Brighton boss makes big Shane Duffy understatement; reiterates Celtic agreement

By David Walton

February 1, 2021

Brighton manager Graham Potter has analysed that Shane Duffy will feel his time at Celtic has “probably not gone as well as he would’ve liked.”

Duffy has been an absolutely disastrous signing after arriving for the season on loan from the Premier League side. The Ireland international arrived with a reputation of dominating centre-forwards and taking no prisoners.

However, a poor start to his Celtic career and an early derby loss to Rangers saw things blow up. Duffy has featured on 23 occasions this season [Transfermarkt]. Hardly any have seen him produce standout performances.

More often than not, Duffy has produced howler after howler at the back, and both in European and domestic football. His latest came in Saturday’s 2-1 home loss to St Mirren, in which he was easily beaten to the ball by Ilkay Durmus for the winner.

And as Brighton boss Potter discussed his loan move, he made the understatement of the season. As quoted by Glasgow Live, Potter said: “Shane is at Celtic for the season, that was the arrangement – he was keen to go there and Celtic were keen to have him.

“It’s a season-long loan and we will assess at the end of that season, it’s probably not gone as well as he would have liked.

“But I have said before that Shane is a fighter, he is a good character and a good guy. I am sure he will be fighting to make things better.”

Brighton will have Shane Duffy back this summer; long-term Celtic future no longer attainable

It feels as though Duffy has now been given umpteen chances to make an impression here. He’s hit the refresh button so many times, yet still makes disastrous mistake after disastrous mistake.

It almost feels as though someone is playing a bad joke here. His form has been so ridiculous that it doesn’t even feel as though this is simply a struggling footballer. It’s worse than that. Absolutely everything that could go wrong for Duffy, does go wrong for him.

Even if he magically produced a fine run of form for the second half of the season, the damage has been done. He’s been shown up at every level for Celtic. Domestically and in Europe, he’s been at massive fault for how grim this season has been.

Shane Duffy’s Celtic spell has been a disaster / (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

It’s at the stage now where you’re starting to feel sorry for him. He doesn’t look like he’s enjoying playing for Celtic anymore. Perhaps the pressure has just been too much for him. But whatever the reason, nothing will have the Hoops looking to take Shane back next season.

It’s a shame too. Everyone of a Celtic mind wanted this to work out. He clearly loves the club like we all do. But he’s been far too amateurish in his performance levels, with so many basic elements such as positioning, strength, and passing badly lacking.

The sooner this nightmare ends for Duffy, the better. Both he and Celtic could do with moving on from this as soon as possible.

In other news, we discuss how Lennon’s attitude towards key fan concerns is badly damaging his reputation.