Damien Duff has had no shortage of headline-grabbing moments since landing the top job at Shelbourne and last weekend was no exception.
The North Dublin club is in the midst of a revival under the decorated former Ireland winger, launching a title charge in the League of Ireland this season.
Shels are currently top of the league, two points ahead of champions Shamrock Rovers with 13 games played.
Duff's side had endured a minor wobble, going without victory in five fixtures before a hard-fought 1-0 win at home to St Patrick's Athletic restored their momentum.
While Duff received plaudits for the result, it was his post-match antics that garnered the most attention and it is easy to see why.
The 45-year-old took the unprecedented move of pulling Shels fan Ciaran Harmon from the crowd to give a team talk amid the post-match celebrations.
26 April 2024; Shelbourne manager Damien Duff and supporter Ciaran Harmon huddle with the team after the SSE Airtricity Men's Premier Division match between Shelbourne and St Patrick's Athletic at Tolka Park in Dublin. Photo by David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile
Shelbourne fan explains how Damien Duff chose him for team talk
The moment garnered attention far and beyond Ireland, notably appearing in a segment on Mexican TV just days after.
𝗔𝗿𝗿𝗶𝗯𝗮 𝗹𝗼𝘀 𝗥𝗼𝗷𝗼𝘀 | 🇲🇽
Lo mejor de Dublín desde 1895 #DublinsFinest | #Since1895 pic.twitter.com/sRTBCnluSO— Shelbourne FC (@shelsfc) April 29, 2024
Shels' fan Harmon since spoke to Balls about the moment with Duff, offering clarity on how it all came about.
"What happened was one of the lads Darragh Farrell had a megaphone,' he recalled.
"We all thought he (Duff) was coming over to try and grab the megaphone because we had our arms out to try to get him to take it.
"But he goes 'no I don't want that, I want you' and just grabs me from the barriers and he just reefed me down.
"And when I was walking over to the lads in the team he was like 'I want you to make a team talk' and I was like 'I've got no voice left here what do you want me to say!?'.
"He goes 'you're talking first' and I said 'I don't know what you want me to say here Duffer' and he goes 'say anything'.
"I was like "this is what we're about! Let's f***ing go! Come on!' and all the boys were like "yeow come on!" and I was thinking 'what is going on here?!?'
"That was it! What do you say? I had nothing planned!"
Harmon added that he has a friend who lives in Mexico that is due to give him a translation of the segment that aired on Mexican TV.
Duff had drawn a mixed response in the lead-up to the win against St Pat's for his comments on Shels player Shane Farrell, who was red-carded in their draw with Shamrock Rovers.
He took aim at Farrell's approach away from the field, referencing his diet will appearing to blame him for the result.
Damien Duff had some strong words for Shane Farrell following his dismissal in last nights draw vs Shamrock Rovers.
The substitute was sent off after just 13 minutes on the pitch in last nights Ringsend Derby. pic.twitter.com/J7uC4BxWIB— FM104 (@FM104) April 23, 2024
"Regarding Shane, here, I am always honest privately and in public... he knows he has let everyone down," he told reporters.
"I used to laugh about his diet, in year one, the chicken fillet rolls, whatever. That time has passed now. How you live your life off the pitch, how you train usually gets shown up on a match night and it did.”
However, Ahern - like many Shels fans - is a fan of Duff's honest approach and hopes that Farrell will come back a better player for it in the future.
"The thing about Shane Farrell is, Duffer always tells it how it is,' he said.
"It doesn't seem to have affected Shane too much because he put up an Instagram post after Damien said what he said. So there doesn't seem to be any bad blood between them.
"As he (Duff) said, he is as honest as it gets. It was a bit mad and nobody thought he was going to say that but as he said, he is as honest as he is.
"In his post-match interview he said he is willing to hurt anyone and offend anyone to get Shels back to where they want to be.
"That is what you want to see in a manager. Sean Boyd even talked about it and he said he is ruthless and he has been on the end of it as well. But you just get on with it. If you can't stick the heat, get out of the kitchen basically.
"Hopefully Shane bounces back now to the way he was after that."
