Nathan Collins D Brentford b.2001

Showed some naïveté today. He was man marking Kane for the goal that won Spurs the match, letting him get away. Clearly was tracking the flight of the ball rather than his man, and Perisic flicked the ball in a different trajectory, leaving Kane a free header.

Also was nutmegged by Richarlison in the final 10 minutes on a counterattack. Ultimately that play didn’t cost his team and it wasn’t an easy situation but not a great look and on a different day might have led to another goal.

That said, a lot of good small moments in possession but some growing pains overall today. Needs to work on concentration and maybe some dark arts and the pragmatic aspects of being a central defender at the top level.

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Originally Posted by irishfan86

Showed some naïveté today. He was man marking Kane for the goal that won Spurs the match, letting him get away. Clearly was tracking the flight of the ball rather than his man, and Perisic flicked the ball in a different trajectory, leaving Kane a free header.

Also was nutmegged by Richarlison in the final 10 minutes on a counterattack. Ultimately that play didn’t cost his team and it wasn’t an easy situation but not a great look and on a different day might have led to another goal.

That said, a lot of good small moments in possession but some growing pains overall today. Needs to work on concentration and maybe some dark arts and the pragmatic aspects of being a central defender at the top level.

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Kane did him big style there ~ Nathan completely lost his bearings ~ All part of the learning curve for a young player I suppose ~ I hope Wolves get a few results to take the pressure off.

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Originally Posted by seanfhear

Kane did him big style there ~ Nathan completely lost his bearings ~ All part of the learning curve for a young player I suppose ~ I hope Wolves get a few results to take the pressure off.

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Barr the goal
I thought he was amazing
He marked kane and son very well through out

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Originally Posted by Diggs246

Barr the goal
I thought he was amazing
He marked kane and son very well through out

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Two very good players ~ If Son was English the British Media would be having multiple orgasms every time he plays. Spurs are lucky to have Son ~ What a player. I am actually surprised that one of the Bigger / Biggest clubs have not come in for Son and offered Spurs a Big Price for him.

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Originally Posted by seanfhear

Two very good players ~ If Son was English the British Media would be having multiple orgasms every time he plays. Spurs are lucky to have Son ~ What a player. I am actually surprised that one of the Bigger / Biggest clubs have not come in for Son and offered Spurs a Big Price for him.

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Me too. I actually think if he was also Spanish or Brazilian... real Madrid and Munich etc would be fighting over him.
Joint top scorer with Salah last season and know one cares!!

They'd probably be salivating over Collins too by now if he was English. I wouldn't be surprised if they'd have taken him to Qatar if he'd been theirs.

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Originally Posted by Diggs246

Barr the goal
I thought he was amazing
He marked kane and son very well through out

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This is true. I watched almost the full game and he was outstanding. Kane did him alright but the beauty is you know he’ll learn from it. He’s such a smart player.

He frustrated Kane and Son for 95% of the game. There was one passage in particular where Son got in behind the Wolves back line and was, basically, just keeper to beat. Collins had about 5 yards to make up - which he did - getting a block on Son’s shot at the last second. Stunning recovery against a player that fast and clinical.

Just spotted Stephen Kenny and Keith Andrews in the stand during todays game between Wolves and Newcastle. Obviously taking in Collins - - anyone else? Any potentially eligibles we’re not aware of…?

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Originally Posted by SkStu

Just spotted Stephen Kenny and Keith Andrews in the stand during todays game between Wolves and Newcastle. Obviously taking in Collins - - anyone else? Any potentially eligibles we’re not aware of…?

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Don't believe so but hopefully they have chatted with Ronan once in Wolverhampton.

Just got sent off against Man City for murdering Jack Grealish and I'm quite okay with that.

A ridiculous challenge that,so stupid….

Very poor challenge. Hopefully he will continue to learn from it. He has been playing great but still prone to the hairy moment in most games this season

If Ronan can’t get on now with Wolves with nothing to play for, he will need to give up the ghost of trying to make it at wolves. The cord will be cut in January definitively hopefully

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Originally Posted by Eirambler

They'd probably be salivating over Collins too by now if he was English. I wouldn't be surprised if they'd have taken him to Qatar if he'd been theirs.

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But we're salivating over him. If he wasn't Irish, our interest would be superficial.

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Originally Posted by nigel-harps1954

Just got sent off against Man City for murdering Jack Grealish and I'm quite okay with that.

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1 down, 1 to go

I love Collins and his attitude I think he never went to the ball he just stomp on that turncoat and idiotic type ( remember ex Lanús Almirón when the paraguayan was mocked by big Jacko) , Collins he is done what it was meant to be , it cant be that everyone despises Jacko, anyway I think Maddison is soon avail for Ireland, under the new rules, so that could be good news for the republic, on Wolves, yes Ronan has to play, but I would have given him a chance in this games, as for Collins, I would try him in the middle of the park from now on, a la Mark Lawrenson next to the small fellow from Anderlecht

I see that Nathan’s Manager has been sacked ~ ~ It will be interesting to see if that has any affect on Nathan.

Lage started Neves at CB in Collins absence while two other CBs sat on the bench so don't think he's anything to worry about with losing his place. Unless any new manager is given funds and decides to strengthen at CB to add competition for Collins and Kilman.

Not sure what a "typical Irish centre back is" but this is good

The guy that runs that page tends to overhype Irish players a bit. Actually, Collins' defensive stats don't look that great there.

Typical Irish centre back presumably means a Shane Duffy, Richard Dunne type.

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Originally Posted by Eirambler

The guy that runs that page tends to overhype Irish players a bit. Actually, Collins' defensive stats don't look that great there.

Typical Irish centre back presumably means a Shane Duffy, Richard Dunne type.

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Once upon a time it might have meant a Paul McGrath, Mark Lawrenson, David O?Leary type. Bizarre to think that Jack had those three snd more often than not opted for Moran and McCarthy who probably personify ?typical Irish?

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Originally Posted by third policeman

Once upon a time it might have meant a Paul McGrath, Mark Lawrenson, David O?Leary type. Bizarre to think that Jack had those three snd more often than not opted for Moran and McCarthy who probably personify ?typical Irish?

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Lawrenson probably gone past his best ( injuries reduced him as a player as time went on as it does for a lot of of players ) for a lot of Jack’s time.

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Originally Posted by seanfhear

Lawrenson probably gone past his best ( injuries reduced him as a player as time went on as it does for a lot of of players ) for a lot of Jack’s time.

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He played in midfield during the qualifiers for Euro 88 as did McGrath (who also turned out at fullback). O'Leary didn't figure much under Charlton excepting the penalty against Romania in Italia 90. Moran and MCCarthy were pretty much his preferred combo from the get-go. No-nonsense stoppers pretty much in Charlton's own mould.

O’Leary’s situation was somewhat self-inflicted. Did he Not turn up ( was it in Iceland ) for some match early in Big Jack’s reign and Big Jack never seemed to forget that. O’Leary may have refused the call up rather than just Not turned up.

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Originally Posted by seanfhear

O?Leary?s situation was somewhat self-inflicted. Did he Not turn up ( was it in Iceland ) for some match early in Big Jack?s reign and Big Jack never seemed to forget that. O?Leary may have refused the call up rather than just Not turned up.

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Dave had his family holiday booked and the dates clashed with the tournament in Iceland.

https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/ple...es-go-1.158218

I just finished reading a book called This Is How it Feels, about Oldham Athletic 1982-1994 and when they play Arsenal in 1989, O'Leary and Tony Adams are referred to by the author as being "widely regarded as the best centre-back pairing in the game".

(It's an absolutely fantastic book by the way and details the exploits of Mike Milligan and Denis Irwin)

All in the Game: Wolves fans dust off a quite wonderful Nathan Collins ditty – The Irish Times

To the air of ‘My old man’s a dustman’:

“Bruno said to Jeff Shi,
I need a number four,
So Jeff Shi got the credit card,
and headed to Turf Moor.
He didn’t want Tarkowski,
He didn’t want Ben Mee,
He said he wants the Irish lad,
who plays like Maldini.”

Gave the ball away for Liverpool's goal but has been decent

Only turned on for last half hour but commentary have singled him out for praise a few times. Winning every header anyway.

Just gave him player of the match!

He was very good, apart from giving the ball away fatally. Not too many standouts for man of the match (it’s okay it’s mens football so we can still say MOTM). I probably wouldn’t have given him the MOTM due to that costly error

Collins was very good, although his error led to Liverpool’s second. He intercepted to start the play leading to the equalizer so between that and his overall play, more than made up for it.

Struggling against Man City and Haaland today so far it has to be said. Static and beaten to the ball by Haaland for their opener and very lucky not to have a penalty called against him for a challenge on Grealish in the box.

But of course as soon as I hit post :D he makes a superb clearance off the line. A smart decision.

He didn't even jump. He's hard to work out if he's just not good enough or inconsistent

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Originally Posted by paul_oshea

He didn't even jump. He's hard to work out if he's just not good enough or inconsistent

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He’s definitely good enough. It’s more of what PC said about Haaland and the strength of Man City in general. That goal came through a pass and a cross in about a second they moved it so quick.

He’s 21 and will just get better and better for the next few years. Could see him move to a team like City at some point. He’s got what it takes.

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Originally Posted by paul_oshea

He didn't even jump. He's hard to work out if he's just not good enough or inconsistent

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I'd say neither to be honest. He's just running the defence of a team that's being overpowered. Only so much he can do. Grealish made an absolute mean of what was very light contact for the pen claim.

Ya I'll reserve judgement for now, I haven't seen enough full games at wolves to judge but for Ireland he's been pretty good if a bit wayward. Hopefully that's the learning of him being a young fella.

Dare I say it but if we find one more young lad in the middle and we could have the makings of a very good team. A team that can actually play football not just wants to

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Originally Posted by paul_oshea

Ya I'll reserve judgement for now, I haven't seen enough full games at wolves to judge but for Ireland he's been pretty good if a bit wayward. Hopefully that's the learning of him being a young fella.

Dare I say it but if we find one more young lad in the middle and we could have the makings of a very good team. A team that can actually play football not just wants to

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So he might be on somewhat of a learning curve Paul?

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Nathan Collins 6

The scoreline would have been much worse had it not been for Collins. He made two vital clearances from underneath his own crossbar in the first half and was the pick of the Wolves defence.

https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/spo...s-man-26043434

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I think that's a fair, if brief, assessment of his performance. Should be doing better for the first goal, wasn't a penalty imo, but otherwise his team's man of the match imo.

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Originally Posted by seanfhear

O’Leary’s situation was somewhat self-inflicted. Did he Not turn up ( was it in Iceland ) for some match early in Big Jack’s reign and Big Jack never seemed to forget that. O’Leary may have refused the call up rather than just Not turned up.

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Charlton left him out of the original squad for a short summer tour. O’Leary went and booked a family holiday. A run of injuries led to Charlton calling him up last minute, but he declined, saying he had already booked his holiday. To be honest it was a flag of convenience for Charlton to blame subsequent omissions on the issue. He never wanted O’Leary in the team, preferring the more basic attributes of McCarthy and Moran. If it had been a player he wanted it would have been a different story. He only started to call O’Leary up to squads when he was running out of options, and rarely put him in the team if he had a choice.

On Nathan Collins, I think he’s a gem, and is going to be one of our most important players for the foreseeable future. Future captain I’m guessing too.

I'm biased because I've a vested interest in Collins, some here would be aware of it. I've seen him since 15 and I'm a huge fan. I've seen nothing to concern me greatly in the past 6 months to think that his trajectory isn't going to keep going up. I think he's probably a bit weak going towards his own goal - or better way of putting it he's got some work to do - and while he's not slow, he's not the speediest without the ball either. When you're playing in weak teams failing in defensive duties, everyone suffers and everyone is prone to messing up - either because of the dirge around you, or because of the uncertainty around you. You're almost second guessing what your teammates are going to do (or more inappropriately, what they aren't going to do).

For me, I'd have him in the centre of a 3, particularly when he's so adept at taking the ball out of defence and into traffic. Also, from an Irish perspective, if the ball breaks down while he's moved into the next phase of play, it's better if he's that middle cog, rather than the right cog. I'd have Andy RCB, Nathan CB and Dara LCB going forward. I love John Egan to bits, and he's a super option from set-pieces in the opposition box, but he's made a few mistakes in the last 6 months for Ireland.

Nathan is absolutely a future captain for us. I've said that I see him in the CL in the next 3 years (probably 2 its so long since I said it :-) ) and not necessarily in England either.

I agree actually, I think he's doing fine overall. Would be better if he didn't end up with another relegation on his CV, but then that didn't do Aaron Ramsdale any harm.

I think it's too soon to put the three young lads together and drop Egan though. I'm not sure Omobamidele is quite there just yet, though he's another promising talent. I'd keep Egan along with Collins and O'Shea for now.