Duff is clueless but still has soft spot for Kerr

As most of those around were obsessed about the FAI's shortlist to succeed Mick McCarthy, Damien Duff revealed the extent of his preoccupation with the question while on a flying visit home to Dublin yesterday.

Half the city's sports media had shown up to see the 23-year-old winger help launch Ignition, a new insurance product aimed at young drivers by Hibernian with the sole intention of shaking him down for inside information on the destination of Irish football's top job.

There was a sense of collective shock when the star, asked what he reckoned might happen over the coming weeks or two, pretty much announced that he doesn't have a clue. Worse, he has been relying on the people who were yesterday relying on him to find out what the situation was.

"You don't hear too much about it over in England really, so what I've seen has come just from when my Ma comes over and brings the Irish papers with her," he told journalists whose speculative chickens now appeared to be coming home to roost.

Duff said that he has talked to a couple of other players about it but that none seemed to have any better idea of what is happening than him. "I don't think we feel it matters that much who gets it," he said. "We know that we've taken a lot of stick over the last while, but we all feel that we're still good enough to qualify for the European Championships whoever ends up being in charge of the team.

"I'd like to see them appoint someone in time for the Scotland game, though. They've had enough time at it and they seem to be interviewing people left, right and centre. Hopefully they'll get it done now over the next couple of weeks."

It's not exactly Duff's style to come out against anybody in a situation like this and when asked if he felt the players should be canvassed for their opinions he didn't seem to be bothered by the idea, observing that he has never been consulted about the string of management changes during his time at Ewood Park but that things seem to have worked out rather well there regardless. There was never any real doubt, though, that the man whose earliest experiences in a green shirt came in Ireland teams managed by Brian Kerr would have a soft spot for the candidacy of his long-time mentor.

"Everyone knows what I think of Brian Kerr," he said softly and with a hint of surprise that the question would even be raised. "He gave me my chance when he took me to Malaysia when I was three years younger than the age for that tournament. I think he's brilliant and hopefully we'll meet again some day."

It's often hard to tell with Duff whether he has already acquired the mastery of a very senior pro in dealing with the media or whether he is genuinely still perplexed by all of the attention each time he is asked to sit down and answer the same questions all over again. Calmly, as first the daily papers then radio and finally the Sundays quizzed him, he repeatedly expressed his continuing admiration for Roy Keane yesterday. He added that he would love to have him back in the Ireland squad before politely conceding that yes, the Corkman's return might not go down quite as well with everyone in the panel and no, the team's chances of earning a place at Euro 2004 were not all dead if the Manchester United midfielder was not persuaded to come back.

There were also questions regarding his future at Ewood Park in the face of renewed speculation over interest from leading clubs in England and Italy. "I expected it all to come up again," he smiled, "but I signed a new deal with Blackburn and I'm very happy there; they look after me very well."

Finally, there was his impending triumph in a UEFA-organised poll to find the European team of 2002. Duff leads the left-sided midfielder category despite some fairly fancy rivals after another campaign to get people voting for one of our own on line. "I think it's farcial," he laughed. "But I'd heard about it all right. One of my best mates rang me last week to tell me he'd started the whole thing."