CELTIC MANAGER NEIL Lennon has confirmed that Damien Duff will leave the club when his contract expires next month.
The former Republic of Ireland winger has been working as first-team coach with the Glasgow outfit since Lennon returned for a second spell as manager in February 2019.
However, it was revealed in April that he will serve as assistant manager to new Ireland boss Stephen Kenny from 1 August.
Lennon has told the Daily Record that Celtic must now find a replacement for Duff, who will focus on his duties with Ireland instead of combining both roles.
“I spoke to Damien on Monday and he was in good spirits, but he’ll join the FAI,” said Lennon, whose side were confirmed as Scottish Premiership champions for the ninth consecutive season earlier this week.
“It’s a blow because he contributed immensely and personally I got on great with him. He’s in his formative years as a coach but he made a huge contribution and there was a good chemistry there. So he’ll be difficult to replace, that’s for sure.
“We were waiting on everything getting called first, then we’ll look to replace him, but it’s not at the forefront of our minds.
“Damien’s at home in Ireland but his contract doesn’t run out until the end of next month. If we come back on 10 June we might have him until the end of the month and that might buy us some time to look to bring someone in or promote from within.”
Duff had initially taken up a role with Celtic’s reserve team, having started his coaching career in the underage set-up at Shamrock Rovers, where he finished his playing career.
Originally published at 11.32
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