Damien Duff irate after under par Shelbourne performance
Shelbourne manager Damien Duff. Picture: ©INPHO/Ciaran Culligan
A fuming Damien Duff insisted Shelbourne don’t deserve to be leading the League of Ireland table.
The Ireland legend was fuming at the lack of intensity in Friday’s 1-1 draw against Drogheda United, the only part-time team in the division whom he says were disrespected by his players.
Shels have been the success story of the Premier Division, leading from the start as the midway point of the campaign looms.
The notion of the league trophy being brought back to Tolka for the first time since 2006 isn’t on Duff’s radar at present, as he doesn’t deem it realistic on the basis of what he witnessed on Friday. They have won just once in their last nine.
Trailing at the break to a Frantz Pierrot opener within 125 seconds, he hooked three players at the interval. It would have been more had he been permitted under the rules.
“To be not highly motivated, especially when you are top of the league, I find incredible,” Duff cribbed.
“It's not acceptable how we started the game, how we approached the first half, just rolling into the game. I was really disappointed with our application and our intent in the first half. I have said many times, if you are any way off, you won't win games in this league.
“I could tell after 30 seconds.... you can even tell sometimes in the warm-up, if you are a highly motivated player, highly-motivated person, you could see in the warm-up sometimes I come out, have a look and it's 'oof, worried about that'.
“If we can't change it as coaches - and I don't think it's our job - do you change players? I don't know.”
After a busy period of six games in 22 days, there’s a week until Friday’s visit of in-form Waterford. Shels players had already arranged a social gathering for Saturday, an outing he’s not sure is warranted.
The two-time Premier League winner added: “Our players are given motivational tools, coaching, love, they are given absolutely everything so I didn't need to speak to them again.
“They have the weekend off, that was planned a while back - they have a night out planned Saturday night.
“It's their free time (but) if I was a player I probably wouldn't go. We are all wired differently.
“All I can think about driving home after the game is that first half. We're still top of the league but I am sick of referencing being top of the league to the media or the players - we don't deserve to be top of the league.
“Each week we come in and we’ve scraped a point, we're still there because everyone else has dropped points.
“That's the league and I can't see it changing but people need to forget about that for now. Players need to apply themselves properly to every game first.”
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