Gone but definitely not forgotten

IT’S probably just as well that Damien Duff isn’t a tearing-his-hair-out kinda guy or else he’d be billiard ball smooth by now.

Still, he must offer the occasional raised eyebrow or trademark shrug of the shoulder at the odd realisation that he seems to be turning up in the headlines more since he retired from international football than he ever did before.

Of course, down all the years the Duffer often featured high up in the match reports but that was all about his feet doing the talking. Otherwise, his fabled aversion to the limelight meant that he almost made a career out of keeping the meeja at arm’s length.