Damien Duff lands Celtic job that is the perfect step forward for him

"That could be an amazing environment."

That was Damien Duff's take, back in November, on the chance of going over to Scotland to get involved with Celtic. The former Chelsea and Ireland midfielder is set to take up a role as assistant manager with the Celtic Reserves, under Tommy McIntyre, in early 2019. Duff has spent the last two seasons as U15s head coach at Shamrock Rovers but was over in Glasgow last month for talks with the club. Former Hoops star Shaun Maloney departed from McIntyre's coaching set-up in September and Duff, who had come across Brendan Rodgers at Chelsea, was encouraged to interview for the role by the Celtic boss. Asked about the trip over to Scotland on RTE, Duff commented:

"It was so impressive. For me and most Irish men, they are one of the biggest clubs in the world. There is a role going there with the reserves. We’re still talking to them. "What route am I going to go down after finishing football? That’s all I know. I don’t have a school education, so I can’t go down that route. "I’m absolutely obsessed with football, obsessed with learning and improving. That could be an amazing environment to do so."

Those comments certainly made it seem as if Duff would be heading off to Scotland and the news is set to be officially confirmed in the coming days. John Fallon, reporting for the Irish Independent, claims the deal is done and that Duff 'was preferred over four other candidates and was at Parkhead on Thursday to watch Celtic's Europa League tie against Red Bull Salzburg'. The Dubliner is set to join Celtic, in the role, on a full-time basis. He will still be able to get back to Ireland, on occasion, for hos punditry duties with RTE.