Nathan Collins D Brentford b.2001

[tommy_c12000]

Let’s hope he breaks into the team, certainly the supporters have him in starting vs Birmingham on Sunday. But O’Neill hasn’t shown himself to be persuaded by supporters views so let’s see. The loan window is closing soon, even 3 months of first team league one football and return to stoke in January would be great if he’s not going to break in over next few weeks

[Olé Olé]

The thing that baffles me is that he is exactly the type of player that could command an 8 figure fee before he is 21. The links to Dortmund and co wouldn't be too far off is he got a full season of games under his belt.

[Eirambler]

I think he's just unlucky in that Stoke have stacks of centre backs, they have a centre back that played in a World Cup semi final and a third place playoff, which is ridiculous for a Championship team. Longer term I think he's a better prospect than Souttar, but Souttar is two and a half years older than Collins which makes a difference at the moment.

If and when he gets a run of games I'm confident he will do well, he could easily outgrow Stoke in terms of his development in a short space of time if he gets the opportunities and stays fit.

[Trequartista20]

Fails to make the matchday squad against Birmingham after his impressive performance against Villa.

McClean named amongst the substitutes.

[tommy_c12000]

Fails to make the matchday squad against Birmingham after his impressive performance against Villa.

McClean named amongst the substitutes.

He fractured bone in hand so wasn’t available for selection. Major doubt now for under 21s

[elatedscum]

He fractured bone in hand so wasn’t available for selection. Major doubt now for under 21s

Conor McCarthy would be my replacement. He’s very good. I wouldn’t have any doubts about his ability to step up and play if needed.
Long list of replacements would probably include McNally, O’Hora, McGuinness, Ndaba, Nolan, Omobamidele, O’Driscoll... all have been were either involvement with the squad previously, were on standby lists or were involved in the last 19s squad and have come on since then...

[Charlie Darwin]

We have a lot of guys at a relatively similar level in that position. I suspect it will be Ndaba or O'Hora who is called up and Scales steps into the first team. If O'Shea is called up to the seniors, we're in a bit of bother.

[Eirambler]

I don't think Collins was going to start this game anyway, O'Shea and Masterson have been the first choice pick right through the campaign and have formed a good partnership. If they were subbing in a centre back Collins would have been first in, but it's not a common substitution to make. Scales will be first reserve now.

Obviously that changes if O'Shea is called up to the seniors, but them bringing in Long and Christie suggests to me that they're keen to leave O'Shea with the under 21 team for this one. Which makes sense as it would be unlikely that O'Shea would actually get game time against Slovakia.

[Eirambler]

Only noticed today that Stoke let Bruno Martins Indi go out on loan for the year a few days ago. Between that and them going three at the back Collins should get a lot more chances than he might have done. Started today against Luton, kept a clean sheet and assisted a goal.

[tommy_c12000]

According to their main fans forum, shaky start but recovered and played okay. Was left side of 3 man centre back system, not ideal for him and affected distribution. Great to see him get a run. All he needs is a run of games and the backing of his manager to get his confidence up

[Razors left peg]

Keeps his place in the team for todays game against Barnsley

[Eirambler]

And gets himself sent off.

[Olé Olé]

And gets himself sent off.

Sounds like he got sent off- rather than he got himself sent off. Manager not happy with the decision so shouldn't impact Collins too much aside from the potential suspension:
O'Neill blasts officials over red card shown to Irish U21 international Collins https://the42.ie/5240758

[Eirambler]

The card has now been overturned. Hopefully it doesn't cost him his place in the team - they kept a clean sheet after he went off.

[Olé Olé]

Keeps his place in the starting line up. McClean joins him.

[Trequartista20]

Player ratings from the Stoke Sentinel:

Collins: Stuck to his guns against Toney and always kept his cool. Probably his best performance yet. 8

McClean: Back with a bang, thundering runs, slipping in crosses and hammering shots. Gave Brentford jitters. 8

https://www.stokesentinel.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/stoke-city-brentford-player-ratings-4638221

[tommy_c12000]

Good game at right back today vs Sheff Wed. Comfortable on ball and solid defensively. Hopefully will get back into the centre. Awful 0-0 game so far, 10 minutes left but I’m shutting it off now

[Olé Olé]

Starts and opens the scoring today at home to Boro. Right back again.

[Razors left peg]

Starts and opens the scoring today at home to Boro. Right back again.

Playing at right back at his age will do him no harm, plenty of young center halfs start out that way. Good that hes getting regular football now, I was beginning to worry for him under O'Neill

[Olé Olé]

Has done Dara O'Shea no harm. Has definitely helped him progress into the WBA first team and the Irish side.

[tommy_c12000]

Agree with above. Collins actually looks to be starting centre back with Chester tonight with Smith at RB. Great to see

[Eirambler]

Getting rave reviews again tonight. Has had a few rash moments since he first broke through last season but his overall rate of development has been seriously impressive. He's basically mirroring O'Shea's efforts last season with West Brom, playing across the back four, but doing it at a younger age than O'Shea was last year.

A seriously promising player for us.

[youngirish]

Getting rave reviews again tonight. Has had a few rash moments since he first broke through last season but his overall rate of development has been seriously impressive. He's basically mirroring O'Shea's efforts last season with West Brom, playing across the back four, but doing it at a younger age than O'Shea was last year.

A seriously promising player for us.

Collins is making all the right noises so far. Already one of the best players in a very solid Stoke team pushing for automatic promotion. A few more of our young players showing this quality at this stage of their careers and we can have the makings of a decent team in 2-3 years again.

[Eirambler]

I think I jinxed him there - he seems to be getting the blame for the equaliser. But that will happen, hopefully it doesn't cost him his starting place in the short term.

[tommy_c12000]

Back to right back today with Souttar slotting back in centrally with Chester. 0-0 draw with Knights Derby

[Trequartista20]

Starts again tonight, seemingly at right-back. McClean in the XI too.

Kenny's Kids is back up and running again today with a new sponsor, BTW.

[Razors left peg]

Starts again tonight, seemingly at right-back. McClean in the XI too.

Kenny's Kids is back up and running again today with a new sponsor, BTW.

Seen someone make the comment that Kennys Kids has had more retirements and comebacks than McGregor! Great that he got sponsorship to do it full time though, its a great page and fair play to him for making it into his job now.

[tommy_c12000]

Good game today at right back. Neat and tidy on the ball. Did well against Osayi-Samuel. Has now firmly established himself in their team. He has now almost doubled the last seasons playing time already. Clear progress.

[Eirambler]

Can't say I've ever heard of a player being assessed in terms of "rigour" before but apparently Nathan Collins is very good at it.

http://www.insideworldfootball.com/2020/12/15/stokes-collins-tops-rigour-ranking-dutch-rb-salzburg-talent-factories/

[Eminence Grise]

Hm, the most common rigor I've noticed in some of our defenders is usually compounded with mortis, so this is good news!

[Eirambler]

Thought he had a very decent game in a beaten team tonight against Tottenham. Not a perfect performance by any means but he didn't look out of place at that level, whereas his centre back partner Souttar had a bit of a mare and really seemed to struggle with the step up in standard.

You can see why Collins is so highly rated though, physically strong for his age but can also pass the ball as well. I think he'll be in the Ireland senior squad before too long.

[Eirambler]

The web is full of Collins to ManU today

An example - https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/football/9107858/man-utd-stoke-collins-fletcher/

Meaningless in the short term, but Darren Fletcher has just joined the coaching staff at Manchester United. He was reportedly a big fan of Collins from his time at Stoke and was the link when Collins was linked to United previously. I obviously don't expect United to go straight out and try to buy Collins or anything but interesting that he has ended up back there all the same. It would not be beyond Collins' ability to progress to that level at some point in the future.

[Exgrad]

Fletcher has been back at United for a while coaching the u16s, just been promoted to first team coach.

[kennedmc]

Meaningless in the short term, but Darren Fletcher has just joined the coaching staff at Manchester United. He was reportedly a big fan of Collins from his time at Stoke and was the link when Collins was linked to United previously. I obviously don't expect United to go straight out and try to buy Collins or anything but interesting that he has ended up back there all the same. It would not be beyond Collins' ability to progress to that level at some point in the future.

Well you said it. It is absolutely 'meaningless'!

Saw the goal Stoke conceded the other night and looks like it was Collins (Right sided CB in back 3) that fell asleep to let attacker in to score.

[Eirambler]

Indeed, I just thought it was worth a mention given Fletcher's previous high rating of Collins which lead to the United transfer speculation at the time.

And yes, it was Collins that Stanislas broke away from to score at the weekend. But that will happen to every defender at some stage or other, especially in a team that are playing as high a line as Stoke were in that instance. In the part of the game that I watched he was otherwise excellent - tackling, passing etc. And made an exceptional recovery tackle near the end of the game that is well worth looking up.

I really think he's a massive talent.

[kennedmc]

And yes, it was Collins that Stanislas broke away from to score at the weekend. But that will happen to every defender at some stage or other, especially in a team that are playing as high a line as Stoke were in that instance. In the part of the game that I watched he was otherwise excellent - tackling, passing etc. And made an exceptional recovery tackle near the end of the game that is well worth looking up.

I really think he's a massive talent.
Good to hear. Haven't seen too much of him only clips.

[Eirambler]

Collins linked with a £10m move to Burnley tonight. Arsenal also reportedly interested.

[Trequartista20]

£10 million? That would put him in the bracket of the top-10 most expensive Ireland players of all time, wouldn't it?

Hopefully he wouldn't end up another Ben Gibson, a highly-rated £15m championship centre-half signing who ended up hardly getting a sniff under Dyche!

[Eirambler]

I honestly think Liverpool could do worse than look at him based on what I saw tonight. Obviously wouldn't be a regular starter at 19, but he's better than the likes of Rhys Williams I think.

In terms of regular game time Burnley is a better bet obviously, would probably be behind Tarkowski this season but he'll be leaving in the summer and Collins at 20 would be well placed to step in then.

[Eirambler]

Interesting piece about the Nathan Collins transfer interest from 17 to 22 minutes on this podcast.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0946ykf

[Olé Olé]

https://oatcakefanzine.proboards.com/thread/298500/arsenal-set-out-on-collins

This thread is also very interesting. Many reckon 10m would be too low. Some reckon the club should take it, or maybe even 15m. There seems to be a consensus, either way, that he will be worth more in a few years and has a huge future. I think much of the debate surrounds their more immediate needs for the money.

[Eirambler]

Reports of a £4.5m bid turned down. Would have said that was a fairly derisory offer to be honest.

It's almost a cliche at this stage but honestly if he was English or Welsh the offers would be closer to £20m.

[seanfhear]

Reports of a £4.5m bid turned down. Would have said that was a fairly derisory offer to be honest.

It's almost a cliche at this stage but honestly if he was English or Welsh the offers would be closer to £20m.
What about a Jock ?

[Eirambler]

What about a Jock ?

Then it would be a set of jerseys and a friendly against the Burnley Under 18s.

[Trequartista20]

£4.5m is an insult.

[seanfhear]

£4.5m is an insult.
I’m not as easily insulted as others. Sure Stoke can say no and see what other offers come in ?

[Razors left peg]

Would a move to Burnley really be much of a step up from Stoke. Stoke could be in Premiership next season with Burnley in Championship, its unlikely but very possible. He'd also be going to a position where Burnleys 2 best players are their center halfs.

I would much rather he stay with Stoke until a bigger club come in for him.

[Charlie Darwin]

Would a move to Burnley really be much of a step up from Stoke. Stoke could be in Premiership next season with Burnley in Championship, its unlikely but very possible. He'd also be going to a position where Burnleys 2 best players are their center halfs.

I would much rather he stay with Stoke until a bigger club come in for him.
It's possible but financially Burnley are in a much better position so you'd expect they will stay up and Stoke won't go up. It seems Leicester are in for Tarkowski so they might have a vacancy in the first team.

[irishfan86]

He’ll be fine either way. He’s in a good place at Stoke getting plenty of time and with his raw ingredients the Premier League will be calling soon regardless of whether it’s Burnley or someone else.

The advantage with Burnley is that I believe there’s an obvious path to the starting lineup if Tarkowski moves on. They don’t have the budget to spend 10 mil+ and leave him on the bench (I know it’s happened before quite literally with that club but the bottom line is I believe he would be given a real chance). The guy is a freak physically and is quite technically good for a guy his size. Excited to see how high his ceiling is.

[Olé Olé]

Reports of a £4.5m bid turned down. Would have said that was a fairly derisory offer to be honest.

It's almost a cliche at this stage but honestly if he was English or Welsh the offers would be closer to £20m.

Or imagine if Arsenal got him for £10m. What would that say about their £27m signing of William Saliba?

I definitely think that the dearth of quality Irish players in the top half of the Premiership has served to reduce the value of our emerging players. The dearth of Irish players at top half clubs over the last 5 years or so is stark. Hopefully, however, clubs are seeing Knight and Collins and noticing there's a trend beginning.

It's interesting also to note how good Collins and Knight are and that they signed with Stoke and Derby, when surely they had interest from top half Premiership academies. Collins, particularly, has an uncle who is an agent and and his father's first club in England was Liverpool. I assume that Stoke were specifically selected by the Collins family and much homework went into it because I don't think there's a huge track record of them having produced many players there and I remember them being quite far behind the rest of the Premiership in terms of academy and reserve sided when they were initially promoted all those years ago.