Shamrock Rovers manager Stephen Bradley said that he is sad to see Damien Duff leave Shelbourne, despite the rivalry between the two.
In a season where he butted heads with Duff on multiple occasions, Bradley expressed disappointment at his departure and praised the former Ireland winger for his accomplishments with Shels.
“I am sad to see him leave Shelbourne and the league as a whole. He’s obviously a very good manager and coach, he’s a good person and he was very, very good for the league. Hopefully he comes back in the league at some point.
“He’s a good manager, good coach. He did brilliant things for them, delivered them a league title, brought them to Champions League this year, so it’s sad to see him to leave.”
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Bradley stated that their rivalry was natural, given the teams they coach, as Rovers and Shelbourne are the last two league champions: “My job is to win for my football club, his job is to win for his football club, that will never change.”
However, he refused to say that this was the sole reason for the tension between the two managers: “Ah no, there was lots in it, but that’s not for me to talk about right now. Like I said, sad to see him leave the league and Shelbourne.”
The discord between the pair grew after Duff walked straight down the tunnel after a 2-2 draw at Tallaght Stadium in April, without shaking hands with the Rovers manager.
Bradley used the following matchday programme to highlight the incident, which he felt showed a “lack of respect”. Meanwhile, Duff felt similarly about comments Bradley had made about the Shelbourne manager before that match.
The hatchet seemed to have been buried when the pair met again earlier this month, with handshakes before and after Rovers’ 2-1 win at Tolka Park.
By the end of the night though, Duff felt aggrieved by the league leaders’ celebrations in the away dressing room.
“It’s not a disagreement, I’m absolutely right. I think there’s a way to win, with respect, humility and class. I’ve done that since I was a boy and I’m not sure they’ve done that tonight.”
Bradley said that he had not spoken to Duff since his surprise resignation on Sunday, and that any conversation to resolve their disputes would be solely between him and the former Shels boss.
Elsewhere, Shelbourne interim manager Joey O’Brien started life as boss of the champions with a 2-2 draw away to Waterford after what he admitted was a “mad 24 hours” for the Tolka Park club.
O’Brien that his players were “shocked by the departure” of Damien Duff, but he was pleased about how they responded on the field.
Harry Wood scored a brace at the RSC with the crossbar denying Shels all three points in the dying seconds after Daniel Kelly’s stunning strike struck the underside of the woodwork.
Commenting after the game about Duff, O’Brien said: “It was a shock for everyone in the football club, myself included. From a personal point of view, I absolutely loved the manager. He will always be my manager.
“We had some great times and he built this really. When you look at the success that we’ve had over the last few years, I don’t think that it would be possible without him. As I said to the lads before the game, we’re the luckiest people in the world because we get paid to be involved in professional football.
“There’s just such a small few that get paid to do so, and they should feel privileged. It has been a tough 24 hours for all involved in the football club, but I think that the players responded tonight and we were unlucky not to win all three points.”
