What's in a name? For Shels and Duff, quite a lot

BOSS MAN: Shelbourne manager Damien Duff. Pic: Martin Meienberger, Inpho

Within Damien Duff’s simplified guide to coaching, there’s still room for code.

Among the trigger phrases players at table-toppers Shelbourne are accustomed to from repetition are the Robbie Fowler ball, the Kevin de Bruyne cross and Trappattoni move.

Each signifies a prompt to players in game situations, all angling their focus in a certain direction.

“Maybe people don’t know how I coach but we have a name for everything,” he revealed on the eve of his second home European game as a standalone manager.

“Backpressing, clearing the ball, walking when you should be jogging — we call that the Trapattoni. It’s just a drill.” 

Defender Shane Griffin concurs with the methodology, offering his endorsement.

“When they say Trapattoni, we don’t think of the manager, only backpressing,” said the Corkman. “I’ve had it previously in my career but putting names to the triggers is unique. Everybody catches on straight away. People know what he’s talking about. It’s good coaching.” 

And then comes a zinger topping the lot — the Arnie.

Not that Duff was a childhood Terminator fanatic. His extractions of the bodybuilder-turned-actor-turned-politician Arnie Schwarzenegger derives from the Netflix biopic.

“It’s an outstanding show and we reference Arnie a lot around here,” the two-time Premier League winner explains.

“It’s about having vision, getting off your arse and doing something.

“There is a real marked difference between having a dream and having a vision. We can all dream. I can lie on my bed and dream whereas vision is getting up and doing something about it.” 

A few queries later and it transpires the Arnie relates specifically to autonomy of decision-making. Adults shouldn’t be spoon-fed.

“You listen to your coaches 99% of the time, but there should be one time it’s, ‘Oh no, I should do this instead’.” 

Unfortunately for Shelbourne, the absence of Arnie was their undoing after just 28 seconds in Zurich last week.

From the kick-off, the Swiss side were allowed to rampage into the Shels penalty box and cough up a crucial breakthrough for Ifeanyi Matthew’s close-range finish.

Two more goals either side of half-time ultimately renders the home leg an uphill struggle which logic decrees is beyond them.

“I don't mind saying that there were eight little issues in those 28 seconds that ended up a big issue — the goal,” he reflects.

“One of those eight was an Arne moment. Players go: ‘You told me to do this’ but it's about putting our own stamp and personality on it.

“Jesus, what a hell of a start to a game and you couldn’t make it up. But dissecting it back, it’s small little details we talk about every day which cost us.

 “Let’s call a spade a spade, there are different levels — Zurich are a highly athletic and powerful team — but I absolutely believe we could have and should have shown a better account of ourselves. We still gave them goals; the first two were a disaster.” 

His deep drill is classic Duff, the player who ruled out migrating to coaching before embracing the trade. 

That attention to detail and his crusade for it to matter likely accounts for one of the Zurich players, Armstrong Okoflex, branding him  “crazy”. The winger came under his tutelage both with the Ireland underage teams and Celtic’s U23s.

“I probably should be a boffin or professor,” Duff confesses about his labour of love.

“For the man on the street, games are just 90 minutes but I’m clipping away at videos, rewinding and stopping footage to see what we could do better here.

“It could take forever to watch a game, yet that’s the detail. That doesn’t mean I’m giving the right detail. Last week, it was those eight issues I thought we should have been and could have been done better. We’re not trying to be clever because we’re in Europe.” 

It seems Shelbourne’s European foray is over at the second-round stage but their strong position at the summit with a third of the season left should ensure, like Arnie, they’ll be back.