IN ANCIENT ROME, one of the qualities of a Centurion was to be “readier to execute the orders he receives than to talk.”
To be fair to Damien Delaney, he wasn’t completely tight-lipped at yesterday’s unveiling of him as a Cork City player again.
However, if he knew why AS Roma’s English-language Twitter account was so taken with him, he wasn’t revealing it.
“I appreciate Roma for their efforts, maybe the guy that runs the account is possibly a Palace fan, I don’t know, I genuinely don’t know, that’s the only link I could possibly see.
“People seem to be getting good mileage out of it. I don’t know, I’m not big on the whole social media thing, just people texting me saying what’s going on.
I’m not 100 percent sure what it is, but I know there’s something there. It’s quite humorous, to be honest!”
Even with that denial, the Roma account tweeted the following yesterday:
Nothing but respect for a true gentleman and ultimate professional.
— AS Roma English (@ASRomaEN) June 12, 2018
He told us at the hotel that he didn't want any publicity for his heroic actions, he was just doing what anyone would have done in that situation, and for that reason, we will respect his wishes.#GrazieDamien https://t.co/wB1u9tzhqX
“Nothing but respect for a true gentleman and ultimate professional.
“He told us at the hotel that he didn’t want any publicity for his heroic actions, he was just doing what anyone would have done in that situation, and for that reason, we will respect his wishes.”
Delaney is returning to the Rebel Army 18 years after he left to join Leicester City.
While he is taking a large wage-cut compared to what he was earning at Crystal Palace, negotiations with former team-mate and now manager John Caulfield were very straightforward.
“It was never about money,” he said.
If I was about money, I’d have gone foreign and chased it. I understand full well that Cork City are under financial restrictions, they can’t compete with anything, but it’s my choice to come here.
“I knew what was on offer elsewhere and I knew what was on offer here and I chose this and I’m ecstatically happy to be here. It was more about playing football and getting my girlfriend a settled life.
“I said, ‘What’ll you give me?’ he said, ‘That,’ and that was literally the size of it. I’ve got a kid on the way now as well and it wouldn’t be fair on my girlfriend to be dragging her here, there and everywhere and me being away a lot.
“Objectively, when I stepped back, it ticked every box for me really, but the main was what these guys have been doing here.”
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