Nathan Collins was Brentford everpresent in Premier League – but other Ireland stars' struggles proves he's an outlier

The Irish Sun

6 days ago

FINDING himself sharing a leaderboard with five goalkeepers is not the only reason Nathan Collins is an outlier.
Because if the World
Wildlife
Fund was to cast its eyes over the figures, it would immediately classify Irish players lining out regularly at the top level as an endangered species.
6
Nathan Collins was the only outfield player to play every minute in the Premier League
Credit: Shutterstock Editorial
6
His form is a welcome boost for Heimir Hallgrimsson but others struggled
Credit: Sportsfile - Subscription
6
Chiedozie Ogbene is a long term absentee through injury
Credit: � 2024 PA Media, All Rights Reserved
After three successive years when he was second in the most minutes for Irish players in the English top flight behind, in turn,
The trouble for Heimir Hallgrimsson is there are not nearly enough players anywhere near the centre-half's figures, making his job all the more difficult.
And that should serve as a reminder that, however favourable the
next
year would be a triumph against the odds.
Read More on Ireland MNT
The finals may have doubled in size from 24 to 48 teams from Ireland's first appearance in 1990 but the number of places available to
These days, after the suspended
And while those figures are both up, to varying degrees, it is inarguable that the standard of Ireland's player resources has fallen, particularly when compared to that of others.
Earlier this year, the FAI's Will Clarke provided a figure of what
Ireland
required to be able to be successful at international level.
Most read in Football
It was part of his presentation on the League of Ireland's academy system which is desperately trying to fill the void left by
Clarke argued that, in order to be competitive, the manager of the senior men's team needed to be able to choose from 35 players clocking up an average of 1,400 minutes of league
football
in one of Europe's top five leagues. The figure was not plucked out of thin air. It came from an examination of the ten most successful countries outside that quintet of
Heimir Hallgrimsson gives first call-up to four Ireland players in squad for friendlies vs Senegal and Luxembourg
It is a
target
that Irish players could not see in the distance this season, let alone reach, as has been the case for a long time.
And — based on divisional movement alone — the signs are that it is likely to get worse again before it gets better.
In all, 19 Irish players clocked up 18,445 minutes of football in those five leagues, an average of 972 per player, equating to fewer than 11 full matches.
Sixteen of those were in
The minutes naturally increase when you include cup
competitions
but, obviously, many of those come against lower division opposition and, so, are not of much help in terms of equipping players for World Cup or
campaigns
.
There is, however, a strong argument for European competitions to be factored in. But, of the players mentioned above, the only one for whom that was relevant was Caoimhín Kelleher at
He lined out in four
Madrid
,
And playing in a top five league is not the be-all and end-all if you are at a club which is capable of going far in
Europe
.
EURO TRIP
Aside from Shamrock Rovers' march to the last 16 of the
Celtic's
His AZ Alkmaar side bounced back from the disappointment of losing the Dutch Cup final — missing out on a return to the Europa League group phase — to negotiate the Eredivisie play-off system to book a place in the second qualifying round of the Conference League.
With the Dutch league rated sixth in Europe, it would be hard to argue that Parrott is not better off where he is than, say, a struggling team in Ligue 1, ranked just above it.
That is where 17-year-old Ike Orazi — who got one minute of league action — and Finn, 21, are, with Stade de Reims dropping to third from bottom thanks to late penalties in two matches on the final day of the season, one in theirs and one in Le Havre's with the port team leapfrogging them as a result.
6
Adam Idah scored three goals in the Champions League
Credit: Alamy Live News
They drew 1-1 with Metz in the first leg of their promotion-relegation play-off last week with the second leg to come on Thursday, with a chastening 3-0 defeat to PSG in the final of the Coupe de France in between.
And Hallgrimsson could really do without someone he has just called into the squad for the first time dropping out of top-flight football because if there is one thing he has in abundance it is a player of that profile.
There was a 13.26 per cent increase in game time for Irish players in the Premier League which sounds good except half of the 16 who featured were with teams that finished in the bottom three.
O'Shea,
Will Smallbone and
Kasey McAteer will also be making an immediate return to the
For O'Shea and Ogbene, it is their second successive relegation, and third in five years for the defender.
FIGHTING THE DROP
It does not make them bad players but it is a fact that the clubs that have sought to sign them are ones which are involved in a predictable fight to keep their heads above
water
.
And it would require a large volume of transfer activity for the Irish contingent in next season's English top flight not to be drastically reduced.
The only ones coming into the Premier League after winning promotion with their clubs are Burnley's
Josh
Cullen and
It helps explain why Hallgrimsson must continue to look to the ancestry rule to strengthen his hand in the short term and why unprecedented investment in the academy system is a non-negotiable to avoid a bleak long term.
6
Liverpool's Caoimhin Kelleher celebrates at the final whistle during the Premier League match between Liverpool FC and Everton FC
Credit: Getty Images - Getty
6
Troy Parrott of AZ Alkmaar in tears during the Final of the Dutch Toto KNVB Cup match between AZ and Go Ahead Eagles
Credit: Getty Images - Getty