David McMillan: Damien Duff and Shelbourne thriving off 'unique' bond

Damien Duff's "unique" character and bond with Shelbourne bodes well for further success down the line, according to former Dundalk league winner David McMillan.

In just his third season as a manager, Republic of Ireland great Duff led Shels to their first League of Ireland Premier Division title in 18 years after the 1-0 win at Derry City on Friday, upending expectations in the process.

In other circumstances, a title-winning manager, especially one of Duff's stature in the game, would find themselves the subject of feverish speculation about moves to more lucrative climes.

But speaking on the RTÉ Soccer Podcast, McMillan highlighted how inimitable the former Chelsea, Newcastle and Blackburn Rovers winger has proven to be - much to Shelbourne and the LOI's benefit.

"In terms of Duff, it's quite a unique situation," he said.

"He left Celtic as a coach, he left Ireland as a coach. He worked for a while at Shamrock Rovers, comes in as a manager of Shelbourne and even I had question marks of, 'Why does he want to do this? What's driving him? He's left other jobs, how long will he last here at Shelbourne?'

"And he's just blown everything I thought out of the water in terms of his want, his drive, his ambition with that club and to go, in three years, to continually improve year on year and as a 25/1 outsider to go and win the league is a remarkable couple of years.

Listen to the RTÉ Soccer podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

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