Duff on song since heading back south

It’s still difficult to figure out what exactly Robbie Keane was thinking of when he turned down a couple of other offers and agreed to head to Celtic for the rest of the season a few weeks back. Sure, the club means a lot to a great many Dubliners and the Ireland captain may well have harboured a genuine ambition to play for them before he hung up his boots. On this front, though, Roy Keane had the right idea when he stopped by Parkhead immediately before packing in playing and embarking on an even more colourful career in management.

 

While Robbie adapts to life in Glasgow, his old friend Damien Duff is showing how much more can come of placing footballing considerations at the top of your agenda when considering your next move. You can argue, as I have attempted to on a number of occasions, that the winger should simply have dug in at Chelsea when Jose Mourinho decided he was surplus to requirements a few season ago – with Arjen Robben departing and Joe Cole invariably injured afterwards, the Irishman would actually have been bound to keep on playing regularly – and you can certainly make a strong case that Spurs rather Newcastle would have been a better destination when he decided he did have to go.

 

Returning to London, though, has rejuvenated the 30 year-old and Giovanni Trapattoni will be anxious to see the man from Ballyboden continue his current run of form into next season as the veteran Italian contemplates a European Championship campaign in which expectations will run a little beyond the mere avoidance of humiliation.

 

Duff often says in interviews that he cares about little else but playing football and so the multitude of off field shenanigans  up at St James’ Park must have represented something of a nightmare for a man who famously likes to sleep a lot when not kick a ball about the place.

 

London would appear to offer plenty of potential distractions too but Duff, who admits to having a soft spot for the odd musical, has clearly been focussed enough to regain something approaching his best form, helped no doubt by the confidence of a manager whose guidance of Fulham has enabled the club to surpass any previous expectations.

 

Not everyone at the club was convinced by the Irishman’s ability when he arrived with one young team mates rather foolishly observing that he could do just about everything better than Duff but was still losing out to his rival in terms of team selection. His form since has comfortably justified Roy Hodgson’s faith in him, however, with the Dubliner contributing hugely to his side’s Europea League run and hugely impressive home league form. And, barring injury, he even looks likely to hit double figures in terms of goals scored in all competitions for the first time since 2004/05, his second season at Stamford Bridge.

 

The FA Cup had been another positive outlet for Duff an while Keane’s Celtic prepare for a trip to Falkirk this weekend, Fulham will be hosting Spurs in one of the games of the weekend with a place in the semi-finals up for grabs.

 

Fulham’s home form suggests they are in with a decent shout of beating their neighbours who are struggling with injuries to key players in both defence and midfield. For Duff and Fulham, with Juventus to come next in Europe, it is the start of what promises be a busy, and exciting, period.

 

The only consolation for Keane is that Roman Pavlyuchenko’s sudden return to the team and prolific goalscoring would suggest he mightn’t even be making the bench at this stage if he’d hung around.

 

 

Bets

 

€25 double on West Ham (-0.5) to beat Bolton and Aston Villa (-0.5) to win at Reading @ 2.95.

 

€25 double on Fulham (0) to beat Spurs and Portsmouth (0) to beat Birmingham City @ 4.02.

 

€25 double on Manchester United v Wolves to produce to three or more goals and Liverpool (-1) to win at Wigan @ 3.75.

 

€25 double on Dundalk to win at Bray and Shelbourne to beat Monaghan United @ 2.79.

Categories: Soccer