Duk has a lot of 'grovelling' to do as former Aberdeen ace unsure striker will play for club again after AWOL saga
Duk walked out on Aberdeen when he was a hero and now he is coming back an absolute zero.
That is the view of former midfielder Stevie Tosh who isn’t even sure if the Cape Verde international will play for the Dons again. The 24-year-old made a public apology at the weekend after he went AWOL for months and refused to return for pre-season. The major transfer windows have now closed and Duk failed to seal the exit he craved. He was left with no option but to come back to Aberdeen and now both sides are in a difficult situation, as the player runs down the last nine months of his contract.
“It is going to be an interesting time because he was a fans’ hero and very quickly he has gone from hero to zero,” Tosh said. The way he has conducted himself since the summer is not going to sit right with a lot of people. It is all about what Duk returns.
“Is it the Duk we saw in the first season or is it the petulant Duk? Will it be the latter because he needs to come back out and see out his contract for the season?
“Let’s be honest, I don’t think Duk will have wanted to come back. His head was turned in the summer but we will see what happens in the next month or so.
“If we can get Duk back to the level of two seasons ago then it will be a good problem. I am sceptical though about anyone who has been away from the club for three months because they are trying to force a move and they are back because the transfer window is shut. will reserve judgment until I see him back playing and I am not even sure we will see Duk back in an Aberdeen jersey, there you go.”
Tosh believes it is a difficult situation for all because the player really doesn’t want to be back in Aberdeen and ideally the club would probably have preferred to have sold him on. Duk is now running down his deal and can sign a pre-contract in January.
Tosh said: “I think Aberdeen have had to take him back because if they didn’t they would have been breaching his contract and Duk maybe would have been able to terminate his contract. It is pretty obvious that he has come back now because the transfer windows are closed and nobody has come near Aberdeen’s valuation.”
The Dons have won all nine games under Jimmy Thelin and Tosh isn’t sure if there will be a place for the former Benfica youngster.
He said: “In my opinion, it’s very much a marriage of convenience. I don’t think Jimmy (Thelin) would particularly want him or need him back.
“The manager has set his stall out the way he wants to play. A fully-fit Duk might have got in it with his pace but I also think the manager likes more technically-minded players.”
Tosh thinks Aberdeen chairman Dave Cormack and his board deserve credit for not letting Duk walk all over them. “I think it is also evident the chairman and the hierarchy have dug their heels in,” Tosh said.
“They have made it clear that nobody is getting to treat Aberdeen FC like this. I applaud the chairman for that. He has made it clear that we are Aberdeen and no player is bigger than the club.”
A lot of Aberdeen fans feel and have claimed that Duk has been badly advised throughout this whole sorry episode. Tosh believes the player also has to take his fair share of the responsibility. The former Dons star said: “His responsibility was to the football club and he could have told his agent to do one, if that was the case. Certainly if my agent, Paul Cherry, had advised me to stay away from a club where I was contracted then I wouldn’t have listened to him.”
Duk is now back in the Granite City and will be met with some stoney-faces after his recent antics. Tosh added: “We [my Aberdeen dressing room] would never have ostracised him but we would have made it clear we weren’t happy with the way he had conducted himself.
“I would expect some of the senior players, like Graeme Shinnie and Nicky Devlin, to have a word in Duk’s shell and tell him he has to earn our trust again. There are players who have helped him and stood by him.
“I think he has a bit of grovelling to do with his team-mates. He has a lot of making up to do from board level to the dressing room and the fans. He has to make amends to them.”