4 May 2026; Kian Leavy of St Patrick’s Athletic in action against Will Fitzgerald of Sligo Rovers during the SSE Airtricity Men’s Premier Division match between Sligo Rovers and St Patrick’s Athletic at The Showgrounds in Sligo. Photo by Paul Phelan/Sportsfile
Duffer should take the Keith Andrews route to Premier League management
Cathal Dervan, Editor
Damien Duff was waxing lyrically the other night about the great job Keith Andrews is going at Brentford and how impressed he was on a recent visit to the progressive London club.
He rightly praised the way his fellow Dubliner has surprised so many of his pre-season critics with his management skills since he was appointed from within as Thomas Frank’s successor last summer.
Andrews had never managed in his own right before becoming King Bee. Nothing he did under Stephen Kenny’s tutelage with Ireland suggested he would have this club dreaming of Europe this late in the Premier League season.
His initial appointment as a set-piece coach by Frank was probably never deemed a route to the manager’s office by anyone outside of Andrews’ inner circle if truth be told.
Yet Andrews is now doing a very, very admirable job in charge of the team sitting seventh in the Premier League table in the Conference League qualification spot and potentially just one place away from the Champions League depending on how Aston Villa fare in Europe.
The Andrews story, as Duffer acknowledged after his recent visit to Brentford and a behind the scenes look at what makes the team tick under their rookie boss, is to be celebrated.
So too is the fact that Duff left Ireland on his managerial scouting trip. So too is his admission, at last, that he may well indeed need to travel again to kickstart his own desire to return to the dug-out.
When he took Shels and the League of Ireland by storm, Duffer made one very regrettable claim that he could never manage any other team, not just in Ireland but in football.
It was an admirable declaration of love but a naïve one. No club will ever love a manager back in the same way - if he hadn’t transformed things around Tolka Park then the only certainty for club and manager would have been the sack.
As it happened, Duff quit on his own terms. He got out when it suited him. And now, it would appear, he wants back. He has the coaching bug again.
He deserves to be back. He deserves to coach and to manage at a higher level than the League of Ireland, at a higher level than the Ireland Under 17s - unless he takes that on an interim basis for their upcoming World Cup return.
Duffer the manager needs to get abroad. Maybe to England, maybe to the continent like his good friend Robbie Keane.
He needs to work again. Not because he has to but because he wants to - and because he deserves to.
Talking about it on Irish TV is good but it’s not enough. Virgin Media and Premier Sports have never appointed a football club manager. Never. They’ve talked the talk as they should but they have never walked the walk.
What Damien Duff did at Tolka Park was remarkable but it won’t get him a job in England or elsewhere on its own. They won’t be talking about Shels winning the league at Celtic where Duff is 40/1 to get their vacant manager’s job.
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He’s 20/1 to take over at his old club Blackburn where they do remember him fondly, marginally ahead of Pep Guardiola to become Chelsea boss at 33/1, the club who idolised him as a player, and 33/1 to take the job at Watford where they throw managers to the wind like confetti. You won’t get short odds on him for any managerial role in England right now.
Duffer needs to follow the Keith Andrews lead now, even if that means taking a coaching role at a big club outside Ireland and working his way into the manager’s office.
It worked for Keith and it can work for Damien. He deserves that recognition. And by the way, he needs to stop saying he fell out with everyone he’s met in football along the way to his success at Shels - that’s part and parcel of the game.
He will fall out with more people in his next big job. The sooner the better.
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Shamrock Rovers’ World Cup bound captain Pico Lopes, Christy Moore and Brian Kerr have joined forces with a host of big names from the sporting, entertainment and business worlds to again call on the FAI to refuse to play Israel in the Nations League later this year.
The open letter from the Stop The Game movement to the FAI includes contributions from Lopes in his role as chair of the Professional Footballers Ireland players union.
Moore is the leading showbiz name on the letter which has also been signed by Francis Black, Fontaines DC, Kneecap, Paul Weller, Stephen Rea and Mary Coughlan.
The Irish Mirror reports that former Ireland manager Kerr, ex Ireland women’s team captain Louise Quinn and LOI legend Roddy Collins have also added their names to the open letter calling on the FAI to withdraw from the game in light of the ongoing humanitarian catastrophe in Palestine.
PFAI chair Lopes writes: “We have to stop the game. As players and fans, our natural instinct is always to get out there and compete, but this is a moment where we need to look at the bigger picture.
“We can’t ignore the humanitarian catastrophe in Palestine; the sheer loss of life there has to take precedence over any sporting consideration.
“Ireland has an opportunity here to lead - to be a pioneer and do what others won’t. We need to be brave enough to say enough is enough. We can’t just stand by. Please, stop the game.”
The Stop the Game open letter adds: “To the Football Association of Ireland, Irish fans are rightfully known across the globe as “the best fans in the world”, but with this comes a responsibility to the Irish people whom our country represents. We call upon you to refuse to participate in the two scheduled UEFA nations league games against Israel.
“Firstly, on the basis of the clear and ongoing serious breaches of UEFA & FIFA statute regarding Israeli teams playing on occupied Palestinian lands. As a member of UEFA you have a duty to upload these rules if UEFA will not.
“Secondly, on the basis of a brutal system of apartheid and acts of genocide, both of which are accepted by the Irish government. It is inconceivable that we would be willing to be silent and give cover to such crimes in the name of football.
“We call on you to ensure the Irish football team is not used to mask UEFA rules breaches, apartheid and war crimes. And to respect the call to boycott the game by the majority of players, fans and communities across Ireland.
“Last November, 93% of FAI members voted to instruct the Association to go to UEFA and call for Israel’s suspension under those statutes. We call on you to full respect and represent this mandate.
“Through your leadership and courage we show the world that whilst others may stand idly by, Ireland will not. Just as history rightly celebrates the Dunnes Stores workers during South African apartheid, the FAI will be celebrated by future generations of Irish people for doing the right thing when others did not. Yours in sport. Stop the Game.”
The Stop the Game group add: “This campaign is only beginning and we will do everything in our power to ensure Irish football is not used to give cover to apartheid and genocide.”
FAI Director of Football John Martin has defended his previous actions as Shamrock Rovers CEO regarding the Michael Noonan contract issue which has emerged in recent weeks.
Speaking to the media at a briefing in the Aviva Stadium on Wednesday, Martin responded to reports that parts of Noonan’s contract prompted a complaint from the player’s family to the English FA.
Rovers have since self-reported the contract issue, over a potential breach of third party ownership rules, to FIFA who won’t take any action until Noonan moves abroad with strong interest in the teenager from a number of UK clubs.
Now working as the FAI’s Director of Football, Martin reflected on the Noonan deal during his time as Hoops CEO when he sat down with the media on Wednesday according to a report in the Irish Sun.
He said: “I know Rovers have referred to FIFA and they’re looking for clarity on that. I understand nothing has come back from FIFA yet on it.
“I suppose when something does come back maybe there’s something to discuss at that stage. My views on that agreement and any agreements I made were always made in the best interest of the football club. No other way of looking at it.
“I think when I was there I gave everything I had to the job. I gave my life to the job. I think anyone who’s close to me will know that. In all cases in Rovers you just want to sign the best players. You want to hopefully sell players. In some cases my job there was to make sure we got the best players in.
“There’s probably no specifics of any player contract in Rovers, I’d give away. I did what I thought was in the best interest of the club, which was sign good players.”
The paper reports on Martin’s response when he was asked if he would do anything differently in hindsight.
He said: “I don’t know. You were there for a couple of years and I probably made hundreds if not thousands of decisions. It’s a bit of the burden of leadership. You have to make decisions all the time. That’s the role.
“Of course you look back and say maybe I might have done this different or that different across a range of different things in the club.
“I think without getting into specifics of any agreements, there’s always things you would probably do a little bit differently for sure.”
Title winning former Shelbourne boss Damien Duff has admitted he may need to move abroad to resume his managerial career.
The Ireland winger and Chelsea ace spoke of his future again during an appearance as a Champions League pundit this week with his quotes carried on by The42.ie and other outlets.
The website quotes Duff as saying: “I think I have to start probably looking outside the country, because there’s not a big industry here, as we know/
“I’ve no plan. I have absolutely no plan. I’ve cut my ties with many people but there’s not a lot of jobs, football jobs, coaching jobs in the country. The longer the year has gone on… I belong on the grass. And whether it be here, the UK, or somewhere else, I don’t know.
“The most alive you’ll ever feel for me anyways is on a football pitch. When I retired, I don’t know how I got into coaching but I did and I felt even more alive coaching.”
Duff also revealed details of his recent visit to Brentford’s training ground where he observed former Ireland team-mate Keith Andrews at work as Bees boss.
“It was amazing to see such a well-run club. So it’s not rocket science to see how well they’re doing from top to bottom. Brilliant people, honest people, energy, enthusiasm, obviously real quality. It was so refreshing,” added Duff.
“The minute I walked into the building, I just thought to myself, wow! I’ve known Keith for 15 or 20 years, I’m really pleased for him because I think people were sticking the knife in even before his first game. I think at times, even in the football world, people enjoy sticking the knife in.
“But he’s done brilliant. And even speaking to people away from Keith when I was there; they love him. They’re so fond of him and they’ve been blown away by what he’s brought to the football club.”
Graham Coughlan has been asked to drag Waterford FC off the bottom of the Premier Division after his appointment as successor to the sacked Jon Daly.
Former Newport County, Mansfield Town and Boston United manager Coughlan has agreed a deal until the end of the season with the Blues and will face St Pats in his first game in charge on Friday night.
“I’m delighted to be here at the club. The move happened very quickly, as is the life of football, but I’m excited for this opportunity,” said Coughlan as Waterford still await their first win of the season.
“We’re straight to work now, focusing towards Friday’s game against St. Patrick’s Athletic and the games to follow after that. With a busy fixture schedule ahead of us, it’s time to get our heads down and prepare properly, starting with Friday night.”
Arsenal pushed their Champions League earnings to €139million with their semi-final win over Atletico Madrid on Tuesday night - and could make it €150million if they beat PSG in the Budapest final.
The Irish Examiner reports that the Gunners can add another €11.5million to their coffers if they win the Champions League for the first time in their history on May 30th.
All photos on TheSportsHacks are provided by Sportsfile.com
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