Derry City FC: Michael Duffy adapting to changes
The Galliagh native admits while it’s all change at Derry City, it’s exciting times for the club
Winger Michael Duffy concedes working with Patrick McEleney, rather than playing with him week in, week out is very different.
The 30-year-old is also gutted that the Shantallow man isn’t drilling crosses to him any more before training.
“It has been good to have him back and it has been brilliant having him about the place. I feel he’ll be brilliant in that role and it’s good having Fats’ experience back amongst the squad,” stated Duffy.
“The knowledge he has in this league and he has been brilliant for all the players. I know he has also been brilliant for Tiernan, Seamus and all the back-room team, so he’s a great addition to us this year.
“Obviously I’m delighted he’s staying around, but we can’t mess about before and after training and he can’t set me up for volleys and stuff like that. But as I said he’s good to have him back and he really is enjoying it. Yes, it’s different for him, but he’s still getting his game time elsewhere, but he’s really enjoying being part of Derry’s back-room team.”
The Galliagh native admits while it’s all change at Derry City, it’s exciting times for the club.
After Ruaidhri Higgins departed in November, the Brandywell out-fit moved quickly to appoint Larne gaffer Tiernan Lynch and Duffy explains the Belfast man’s appointment hasn’t given everyone a lift.
“It’s exciting now and we’re counting down the days until the first match,” he said.
“Pre-season has been brilliant, he has been really good and really tough. There have been a lot of changes and it has been different this year but as I said it has been really good and enjoyable.
“We’ve got plenty of game time throughout pre-season, which was what we needed and everyone is really excited for that first match at Shels.
“The first couple of weeks were very tough and Tiernan obviously likes a different regime in terms of days in and days off and it might have taken us a week or two to get used to it, but we can feel the benefits of it now.
“As I said it has been hard work, but it has been really enjoyable at the same time and everyone is loving it and that’s all you want.
“The club is transformed, as a lot of the changes have happened off the pitch. We now have our own training base at Owenbeg and the wee pre-season training came away in Cork was also really enjoyable.
Duffy in action against Patrick McEleney in the recent friendly game against Ballymena United at the Brandywell. Pic by Tom Heaney, nwpresspics
“Even in between sessions we have our wee chill room where we're playing darts and table-tennis and have a bit of team bonding. We have a big meeting room, our food is made there, look it’s just great that we’re all in the same place together every day and that’s what you need at the top level.”
Last season in the run-in the Candy Stripes fell short and in the end suffered back to back league defeats before ending what was a terrible 2024 with a dreadful FAI Cup Final loss to Drogheda United, in all three of those crucial games City lacked leadership, something which Lynch has addressed in the off-season by adding the likes of Liam Boyce, Shane Ferguson, Carl Winchester, Gavin Whyte and Robbie Benson.
With champions Shelbourne, Shamrock Rovers and Stephen Kenny’s St Patrick’s Athletic all strengthening, talk of Derry being in the title mix isn’t a noise this campaign, something which Duffy doesn’t mind.
“I just feel that the league is gradually getting better and every team is strengthening,” he explained. “You’ve seen the signings St Pat’s have made, Shels have strengthened and Bohs as well and Rovers have also made a few quality signings, so personally I feel the league has progressively got harder every year and it will do so again this season.
“People might be forgetting about us at the minute and that’s a good thing, we’ll just focus on ourselves. We know that we’re building a good squad and things are going well here at the minute, so let's just hope that we get off to a good start once the season gets underway.”