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25 May 2026; A general view before the SSE Airtricity Men’s Premier Division match between Derry City and Shelbourne at Find Insurance Celtic Park in Derry. Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile
Damien Duff was the perfect studio guest for Virgin Media’s coverage of the Demolition Derby
Cathal Dervan, Editor
Damien Duff talked so much sense before, during the half-time break and after the Dublin derby on Monday night that it’s hard to know which was better - the game or his Virgin Media analysis.
He even managed a typical Duffer sidestep at the conclusion of the live show when he gave little or nothing away about his future managerial plans, admitting only that he tries to get out of bed with a smile on his face every morning.
That was probably the mildest and most mundane thing he said all night. Aided and abetted by a wily and informed sidekick in Tim Clancy and steered by a confident navigator in Tommy Martin, Duffer was at his best explaining a game that had a little bit of everything in it.
He was ruthless in his criticism of the home team’s failure to turn chances into goals and their awful shooting accuracy in what he described as a statement win for the Hoops in their defence of the league title.
He was so honest in his farewell to the current Dalymount Park for this particular derby, calling it the most intimidating and hostile ground in Ireland to play in as the away team - although he didn;t make any reference to the disused terrace he graced during a suspension from the Shels bench not so long ago.
Duffer was forthright in his view that Dawson Devoy should have joined up with the Ireland squad immediately after Monday night’s game and not on Saturday as now planned. He was accurate in stating that fellow Ireland call-up Ed McGinty had to start this game given that Dalyer in the demolition derby was no place for 17-year-old Alex Noonan to make his full Rovers debut.
He was at his brilliant best as he warned the current Bohs players that this might be their last chance to win the League simply because they are going to be out of Dalymount at the end of the season for God knows how long and very few teams ever win the League title in a temporary home.
He constantly reminded us that this is the Greatest League In The World as it likes to be known when Enda Stevens rose majestically at the end to head a World Cup class cross, Duffer’s words not mine, from Dylan Watts to the net for the sensational extra-time winner.
It was when he was asked to comment on the GAA style schemozzle after the final whistle that Duffer really came into his own as a gem of a pundit with even a dig at sidekick Tim as he recounted many of his own sideline spats over his three plus year in charge of Shels.
Those spats became draining and a distraction for Duffer. They became boring. They became too regular to get worked up about. And, he said, they always featured the same people.
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Yet, and this was the point he was really making I suspect, they are part of what makes the League of Ireland great, they are one of the reasons people turn up every Friday night and sometimes on a Monday to witness that passion, that commitment, that fight.
All of which are qualities that Damien Duff has in abundance. May he never change from his new role in life as the Southside Roddy Collins.
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Hosted by David Dunne, Martin Prendergast and Conor McEvoy, the Lansdowne Roar offers the Irish fan broad coverage and expansive debate on football, oft times from an Irish angle.
The key stories developing today
Ireland defender Liam Scales is looking forward to a Celtic reset next season after Martin O’Neill steered them to a League and Cup double at the end of a tumultuous campaign.
As he prepared to report for international duty, Scales told the media that Saturday’s 3-1 Cup final win over Dunfermline and the League success will allow the club to refocus over the summer.
As reported by the Irish Examiner, Scales said: “It gives us that chance to go into next season on a positive note. The last couple of months has all gone in one direction.
“It’s been great for us, it gives us a chance to go into next season on a positive note. But it also gives us that realisation that we need to continue to improve and continue to be at the top of our game, to win things, because we weren’t for stages of the season and that kind of put us in a difficult situation. So it’s a bit of both.
“You have that positivity in the group, and everyone’s buzzing, but then there’s also the sense that we need to push on again. We definitely made it more difficult for ourselves at times. But it’s never going to be smooth all the way through.
“It’s about bouncing back from all those little kind of ups and downs and we managed to do that. I guess it’s happened in the past and it’ll happen again, it’s never going to be 100 per cent smooth.
“So I think everyone can learn from mistakes and everyone’s included in that, players, coaches, board, it goes all the way up.”
Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes has branded Roy Keane a liar and defended his own character and achievements after setting a new record for Premier League assists.
The World Cup bound Portuguese midfielder was upset by Keane’s description of him as a clown amid reports, on the BBC amongst other outlets, that the former United captain had misquoted Fernandes.
After setting the assists record against Brighton on Sunday, Fernandes responded to Keane’s outburst and said: “Like I’ve always said, I don’t mind criticism. I’ve always taken criticism from everyone and anyone and I never reply to anything or whatsoever.
“People have an opinion; they think it’s good, bad, whatever. What I don’t like is when people lie about things and [in] this case that you said about Roy Keane basically what he said is a lie because… either he saw some other interview or he can’t say that I said one thing that I’ve just not said and luckily for me is everything on record.
“I accept his criticism, I accept that he might like me as a player or not, like me as a person or not. But what I don’t like is that he puts words in my mouth that have not been said. That’s the only thing I don’t like.”
John Egan is back in the Premier League and proud of his Hull City team-mates for proving the critics wrong in Saturday’s Wembley win against Middlesbrough according to a report in the Irish Examiner.
Corkonian Egan said: “Everybody was writing us off but I thought we had a lot of lads who had either been promoted, played in the Premier League or played top-end Championship football.
“There are a lot of ups and downs, but I think what helped us this year was the amount of experience we had last summer.”
Murcia hat-trick striker Jack Moylan is back in the Ireland squad for Thursday night’s friendly against Qatar at the Aviva Stadium after a spate of withdrawals forced Heimir Hallgrimsson’s hand.
Alan Browne, Alex Gilbert, Ryan Manning, Finn Azaz and Andrew Omobamidele are all out of the end of season games with Dara O’Shea and Moylan to be involved only for the Qatar game. Dawson Devoy and Conor Coventry will travel to Canada while Jamie McGrath and Killian Phillips are in for both games according to RTE.
Lionel Messi has handed Argentina a World Cup injury scare after he limped out of his final MLS game before the tournament as Inter Miami defeated the Philadelphia Union 6-4.
The Athletic reports that remarks from interim Miami manager Guillermo Hoyos in his postgame press conference seemed to play down any potential severity of the Messi leg injury.
All photos on TheSportsHacks are provided by Sportsfile.com
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