SHANE DUFFY has come in for a lot of criticism this season on the pitch because he’s not been at a level many expected.
His Ireland teammate Seamus Coleman defended the Hoops defender during and Ireland FA press conference this week where Coleman went into detail about how the big man is doing.
We have heavily criticised Duffy for his performances but we don’t go beyond that realm or make it personal like some fans seem to do when players aren’t producing on the pitch.
Coleman believes there are a number of factors at play as to why Shane hasn’t been up to scratch and people need to cut him a break.
“Shane Duffy is a warrior, Shane Duffy is a leader, I think all us Irish people have seen that over the years with his performances.” Coleman told SunSport.
“Listen, he’s not had the easiest time over in Scotland. I’ve watched the games that he’s played and I don’t think Shane Duffy is the reason why things aren’t going the way they wanted up there, there’s a lot of other reasons, I’m sure, for it.
“I don’t know if he’ll mind me saying this or not, but Shane Duffy’s dad passed away last summer and not long after his dad died, he was straight back on a plane for Brighton and straight up to Celtic, and they’re the little things that I don’t think people take into account.
“I don’t know if he will even have had the opportunity to mourn his dad properly. This football bubble is so important – ‘Yeah, you’ve got to get back to work, you’ve got to get back to Brighton…’.
“For me, a lot of that has to be taken into account too, and we all need to bear that in mind because the lad would do anything for his club or his country.
“He doesn’t sulk, he’s a great character around the place, he’s a warrior and he had a tough time, and jumped on a plane to get back to work, maybe quicker than most people would, so I think Shane Duffy has done enough.
“He has enough credit in the bank for his country for us to keep supporting him.”
This whole year has been a lot to digest for everyone, it’s more difficult when you have just lost a parent. Shane came up here with the best of intentions and it hasn’t worked out.
We must always try to take into account the human side of things. Some, including myself, view footballers as robots at times and that’s not the way it is.
There should be no ill-feeling towards Shane and I’m sure he will go on elsewhere next season and prove his worth.
It’s just not worked out in Glasgow, and that will hurt him a lot because he is such a big Celtic fan.
