New Celtic signing Shane Duffy has hailed struggling duo Christopher Jullien and Kristoffer Ajer – stating his belief that he can learn from the pair.
Duffy has arrived at the club on a one-year loan deal from Brighton to help fill the void left by Jozo Simunovic’s departure at the end of last season.
The Hoops are already underway in competitive action this season, and both Jullien and Ajer have struggled to impress. The former gave away a needless penalty at Kilmarnock as he struggled again with the physical battle, whilst Ajer has been in and out of the team.
But even though Duffy’s goal will be to take one of their positions in the starting XI, the big Irishman couldn’t help but big both men up.
As quoted by the Daily Record, Duffy said: “I’m really excited to play and learn from them (Ajer and Jullien). They’re two top players in my opinion. Obviously I watch them closely because I watch Celtic and I’m really excited.
“It’s up to me to try and push them and force my way into the squad. They’ve got a great relationship together and it’s a tough one but I like the competition, I like pushing myself and I like trying to improve other players as well.
“Hopefully I can learn off them.”
Brilliant leadership already from Duffy
Whether Duffy’s comments here are genuine or not is up for debate. But what he’s shown here is brilliant leadership, even on his first day at the club.
Duffy, being the massive Celtic fan that he is, will know just how much Ajer and Jullien have struggled this season. He’ll know in his head that the last thing either man needs to hear is that he’s gunning for their spot.
What the Ireland captain has done here is effectively put his arm around the pair and bigged them up with praise. It’s top top stuff from Duffy, and you can already see why was given the armband for his country over the last week.
Yet in fairness to him, there are aspects of either man’s game that he can learn from. Whilst he’s comfortable on the ball, he doesn’t have the natural passing ability of either of the current first-choice centre-backs. Jullien may be struggling for form in that area at the moment, but generally he’s been a top passer of the ball during his time here.
In terms of defending, there’s plenty he can teach both of his main rivals at the back. So that should hopefully add up to a defensive trio that can help each other improve their respective games.
Duffy may only have been in front of the press as opposed to the opposition yesterday, but even so it was still an impressive performance that oozed off-field class. Hopefully his on-field displays can be of a similar standard.
In other news, a Championship star has reflected on Scott Brown’s brilliant putdown of him.
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