Ireland and Brentford defender Nathan Collins has claimed that the only thing that matters, above anything else he personally wants, is winning at all costs with his country.
The Boys in Green will play Belgium this Saturday in the first game since former boss Stephen Kenny was sacked, with Collins set to feature in some capacity
Former Ireland captain John O'Shea will take charge of the team for the two friendly football games this month. For some fans of the national team, the international break isn't anything to shout about because of the manner of the games, but for Collins, he sees the game against Belgium as a golden chance to kick-start the brief O'Shea era with a win.
“To win. It’s football at the end of the day," Collins said this week.
“I want to play for Ireland. I want to do everything I can for Ireland. I want to captain Ireland. But we want to win; that’s the main thing.
"One game at a time—friendly or not—you want to win, and it’s a good chance for us tomorrow to go get a win."
“Every game is about winning, no matter what it is. As much as it's an experience for the boys and good for them to be in the group, we need to win games."
Over the last few decades, and most recently, Ireland have been up and down in terms of positive results and have never been considered a side that is ready to kick on and put fear into the better footballing nations. Kenny's former reign consisted of 29 competitive fixtures, of which only six—five of them against Azerbaijan, Luxembourg, Armenia, and Gibraltar twice—ended in victory.
"He's really funny, a good lad. He's been telling me stories about me grandad, he's mad. I'm really enjoying him."
Nathan Collins on how he's felt working with Brian Kerr. 🇮🇪 pic.twitter.com/KFV3f2VPRb— Virgin Media Sport (@VMSportIE) March 21, 2024
Collins also admits that it's not nice to lose games representing his country, but he also claims that the pride and honour of wearing an Ireland jersey will never be enjoyable despite it.
“I wouldn’t say it’s been hard to represent Ireland; it’s what I wanted to do as a kid so I’ll always enjoy that and take that in.
“It’s frustrating losing; it’s frustrating not winning games. It’s obviously an honour to play for Ireland, but we want to win games.”
Ireland will have a new boss regardless of the results that occur this month, and a huge part of the next era will contain players that were promoted by Kenny. Kenny had made 21 senior international competitive debuts through Ireland's own youth system over the three years since taking the role.
Collins, one of the debutants under Kenny, started brightly, but fast forward to the Greece game in Dublin last October; he was hooked at halftime in the 2-0 loss.
Collins, speaking about the hook, explained that it was part and parcel of professional football and that he held no ill feelings towards his old manager, Kenny. He thanked him for giving him a chance with Ireland.
“If you talk to any player in the world, it’s happened to them.
“Stephen Kenny was nothing but great for me. I played nearly 16 games in a row; he gave me my debut and everything. I can’t speak highly enough of him.
“He’s given me so much, but that’s football. It’s how you bounce back from it and learn. I’d prefer if it never happened again, but there’s every chance it could.”
