One Celtic coach recently gave a heartfelt message to the fans tilting them know it was absolutely devastating to leave the club.
It is always tough leaving your “dream job” especially when you have only just begun to make a name for yourself with your employers. That is what makes the departure of Damien Duff so tough.
Duff quickly established himself as a force to be reckoned with and rapidly gained respect within the Hoops organization. Over the course of his 18 month tenure, the former-Chelsea midfielder quickly gained a rapport with his club and potentially more important the fans.
However, all good things must come to an end. While Duff was beloved during his short time with his Celtic family, his real family needed attending to. Duff worked in Scotland while his family was based in Ireland. During the season you can only imagine how many times he got to see his wife and kids. The likely answer: not much.
As such, Duff made the decision to leave Celtic in order to take care of his immediate family. It makes sense, wouldn’t we all? That being said., Duff left an incredible statement to Celtic and its supporters regarding his premature exit from this club:
"“The role I had at Celtic was my dream job.“I’m absolutely gutted, devastated to be leaving, especially at this time, when we’re going for 10.“It was absolutely a family decision. There is no job in the world that would have taken me away from the role I was in. I’d love to be a brilliant coach one day, but I think it’s more important at the minute that I’m just a brilliant dad, I guess.“For the first while I was away, my kids were like, ‘Daddy, Daddy, stay for nine and 10’, but as time went by, it was more, ‘Daddy, Daddy, when are you coming home?’ Celtic is one big family, but my family is here as well.“It was the best year-and-a-half of my sporting life, and I include my football career in that. It was an absolute dream with amazing people. I’m gutted, but my kids need me, which is always the most important thing to any dad.”"
We can only wish Duff the best in Ireland as he pursues the next part of his career, but more importantly his next stage as a father and husband. While to many of us fans football is the end all be all, we must always remember that family will always come first. We cannot fault a man who bled green and white through and though for taking care of his own.