Shane Duffy responds after receiving abuse from Celtic fans

Shane Duffy has responded after receiving abuse from Celtic fans for his disappointing display against the Rangers in a game we lost 2-0.

Shane Duffy’s arrival was seen as the biggest coup of the transfer window. A man who had proven himself in the Premier League and was expected to transform the Hoops defence. On top of that, he was a lifelong Celtic fan. It seemed like a match made in heaven.

Things have not gone quite as well as expected though. Yes, Duffy has added an aerial threat to this side that did not exist before. But defence is his bread and butter. And very often he gets the team in danger, playing terrible passes from the back.

That’s exactly what happened against the Rangers. And it is safe to say that the Celtic fans were not impressed. Some of them even took to Twitter to give their verdict on the Republic of Ireland defender.

Being a Celtic fan, Duffy knew what was at stake on the day. And he was ready to take responsibility for his performance. He wrote on his Instagram following the game:

"“Big and ugly enough to accept that today weren’t good enough from me personally and the team overall. I can accept the abuse towards me not the first and won’t be the last but I won’t ever give up on making it right again. It hurts today personally in such an important game for me to not play well and lose my first game for Celtic . Can only apologise to the fans for today it really hurts at the minute.”"

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The biggest problem with Duffy though is the fact that he is not being played to his strengths. He is not a terrific passer of the ball, never has been. Playing him in the middle of the back three just exposes that weakness of his. That is a position that would be more suited to someone like Nir Bitton or Christopher Jullien, probably even Kristoffer Ajer for that matter.

It is not the right thing to do to write him off completely. He has added a lot to this team since arriving. We did have four clean-sheets on the trot before the horror show against the Rangers. And all the players on the pitch as well as the manager are responsible for that.

Duffy is a great defender on his day. One whose position Neil Lennon needs to change as soon as possible. The manager has been dealt some decent cards by the board in this transfer window. At this moment, he is playing them completely wrong though.