I will probably always live with that- loan bhoy gives insight into Celtic’s season of misery

Shane Duffy has opened up on his nightmare season on loan at Celtic.

Arriving as the warrior to provide an extra kick towards 10-in-a-row the Irishman discovered a club imploding in the middle of lockdown.

Neil Lennon and Peter Lawwell welcomed Duffy to Celtic last September but before spring had arrived both men had announced their departures with half a dressing room counting down to moving on to ‘new adventures’.

On top of that the experienced defender had to deal with the death of his dad at the age of 53 which put all of the other unfolding dramas into perspective.

Looking back 12 months, Duffy told the Daily Mail:

It was definitely the lowest I have been. It was hard enough dealing with what had happened to my dad but I also didn’t get to see my kids for a year because I couldn’t fly to Ireland to where they were. It was a lonely time and maybe it did affect me on the pitch.

Things weren’t going well for the team or me at Celtic so I was probably sitting there on my own doing a bit of over-thinking and that was difficult.

I try to take a lot from what happened. I think my biggest regret is that it didn’t go well as it meant so much for me to go there. I will probably always live with that. But I have come out the other end.

If I hadn’t got that low maybe I wouldn’t have bounced back like I have. It was a difficult year and I wouldn’t wish it on anyone. But I am not going to sit and cry about it. I had to deal with it and I tried to do that as best as I could.

Duffy has got his career back on track at Brighton, recently captaining the side against Southampton and regaining his place in the Ireland international side.

What exactly went on inside Celtic last season is unlikely to ever surface but Duffy’s experience provides an insight into what was going on behind closed doors.