Derry City’s winger Michael Duffy admits Tiernan Lynch’s no-nonsense approach is exactly what he and the club needed this year.
The former Larne boss guided the Brandywell men to second place and, more importantly, European football for next season, with Duffy a main reason why.
The 31-year-old, who looks the likely winner of this year’s Player of the Year, has rolled back the years and scored 13 goals in all competitions and also reached double figures with assists, but he puts this year’s form down to Lynch’s tough love.
“I’ve enjoyed the season, as I got back to my best this year, scored a lot of goals and had a lot of assists, so I’m delighted with the way I played, but I just hope now that I kick on from this now,” he insisted.
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“Obviously, I’m going to enjoy a few weeks off but then get stuck into it again, try to get a good pre-season and get ready to go again in 2026, as I’ve set a standard for myself.
“I felt myself getting back to my best at the end of last year and obviously I’ve had a lot of injuries since I came back to Derry, wee silly niggling injuries and I probably shouldn’t have played when I did play, but I just got myself really fit going into this season.
“Pre-season was tough, the gaffer’s pre-season was very tough and I think the gaffer has been great with me as well.
“He has demanded a lot from me, the first thing he said to me whenever he came in was that my numbers weren’t good enough last year and he wanted me to double them in terms of both goals and assists, which I have done.”
The former Dundalk man, who won everything during his time at Oriel Park, was quick to point out he wasn’t taken aback by Lynch’s approach and also conceded rather than playing out on the left wing, but since moving into a new ‘free’ role behind the striker, has helped his game.
“I wasn’t shocked by it and I liked the way he did that really and he’s on me everyday,” he added.
“There was a wee stage during the middle part of the season where I went three or four games without being involved in goals and maybe having just one or two shots pre-game.
“He showed me that and said ‘it wasn’t good enough and you need to get back to doing your thing’ and that was good to hear, that’s what I want and I think he has been brilliant for me.
“I haven’t been stuck out on that left wing all year and I’ve just been playing a free role across the front and I’ve enjoyed it.
“I’ve got in behind and dropped short at times, I’ve just tried to score goals and been involved in things and I think that role that the gaffer has given me has really helped me this year and it has been a great year.”
In fact, his former gaffer at Oriel Park, Vinny Perth, has stated on numerous occasions on the Off The Ball League of Ireland Podcast that Duffy’s best position is high up the left wing, but Duffy disagrees, and he’s already excited about the 2026 campaign.
“There’s plenty of times in games when I’m still out drifting out left, I automatically just drift to the left some times, it’s just a habit, as I’ve played there all my life and I enjoy it out there, but today, I scored as a striker, the movement and the great ball from Winnie (Carl Winchester) and I think a good few goals this year has been different really than previous years, coming in from that left side.
“Look, I’ve enjoyed the role this year and, hopefully, as I said, just build on that now.
“I think the different role does help me, especially when you build relationships with your team-mates, whether it’s me and Gav (Gavin Whyte) or say me, Gav and Danny (Mullen) or Boycie (Liam Boyce) or Dipo (Akinyemi) or whatever, if it’s a front three or front two.
“It’s all about building that relationship when you’re constantly changing about and mixing it up and the defenders are constantly thinking, ‘Do I think jump or do I stay and who am I marking?’, and I think it worked well a lot of times this season.
“Obviously, there’s times it didn’t work for us, but a lot of times defenders were thinking ‘do I jump or do I stay back?’ because we got the movements right and it’s a really enjoyable formation to play in and I’ve loved it.”
