Republic of Ireland manager Stephen Kenny has heaped praise on reportedly imminent Celtic arrival Shane Duffy.
The Daily Mail reported yesterday that experienced centre-back Duffy is set to join the Parkhead side on a one-year loan deal from Brighton.
Neil Lennon has long been searching for another defender to fill the gap left by Jozo Simunovic’s departure. The lack of consistency from both Christopher Jullien and Kris Ajer has also been a concern for the manager this season.
But national boss Kenny has no worries over whether Duffy will be a success in Glasgow. In fact, he believes his countryman is at the “peak” of his career.
As quoted by the Daily Record, Kenny said: “I think it’s important for Shane. He is desperate to play. He is at the peak of his career.
“He has been a very strong personality for Ireland and for Brighton over the last few years. I’m sure a lot of managers would like to have Shane and, the type of player that he is, he needs to be playing. He knows that.
“Whoever gets him will get a really, really competitive centre half who is tremendous in both boxes. He would be a real addition to whoever signs him.”
Having an attacking threat is a bonus
As much as Kenny says that Duffy is brilliant in both boxes, it’s not goalscoring centre-backs we need. Jullien notched seven goals last season and has already bagged two to kick-off the current campaign. What we need is just sheer, no-nonsense aggression, something we haven’t had in our back-line for a long time.
Dedryck Boyata wasn’t everyone’s cup of tea at Celtic, but when he wanted to he could have a real bullish attitude on the pitch, and more often than not showed his strength. It’s why he ended up bagging a move to the Bundesliga too.
And yet, there were signs last season that both Jullien and Ajer could stand the physical stuff when their minds were on it. It’s easy to forget that this is a pairing that helped us qualify for the Europa League last-32. You don’t beat Rennes and Lazio to qualification if your defence is a total shambles.
But so far this season, for one reason or another, things just haven’t clicked at the back. Clumsy mistakes have cost us at times, with even the normally reliable Hatem Elhamed making a serious blunder against Ferencvaros last week.
All of these mistakes are simply branches of the main issue – collective defensive errors. That’s what we hope Duffy will help to eradicate, and if we’re to secure the 10, we really need him to.
In other news, a recently-released English Premier League midfielder has admitted he would love to move to Celtic.
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