Inside Celtic's Damien Duff replacement hunt as a 'number of options' are on the table
The Irishman is leaving Glasgow for family reasons and will take up a post within Stephen Kenny’s national-team set-up.
by Craig Swan, https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/authors/craig-swan/Celtic No.2 John Kennedy insists he won’t rush a decision to replace Damien Duff.
The Irishman is leaving Glasgow for family reasons and will take up a post within Stephen Kenny’s national-team set-up.
Duff has been a key figure for Neil Lennon since his return to the club 15 months ago.
Ex-stars Stephen McManus and Darren O’Dea are amongst those believed to be under consideration for the role, but Kennedy says time will be taken.
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He explained: “Me and Neil have spoken about things although no decision has been made yet.
“Damien was a great addition to the coaching team. He’s a terrific guy and with a great mentality.
“He has a young family who had to move back to Ireland. They didn’t settle.
“Damien was fully committed to Celtic, spent so much time in his role.
“But, ultimately, he had a young family who needed his support back home and he had to make a very tough decision.
“He was gutted, but it wasn’t the FAI taking him back to Ireland, it was his family.
“Secondary to that, the FAI job became available. It was disappointing to lose him. But we understood.
“We’ll look to confirm his replacement in the coming weeks. We’ve looked at a number of options.
“There are guys within the club who could fit the bill while we’ve also got a lot of connections outwith that who also fit the bill.
“It’s not a necessity having a Celtic background, but probably an understanding of the club and the job will help. It makes sure you’re not caught by surprise coming in. We won’t rush.”