Advertisement League of Ireland Horse Racing TV Listings GAA Fixtures The Video Review Sport meets news, current affairs, society & pop culture Rugby Weekly Extra Dive into all the news and analysis 3 times a week The Football Family Weekly insights from the week’s big talking points Advertisement More Stories Joey O'Brien (left) with Damien Duff last week.Dan Clohessy/INPHO 'I told him to take a couple of days... His mind was made up' - Joey O'Brien on Damien Duff's dramatic exit Shelbourne No.2 steps into caretaker charge and details a whirlwind 24 hours for League of Ireland champions. 11.31pm, 23 Jun 2025 Share options David Sneyd JOEY O’BRIEN SAYS he was just as shocked and stunned as everybody else by Damien Duff’s decision to resign as Shelbourne manager. And the former assistant, who was in caretaker charge for the 2-2 draw with Waterford tonight, admitted he tried to persuade Duff to take a couple of days to think about his decision before making it final. O’Brien insists the former Shels boss had his mind made up by the time he informed the club on Sunday morning, and while he would not go into the exact reasons Duff gave for feeling it was time to go, he opened up on the journey the pair shared together since 2022, leading to a Premier Division title last season and now a premature exit just a couple of weeks before the first qualifying round of the Champions League. “I was as shocked and stunned as the whole football club, but it happened so quickly, it moves on. It was just so unexpected. I wasn’t expecting it, and the football club weren’t expecting it,” O’Brien said. Advertisement “What the manager’s done for me since I’ve come in, since I started working with him, what he’s done for this football club and the times he’s given to this football club, it’s just been remarkable. The reality is, I don’t think anyone would have done what he’s done, taking a team from literally a First Division budget to stabilise it, build it and grow it the way he did, and improve players, and gradually improve it to winning the league within three years, the way he’d done it and the players that we had and how he grew it. It was just a remarkable job. “I’ll always be indebted to him. He’ll always be a close friend of mine, but I wasn’t expecting it. But again, here it moves on, it’s football. I’ve been involved in it since I was 15. “I’ve seen the harsh reality of professional football in all senses, as a player, managers getting sacked, managers walking away and everything like that. I said to the boys, ‘lads, we spoke a lot about being professional footballers and the demands of being a professional footballer that you should put on yourself’. I think some of those quotes have been mistaken as if demands are too much, or demands shouldn’t be put on players. “You should love demands as a player and I think our lads do. Ultimately, when you have demands, how you train, maximum every day, and wanting to be the best player in training and having the ambition to be the best player in this league or best player in your position, that’s demands. That’s what you should be with. I think our lads have embraced that over the last three and a half years. That’s why we have got the success that we’ve had.” Reflecting on the events of Sunday morning, when Duff made the decision to walk away, O’Brien added: “I told him to take a couple of days and then see if he changes his mind, but listen, he was adamant and he made up his mind and he’s lived by it. That was it. “His mind was made up, I don’t think anything was going to try and change that, you know? Listen, as I said, we had some unbelievable times, he’s a great friend of mine, and I absolutely love him, but he made that call, and as I said, this game had to be played tonight, and it was the football club badly needed three points, and unfortunately, we didn’t get it. “He leaves it in a great place. The squad he built there, they’re his players. I think looking at that game there tonight, it probably sums up our season really, as in total domination, so many chances, didn’t take them and then cough up two awful goals.” O’Brien insisted Shelbourne “is bigger than everyone, and it was here before all of us and it’ll be here after all of us”, and that stepping up to take the job on a caretaker basis was something the club were keen for him to do. He was understandably reticent to speak about staying in the job beyond Friday’s visit to Galway. “My loyalty was, the manager said, obviously, he was going. There was a match to be played here tonight,there’s obviously been the two of us the last few years, and there wasn’t. I wasn’t even really asked, or I wasn’t even asked to take it. “It was just like, that’s it, he’s gone. There’s a match tomorrow, and there’s a match for this football club, and it was badly needed three points, and yeah, unfortunately we didn’t get it. “It’s happened so quick, and everything’s happened so quick, and it was just about preparing the team and getting the lads ready, and yeah, it was great credit to the lads. I said that to them in there. Couldn’t be prouder. Been in football a long, long time, but for that, the way it’s happened yesterday, and for all of them, obviously, they were shocked and saddened by the whole thing, but they went and performed the way they did.” David Sneyd Viewcomments Send Tip or Correction Embed this post To embed this post, copy the code below on your site Email “'I told him to take a couple of days... 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