “It’s just a great feeling – I could not be happier to be part of the club now and I just can’t wait to start working with the Manager, the staff and the players when I return from International duty with Ireland. We will be challenging on a lot of fronts this season and I am really excited about getting going, as we try and bring the fans more and more success.”
Duffy is the fourth addition to the Celtic squad this summer following the near £13m invested in the permanent transfers of Vasilis Barkas, Albian Ajeti and David Turnbull. And his manager Neil Lennon hinted at Duffy’s capture having added a steel to the club’s backline that has been perceived as lacking in the partnership of Christopher Jullien and Kristoffer Ajer when praising the qualities of the Irishman, renowned for his big personality, doggedness and heading abilities in both boxes.
“We are delighted to bring a player of Shane’s quality to Celtic,” said Lennon. “He is an international player with so many great attributes. He is leader and he’s a warrior – someone with real ability and who will also give us that great physical presence. I know too he is a player who will add great personality to the dressing room. This is a real coup for the Club. From the off, Shane wanted to come to Celtic and we are delighted we have been able to fend off English Premier League interest. We are delighted with Shane’s decision to come and I am delighted with the business which Nick Hammond and the board have done, not only in bringing Shane to Celtic, but throughout the window. We can’t wait to get Shane involved in the squad as we look to the many challenges ahead.”

New Celtic defender Shane Duffy says lure of trying to win ten in a row was impossible to refuseCentre-back was advised that moving north would be the ‘best decision he ever made’By Andrew SmithTuesday, 8th September 2020, 10:46 pmNew Celtic signing Shane Duffy. Picture: Alan Harvey / SNShttps://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/celtic/new-celtic-defender-shane-duffy-says-lure-trying-win-ten-row-was-impossible-refuse-2965535Shane Duffy said the chance to be part of the Celtic side aiming to win an unprecedented tenth consecutive Scottish title made the offer to move to Parkhead impossible to turn down.
The Republic of Ireland defender grew up in Derry as a Celtic fan and insisted he would have come to the club in “any year”.Celtic: Get the latest team news, match previews and reports
He was advised by former players that it would be the “best decision he ever made”.
Duffy has signed a one-year loan deal from Brighton and is relishing the prospect of trying to deliver ten in a row.
“To have a chance to be a part of it was huge,” said the 28-year-old. “I spoke to a few players who played here. They were saying if you go and do it, it will be the best decision you make. It was a no-brainer.”
Duffy admits to pinching himself that he had made good on a dream he had held since he made the trip over on the boat from Ireland as a nine-year-old to attend his first Celtic match with his father Brian. The only tinge of sadness in the move is that his dad could not share in his joy over it, having died suddenly aged only 53 a mere three months ago.
“I was emotional when it got done because he was everything to me with my football. It was me and him,” the player said. “It was emotional last week. It was the first Ireland match he missed. And he won’t be at my first Celtic match. So I’ll be emotional when I finally get to play. I will just do it for him.”
Duffy could get the opportunity to make that debut when Celtic face Ross County at Dingwall on Saturday. Already, though, he concedes he has one eye on a first taste of the fabled fixture with Rangers, which he never experienced as a fan. The derby in five weeks will bring him into contact with a great friend from his time at Brighton in Connor Goldson. Not that the Ibrox defender wanted their paths to cross again in such fashion. Duffy concedes he doesn’t know how much they will be able to get to see each other away from the pitch either.
“He actually told me not to come. He said ‘stay away’,” Duffy stated of Goldson’s tongue-in-cheek response to his loan switch. “But I am very close with him from our Brighton days.
“It’s a difficult one. It’s different up here but we are close so, yeah. He is still my friend so it’s hard to tell what will happen because the rivalry is so fierce. He’s a mate but listen, when I play against him he won’t be a mate. He will be the exact same.”

BBC pundit urges ‘rash’ Celtic player to ‘manipulate’ teammates in effort to shinePat Bonner has urged Celtic defender Shane Duffy to make a greater effort to organise and “manipulate” the players around him.By Jason JonesMonday, 14th December 2020, 1:55 pmhttps://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/celtic/bbc-pundit-urges-rash-celtic-player-manipulate-teammates-effort-shine-3067120The Brighton loanee has endured a torrid start to his temporary stint in Glasgow, and has struggled to produce his best form for Neil Lennon’s men so far.
The Republic of Ireland enjoyed a much more fruitful afternoon against Kilmarnock on Sunday afternoon, however, helping his side to maintain a clean sheet, and scoring the Hoops’ second with a towering header.Celtic: Get the latest team news, match previews and reports
Bonner was impressed with what he saw from the 28-year-old, and claimed that he can improve his game further by allowing those around him to cover for the natural shortfalls in his game.
Speaking to BBC Sportsound, the former Parkhead goalkeeper said: “The goal is a bonus – we started off with a goal in his first game against Ross County. He scored again today with a good header.
“There’s almost an element with Shane Duffy, you would expect him to be a real target in the box, but that’s not the part we’re looking at here, it’s the other part, the defensive qualities alongside Jullien.
“If he can build a partnership with Jullien, with Ajer playing out in that right-back position, it just looks a bit more solid.
“He doesn’t have huge pace about him, Shane Duffy, so the front players in front of him have got to do a job for him and defend from the front, defend in midfield, but I think he has to use his own experience and his own communication skills to almost manipulate people.
“That helps the midfielder also when you have somebody at the back of him organising you to have a good defensive unit to defend properly. Then you can go and pick up your position to head the ball or put your tackles in.
“There will always be rash moments from Shane Duffy, that’s the kind of centre-half he is, but I’ve played behind a big man, and Mick McCarthy was exactly the same, but he bossed people around.
“The other thing I noticed with him, I actually noticed with the Irish team, he was trying to go for everything, and balls he shouldn’t be going for, and that was a slight change today, he was picking his moments.”