Nathan Collins has established himself as the captain of a winning Republic of Ireland team. Since taking the armband from an injured Séamus Coleman after the 2-0 loss to England in Dublin last year, Collins has led his country to four wins in seven Nations League outings.
Even the 5-0 loss at Wembley in November was notable for how well the 23-year-old performed in a midfield role he had not filled since his early teens at Cherry Orchard.
After seeing off Bulgaria, 4-2, over two legs on Sunday to avoid relegation to Nations League C, Collins will almost certainly lead a maturing Irish squad into the World Cup qualifiers in September with cautious optimism of bridging the 10-year gap since their last appearance at a major tournament.
Collins, from a famous Irish football family, has played every single minute for Brentford in the Premier League this season with towering man of the match performances against Crystal Palace and Bournemouth.
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That is what makes his propensity for glaring errors in a green shirt so hard to explain. There was a howler leading to Finland’s goal in Helsinki, while last week in Plovdiv and again at the Aviva Stadium when Ireland needed assured distribution from the skipper, a Bulgarian midfielder was the recipient of his passing.
If anyone understands how Collins can stop switching from such a commanding figure to making in-game lapses, it is the former Ireland defender and current assistant coach John O’Shea.
“Ah look, Nathan is playing at a level in the Premier League and showing what a fantastic player he is and it’s just making sure the concentration element, and the leader that he’s becoming in the team, that he just has that constant focus,” said O’Shea. “Once he has that, there’s no issue.
“Yeah, he’s made a couple of mistakes but he’s confident enough to dust himself down, get on with it and made good blocks, make great passes, long-range passes and break the lines into the 10s or whatever you’re looking for.
“But he knows there is competition for places in that position as well,” O’Shea added.
The competition at centre half, particularly from Dara O’Shea, Jake O’Brien, Liam Scales and James Abankwah could see Collins’ powerful frame put to better use in midfield alongside Josh Cullen when Hungary come to Dublin on September 6th for the first World Cup qualifier.
“He’s a leader in the team now so he’s got to make sure his focus is 100 per cent and he is leading by performance, not just off the pitch but leading on the pitch too, that’s huge.”
It was mild criticism from someone who knows the terrain Collins currently occupies as O’Shea won 118 caps for Ireland and made 446 Premier League appearances for Manchester United and Sunderland.
The FAI put Heimir Hallgrímsson’s decision not to attend the press conference after Ireland beat Bulgaria on Sunday down to the head coach wanting his assistant to take credit from a successful international window.
The irony of this snap decision, however, had O’Shea answering questions about how Hallgrímsson has turned around the fortunes of the team since the Icelander replaced O’Shea, who was a coach under Stephen Kenny and interim Ireland manager for four friendlies last year.
“He’s got us winning football matches,” said O’Shea of the Hallgrímsson impact. “It’s an important thing at international level, a key thing. His organisation, his principles, all those things you expect from a manager that’s had the experience he’s had, qualifying for major finals.
“Those ideas and the simplicity in terms of certain things for certain games, whether it be as we’ve mentioned two lefties [on the left wing] and two righties, understanding what things would work, what things we need to shake up the squad in terms of different players, different characters. It’s getting that balance right.”
The value of a June friendly at home to Senegal before a trip to Luxembourg remains to be seen with the October 11th qualifier against top seeds Portugal confirmed on Sunday after Cristiano Ronaldo led the Seleção to a 5-2 win over Denmark when the 40-year-old increased his international goal-scoring record to 136.
“We will have to see out more games, with a few one-nils, I would imagine, if you’re looking to top the group,” said O’Shea. “We’re aware now that it’s Portugal in the group with Armenia and Hungary, so obviously we are able to do a bit more preparation and a bit of the groundwork in terms of what we will have to do to beat them. Lots of good signs but lots of more hard work as well.”
