Shane Duffy has finally been given something at Celtic from Neil Lennon that he’s had little of – praise.
Duffy’s time in Scotland has been a total disaster. The Ireland international came up north from Brighton on a season-long loan deal with a reputation of being able to handle physical centre-forwards. In reality, the Premier League star has made basic error after basic error.
So much so that a Lennoxtown graduate in Stephen Welsh has overtaken him in the pecking order. Only an injury to the youngster saw him drop out for Duffy against St Johnstone yesterday. However, to Shane’s credit, he produced a faultless performance and actually made some crucial blocks in his own box.
And his display warranted some mich-needed praise from Lennon. In what’s been a season from hell for the Celtic centre-back, he’ll be pleased after hearing the manager’s words as quoted by the Daily Record:
“I thought he (Duffy) was pretty steady. There were no frills and that’s what we want from him, a good steady performance.”
Duffy put in decent display for Celtic; but Lennon praise has to be considered a start
To his credit, Duffy managed to go through the game without making a mistake of any real note. It’s incredible that it’s come to this, but that must be considered as both a positive and a relief.
I’ve seen some comments on Twitter regarding his involvement for St Johnstone’s opener yesterday. For me, it’s pushing it to blame Duffy for that. He was holding his position as the right centre-back. He may not have picked up a man, but there wasn’t one to pick up. Both Callum McGregor and Greg Taylor should’ve had Shaun Rooney in check.
It’s fashionable to blame Duffy for things, but he didn’t really manage anything poor of note yesterday.
Even so, it’s more of a slap in the fact that his display even needs to be highlighted. This was the kind of fixture we just assumed would be no problem for the big centre-back when he first arrived. Who knew it would’ve been one of his high points instead?
His future at Celtic is over of course. There’s simply no recovery from this disastrous season that would lead to a future at Parkhead for Shane, as bitter a pill as that is to swallow.
But a strong run of form between now and the end of the campaign will out him in good stead ahead of the summer. He needs to sort out his long-term future, and only solid performances for Celtic will help provide him with better avenues.
In other news, we take a look at the most ironic thing Ian Bankier said to the Celtic supporters today.
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