Damien Duff was the perfect studio guest for Virgin Media’s coverage of the Demolition Derby
The Southside Roddy Collins was on top form on Monday night
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.
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. breaks.