Latest news with #Shels'
The Irish Sun
16-07-2025
- Sport
- The Irish Sun
‘You wanted this as a kid' – Joey O'Brien urges Shelbourne players to enjoy European clash with Linfield
JOEY O'Brien says tonight's all-island Champions League clash is not about the money — but rather, it is a chance for Shels' players to show their worth. The 2 O'Brien stepped up from his role as assistant manager when Damien Duff left 2 Shelbourne find themselves 1-0 up on aggregate going into the tie The Reds lead He said: 'Not a lot of lads get a chance to play in a Champions League qualifier, not many lads get a chance to win a Champions League qualifier. "It's great, but ultimately it's about going through to the next round. That's what it's all about. 'I do tell the lads that's not a pressure, that's not something you fear. That shouldn't be something that makes you think, 'If this goes wrong . . . ' Read more on Irish football 'This is what you wanted as a kid, it's to be in these games, it's the pinnacle of club football.' The Dubliners lead 1-0 thanks to a Mipo Odubeko strike in a first leg they absolutely dominated. And their boss — who won the league with the Reds as No 2 to Former Shamrock Rovers, West Ham and Bolton Wanderers defender O'Brien, 39, added: 'It's just about going out and embracing it and enjoying it and showing how good a player you are. Most read in Football 'That's a big thing for me coming into the job and talking to the boys, 'Just go out and show how good a player you are'. That's the biggest thing for me. 'When I was a player, that's what I wanted to be told by a coach, 'Just go out and show people how good you are . . . you're good enough to be at this level'. Celtic launch new away kit with trailer featuring Scottish music icon and Hoops legends 'They've earned the right to be at this level, they done that last year, now it's about going out and having no regrets.'
Irish Daily Mirror
05-07-2025
- Sport
- Irish Daily Mirror
Charlie Lyon's red card looked harsh, until his manager explained sending off
Cork City boss Ger Nash has described as 'unacceptable' the incident that resulted in his side going down to 10 men against Shelbourne on Friday night. Skipper Charlie Lyons, whose mistake led to Shels' second-minute opener, saw red after he took out Scottish midfielder Kerr McInroy. The feeling as the game went on was that referee Rob Harvey had acted harshly in sending off Lyons. However, Nash clarified afterwards that the challenge had initially been deemed a yellow card offence. What was said afterwards to the official led to the card being upgraded to red. Addressing the performance, which saw Cork concede twice inside the first six minutes, Nash didn't hold back. He said: 'I am obviously hugely disappointed, it's a game that passed us by, that we had a chance to pick up points in. We're in a position where we can't do that, it's as simple as that. Click this link or scan the QR code to receive the latest League of Ireland news and top stories from the Irish Mirror. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice. 'It's a hugely disappointing night. The key moment in the game is how we started and how we gifted them the first opportunity, which they took. 'It's tough, you come to a place, they have a new manager (Joey O'Brien), they have Europe next week, they are right on top of it and we end up with a really dreadful start. 'In fairness to the lads in the rest of the half they responded and got ourselves back in the game, showed huge qualities in many respects.' Nash then turned to the red card, which came at a time when Cork had halved the deficit and were looking at the start of the second-half to build on their goal, which came just before the break. 'At half time I thought we were in the game, that we have a real opportunity to go and take some points, we are looking good in that respect,' he said. 'But the key moment in the second half is unacceptable, simply unacceptable, and had a huge bearing on what we can do in the second-half in terms of trying to get ourselves some goals and points on the board. Really disappointing with the key moment.' Nash was asked if it was the referee's decision that he found unacceptable, and he responded: 'Whatever decision the referee made, we're in a position where we have to be disciplined in how we speak to referees, that's part of football. 'I know the reasons why the referee sent him off, the tackle was deemed a yellow card offence, the upgrading of the situation was down to something one of my players said to him, and I won't accept it.' Nash, appointed manager of the struggling Leesiders in mid-May, didn't hold back when criticising the goals his side conceded at Tolka Park. 'It's the softness of the first goal, it's not us, not what we are going to face, going to press in those moments, and it's really poor,' he said. 'How we give away the ball, in the build-up to their first goal, way beyond frustrating and it's unacceptable in terms of the message we give the players and then what goes and happens on the pitch, it's too important. 'This isn't kids football, this isn't the First Division, this is the Premier Division, it's unacceptable how we started the game. 'It's a huge shame as a lot of the players have left a out out there, playing with 10 men for a long time so it's hard to analyse this game. 'The softness of the first goal is huge and then the red card compounds that.'
The 42
26-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The 42
Duff's Shels era went as nobody would have believed and ended as anyone would have predicted
WHICH IS YOUR stand-out, Duffer-you're-not-in-Kansas-anymore moment? This column's is from Shels' league game at the UCD Bowl during his first season, when a sprinkler went rogue and stalled proceedings for eight minutes until it was quelled by an upturned wheelbarrow. This was one episode in the general fascination with his time in the League of Ireland. How would Duff adapt from performing on Broadway to directing on local arts venue stages? Ultimately it went as nobody would have believed and ended as anyone would have predicted. Duff proved to be loveable and maddening; tactical and impulsive; angry and empathetic; hilarious and austere and just generally magnificent. He has been likened to his old boss Jose Mourinho but there are vital differences. Mourinho always cuts an air of cynicism and calculation; with Jose, he always felt slightly separate to that in which he was involved, and so his stunts and rows were always refracted through cool self-interest. Duff was nowhere near as haughty or calculating: he was all-in, standing not above his players but among them. He did not give the impression of a Machiavellian schemer, whose heart and head are kept in strict segregation. No, Duff's were integrated to the point of appearing irretrievably tangled. Hence you never knew whether any of his actions were driven by chilled rationality or raw emotion. Advertisement Around Duff, no ironies or cynicisms could survive, and this is what made the whole show so compelling. Here was a manager who was liable to say anything without ever giving you the impression he didn't firmly believe in that which he had just said. This is a very rare quality: Roy Keane and Eamon Dunphy have been as unpredictable on camera, but they often wore a slight wry smile to allow the audience know it's all just showbiz at the end of the day. Not Duff. This column sometimes wonders if the intensity of Duff's involvement in it all was a slight over-compensation, as he arrived into the job aware that he was a Football Man, but not a League of Ireland man. That there is such a distinction is of course the original sin of Irish football, but it is a reality. The most encouraging fact of the last few years is the chipping away at these divides, with the country and then the FAI waking up to the fact that the health of the national team is symbiotic with the health of the national professional league. The Brexit impact on player development along with the national team's low ebb have played a big part in dissolving these idiotic past boundaries, but Duff played his own role. That a man this successful and famous would be so absorbed within the League of Ireland conferred the league with a certain legitimacy in the eyes of the Floating Voter. It's a hell of a legacy to leave. While Duff is not solely responsible for the league's recent boom, no single person has done more to launch that boom. The trajectory of his Shels team, meanwhile, was irresistible: Cup final in his first year, European qualification in his second, and league title in his third. That league triumph will live in the memory as one of the most improbable Irish sporting triumphs of the century. There is no sporting competition more difficult to win as an outsider than a professional football league, and there is no competition in Irish sport more attritional than the 36-game League of Ireland Premier Division. It was an absurd achievement, really, with a group of players who even in their manager's abrasive final days could acknowledge had their lives changed. A good manager fulfils his players' potential, where a great manager awakens his players to their potential before then fulfilling it. Shels' league triumph will be remembered forever because Duff did the latter. But maintaining that trajectory's peak was beyond him. Duff began grumbling about his players' standards and motivations as early as pre-season, which culminated in those extraordinary comments last Friday night, in which he said he was on his knees trying to provide spark and motivation where his players steadfastly refused. This was the predictable ending, as Duff appears to be another great footballer worn out by his intolerance for the lower standards around him. For all his inconsistencies, Duff's entire Shelbourne career was a war on low standards, both among his squad and around the league. Pitches, referees, facilities, academies, Friday-Monday turnarounds, Abbotstown, mid-season breaks, even the picture him on Dalymount's grassy knoll: all have been attacked at some point for being unbecoming of Irish football. He has appeared to have walked from Shelbourne because he felt his players were incapable of meeting his standards once again. You might argue that Duff is a man of unreasonable demands, but he is a man of unreasonable accomplishments. A 100-cap senior international, a World Cup goalscorer and a key part of one of the best Premier Leagues sides of all time: nobody achieves any of this without a wild and unstinting commitment. (Some footballers write an autobiography to reveal the truth of their playing days – Duff instead became manager of Shelbourne.) The ending, though, is only a small part of the story. Duff is a man of multitudes, and he dedicated them all to Shelbourne and the League of Ireland. He should be forgiven for feeling exhausted. Our golden days have suddenly dimmed.
RTÉ News
23-06-2025
- Sport
- RTÉ News
Damien Duff's exit in keeping with his box office Shelbourne spell
If some of the early naysayers had been proven correct, Damien Duff would have walked away from Shelbourne almost as soon as he arrived. That he didn't may have been a surprise to some of those sceptics. But three-and-a-half years later, with an unexpected league title in the bag and a cup final appearance to boot, the Republic of Ireland legend did what he often did to opposition full-backs by eventually catching everyone napping as he exited Tolka Park stage left on Sunday. There had been signs of growing frustration from Duff about his players' output as Shels' title defence got dragged into a midtable quagmire but with a lucrative Champions League qualifying tie against Linfield only a fortnight away, the sense that the manager would choose to step down right now didn't seem to be on the cards - although his aside about, "What comes on Monday, who knows? Absolutely, who knows?" after Friday's defeat to Derry City was either prophetic or telling in hindsight. But then again, the manner and timing of his resignation shouldn't be that big a surprise, given his abrupt departure from Stephen Kenny's Ireland set-up and has since worn his heart very much on his sleeve during this management journey. Duff had been very candid about the relentless way in which he threw himself into life at Shels, having taken over just before their first season back in the big time. "The 24/7 focus of it... it's just ridiculous," he told RTÉ Sport just before that big kick-off in 2022. "I'm not going home now for a glass of wine, dinner and to read stories for the kids. It's back to work, hitting midnight then getting up early for a meeting to make sure I'm happy for tomorrow. It's absolutely non-stop. Do I enjoy it? Maybe in a strange way, if that makes sense." That passion was evident on the sideline where anyone who would have patented a 'Duff Cam' would have made a pretty penny. Often combustible - the touchline bans, multiple yellow cards and occasional mini-feuds with opposition managers would attest to that. But as results faded, there was some self-reflection recently as he pondered whether the players were subconsciously almost waiting for rollickings from the sideline or in the half-time dressing room to raise their levels. Over the last three-and-a-half years, Duff had built a siege mentality at Tolka which paid off initially, encapsulated in his early catchphrase about "little old Shels" and the somewhat tongue-in-cheek notion that everyone hated them. For a man who was coached by Jose Mourinho at the peak of his career, it's no surprise that he looked to extract some benefits in the us-against-the-world mentality. But as Mourinho's management career has shown, often in three-year spans, that pressure cookers burn bright but do boil over quickly. Like the now Fenerbahce boss, Duff was also magnetic but in his own unique way. Post-match interviews were an event in themselves with the interviewers wondering what quips would be delivered next. And coupled with his status as one of the greatest players to don the green jersey, it made him one of the leading characters in a League of Ireland that finally was breaking into the mainstream post-Covid. Anecdotally, some people who had limited to no interest in the LOI would inquire as to how Duff's Shels were doing. He was the marketing poster child in a time now where Stephen Kenny, who had the biggest job in Irish football until recently, and Stephen Bradley, who has increasingly and bluntly made his voice heard about matters affecting the Irish game, have increased the status of the LOI. So Duff's departure will be a loss to the league, which even his most ardent critics might acknowledge, and the part he has played in elevating its status is self-evident. But the biggest loss will be to Shelbourne fans for whom he delivered a first league title in 18 years in 2024, well ahead of schedule. And for the man himself, who almost did it all as a player, who said winning the league with Shels was the "pinnacle" of everything he's achieved in the game. What's next for Duff? Who knows but it will almost certainly be a surprise.
Irish Independent
23-06-2025
- Sport
- Irish Independent
Sligo Rovers lose to high-flying Shelbourne as league struggles continue
Kate Mooney scored a hat-trick as Shels were comfortable winners in the end, although this may not have been the routine win that the Dubliners were expecting. Shels, managed by former Rovers player Eoin Wearen, were leading 2-1 at half-time after Anna McDaniel pulled one back for the Bit O'Red, and Rovers started the second-half brightly although ultimately Shels' experience and quality shone through. The defending FAI Cup champions were well on top early on, with Rovers stuck in their own half with a lot of defending to do. A Keeva Flynn block on six minutes denied Kate Mooney, before Roma McLaughlin's volley was saved by Bonnie McKiernan in the Rovers goals after good work from Mooney to set it up. Referee Kate O'Brien pointed to the spot on 19 minutes when Roma McLaughlin was body checked by Cara King on the goal-line, and Mooney's penalty just about crept in under McKiernan. A minute later, McKiernan did well to block Mooney's effort from close range, but there was little the Rovers goalkeeper could do to avoid the second Shels goal. In what was a lovely passing move, Rebecca Devereux burst down the right before crossing for Mooney. Mooney's touch allowed her to shake off Keeva Flynn, and the 26-year-old slotted past McKiernan to double Shels' advantage. It was the Bit O'Red who were celebrating on 32 minutes when they reduced the deficit. There was confusion over whether or not there should have been a throw, with Rovers capitalising on a quick switch-off from Shels, with Muireann Devaney's ball finding the run of Anna McDaniel. McDaniel used her pace to beat Pearl Slattery and Nia Hannon, somehow getting her shot in past Amanda McQuillan despite the angle. Rovers started the second-half brightly, with McDaniel dragging her effort wide after Slattery used all of her experience to close down the angle. It should have been 3-1 to Shels on 50 minutes when Mackenzie Anthony just had McKiernan to beat, but the Rovers keeper was well placed to make the save. Shels were appealing for a penalty on the hour mark, when Mooney went down after contact from McKiernan, but referee Kate O'Brien felt the incident didn't warrant a penalty. Mooney got her hat-trick, and Shels' third on 65 minutes when Keeva Keenan's ball into the box was cleared as far as Devereux, and the youngster's cross fell to Mooney who found the net for a third time. Shels ran out 3-1 winners in the end, but there were positive signs for Steve Feeney as his side prepare for next week's Sports Direct FAI Cup tie with DLR Waves at The Showgrounds. The Bit O'Red were beaten 1-0 by DLR Waves in the league last weekend, meaning the Waves are just one point behind Rovers in the league table now. Sligo Rovers: Bonnie McKiernan, Leah Kelly (Roise Burke, 81), Keeva Flynn (Lauren Devaney, 81), Eimear Lafferty, Cara King (Kya McKenna, 68), Sarah Kiernan, Emma Hansberry, Alana Doherty (Mairead McIntyre, 56), Muireann Devaney, Katie Melly (Morgan Burnap, 81), Anna McDaniel. Shelbourne: Amanda McQuillan, Keeva Keenan, Pearl Slattery, Nia Hannon, Leah Doyle (Jemma Quinn, 74), Alex Kavanagh, Rachel Graham (Aoibheann Clancy, 66), Roma McLaughlin (Gabby Del Pico, 70), Rebecca Devereux (Rebecca Cooke, 66), Mackenzie Anthony, Kate Mooney (Maeve Wollmer, 74). Referee: Kate O'Brien.
