Neil Lennon has confirmed the departure of Damien Duff as Celtic first team coach.
The former Chelsea and Newcastle winger has been part of the backroom team since Brendan Rodgers quit in February 2019 but has taken up a new role with the FAI working with Stephen Kenny.
Since taking over as manager, initially on a caretaker basis, Lennon has yet to make any appointments to the club with John Park and Gary Parker overlooked for jobs at the club.
During his first spell as manager Lennon brought in Alan Thompson, Johan Mjallby and Parker while working very closely with Park in recruitment.
Confirming the departure of Duff the Celtic boss told the Daily Record:
I spoke to Damien on Monday and he was in good spirits but he’ll join the FAI. It’s a blow because he contributed immensely and personally I got on great with him.
He’s in his formative years as a coach but he made a huge contribution and there was a good chemistry there. So he’ll be difficult to replace, that’s for sure.
We were waiting on everything getting called first then we’ll look to replace him but it’s not at the forefront of our minds.
Damien’s at home in Ireland but his contract doesn’t run out until the end of next month. If we come back on June 10 we might have him until the end of the month and that might buy us some time to look to bring someone in or promote from within.
There has been speculation on social media that Henrik Larsson should be brought into the management team for next season with some fans suggesting a return for Mjallby.
