Ex-Newcastle United man told he has all the attributes to manage in Premier League - but should avoid one job

BBC Match of the Day pundit Danny Murphy has claimed that former Newcastle United winger Damien Duff has all the attributes required to be a successful manager and claims that he would love to see him in the Premier League at some point in his career.

The former England international crossed paths with Duff in 2009 when the Republic of Ireland international left St James’ Park to complete a £4m move to Fulham just months after Newcastle United’s relegation to the Championship.

Duff scored the own goal against Aston Villa, which ultimately consigned Newcastle to relegation to the Championship, but his manager at the time Alan Shearer said: “He was a great lad with great work ethic, but I wouldn’t have expected to see him on the sidelines.”

However, Murphy claims that he is not surprised at all to see Duff in the dugout with Shelbourne and claims that the Irishman has a great understanding of the game and a steely determination to succeed.

Speaking about Duff, Murphy told Boyle Sports: “Damien Duff is a brilliant character with a wonderful attitude, a great professional with a dry sense of humour. He's a watcher, a listener, not always vocal, but always studious, always assessing new players, always watching people train to see how they got on. “Duffers was great, little one-liners sometimes putting people in their place or giving people a little kick up the backside. Just a really solid guy to have around the place, super player. 

“I really got on with him well and respected him. We had good times together. The management thing doesn't surprise me actually. He's got steely determination, he's been a winner. He understands the game, he understands the value of hard work and commitment as well as the talent.

“He's got a bit of fire. He's got an Irish fire in him. He's quiet a lot of the time, but you wouldn't want to fall out with him. So I think he's got all the attributes to go on and do really good things. I'd love to see him in the Premier League at some point. I'd love it.”

The former Chelsea and Blackburn Rovers winger briefly worked with the Republic of Ireland under-15s after his retirement and worked as assistant coach of the first team under Stephen Kenny between April 2020 and January 2021 before going on to forge a managerial career of his own with Shelbourne.

Duff has been a huge hit with the League of Ireland Premier Division club and recently led them to a first league title while ending Shamrock Rovers’ four year reign of dominance.

The 100-time international’s performances in recent months have led to many experts, including Alan Shearer tipping him to one day become the manager of the Republic of Ireland, but Murphy believes this would be the wrong step for his former team-mate to take.

He added: “Damien Duff has started well but I think taking the Republic of Ireland job with the limited quality of players, you're on a hiding to nothing for the foreseeable future. “Maybe in 10, 15 years when they've got a new crop of players. He's a very proud Irishman. I'm sure he'd take it at some point, but I don't think that would be the right thing for his career trajectory right now.”