PA Sport seem to think that Roy Hodgson has ‘rescued’ Damien Duff’s career. He himself contests the statement, saying that injuries disrupted the Irish winger’s career, and it wasn’t as if was kept under lock and key at Newcastle.
I didn’t follow him closely during those years he was at Newcastle because I was out of the country, all I know is when he left Chelsea to go to there for big money, he suffered quite a number of important injuries.
Whether suffering injuries is the same as losing your way is something I would contest. All I can say is that he is a better player than the one I worked with at Blackburn 12 years ago.
It’s still a positive comment on Hodgson’s managerial ability that he can bring Duff into the team and have him performing at his best within 12 weeks, especially when some of those have coincided with injury lay-offs. One thing’s for sure, the boy’s one hell of a player.
