Latest news with #NathanCollins
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Liverpool want centre-back who BEAT Van Dijk to Premier League record
Liverpool watching Nathan Collins But now one more name has been added to the mix in the shape of Ireland captain Nathan Collins. The 24-year-old became Brentford's most expensive-ever player when signing from Wolves back in 2023 for a £23m fee. Advertisement Following his breakout season with the Bees in 2024/25, top clubs are now queuing up to sign the 30-cap defender. Tottenham are now in the race - coached by Collins' former Brentford coach Thomas Frank - as are Arsenal and Newcastle. That's according to a new report in TBR Football - which also claims Collins is on the list for the Reds. Collins BEATS Van Dijk to PL record 'Spurs have joined the race to sign Brentford star Nathan Collins,' a report reads. 'With Cristian Romero fully expected to leave Tottenham this summer, Collins has been identified as an ideal target by Spurs. 'However, they face stiff competition from the likes of Arsenal and Liverpool, who are also keen on signing the Irish star.' Advertisement Last season he played EVERY single minute of the Premier League season - the only outfield player to achieve that milestone. He beat Liverpool's Van Dijk to the record - with the Dutchman sitting out the defeat to Brighton on matchday 37. Otherwise, he too would have had a perfect attendance to report.
Irish Examiner
11-06-2025
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
Heimir Hallgrimsson: 'I'm not going to hang or execute anyone for that performance'
After some spurned the opportunity in Luxembourg of being on Ireland's ticket towards the Land of Opportunity, the manager deemed it a minor hiccup rather than reality check. 'I'm not going to hang or execute anyone for this performance,' stressed Heimir Hallgrimsson about a stalemate that eroded progress from wins over Bulgaria and drawing with a superior Senegal side last Friday. 'We're not too shy to say it but if we are going to qualify for the World Cup, we must do better than that.' An evening that began sluggishly was almost rescued at the death when a thunderous drive by substitute Jack Taylor rattled the underside of the crossbar and bounced out. Still, in the overall context of what the Icelander views as his imprint for a qualifying group containing Portugal, Armenia and a Hungarian side they welcome for the opener on September 6, this wasn't the note to sign off the summer on. 'Let's say we wanted the same performance as against Senegal,' Hallgrimsson outlined. 'There was a lot of energy in that game — plenty of quick actions, forward thinking and counter pressing. It was totally missing here. 'Whatever it is, we need to analyse us. Did we prepare them correctly for this game? Do we need to change? That's a negative, or disappointing. That we didn't continue with the same momentum we got in the earlier games.' Nathan Collins has a header on goal under pressure from Seid Korac of Luxembourg. Picture: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile Notwithstanding the mitigation of missing five regulars, the absence of building blocks in a first half he branded 'boring' concerned the manager so soon to the competitive action. 'We talked at half-time that it wasn't about tactics or formations,' he began. 'It was more about attitude. Are you willing to do the work that's necessary? The basics that are necessary in a football game? No matter who you play, no matter whether it's a competitive or a friendly game, you need to do the basics. 'You need to deliver all the work that's necessary. That was just missing; the basics. 'Credit to the players for changing in the second half. There was more momentum, power and energy yet we were not happy. 'It felt like steps had been taken. I think we took, maybe not a step backwards, but we didn't take the next step. 'It would have been nice to have a good performance. I don't mind if we would not have won but I would have liked a better performance.' His captain Nathan Collins concurred, albeit adding the asterix about the rigours of a long season. He'd played every Premier League minute for Brentford but didn't use it as an excuse. 'A lot of things weren't right,' he acknowledged. 'Beforehand, we said we needed to avoid that end-of-season friendly feel. We didn't want to be as passive, to get after them more but we weren't at that. 'I'm physically tired, but I'm more mentally tired. I doubt I'm the only one in that boat but I know this team has so much more to give.' From passive to massive characterises the stakes looming at the end of a three-month international hiatus. Hungary will have two components of the defending Premier League champions Liverpool when Milos Kerkez's €60m move from Bournemouth finalises this week. Ireland will face off against left-back Milos Kerkez and Dominic Szoboszlai next. File picture: Adam Davy/PA Wire His new clubmate Dominik Szoboszlai scored the Magyars' winner in their friendly in Azerbaijan to halt a slump of five defeats in six games. Hallgrimsson should have his full deck to pick from when that double-header, which concludes away to Armenia, comes around. 'These are clever boys so there's no need to shout,' the manager said about channelling his disappointment. 'Whatever I would shout now would probably be gone by the next time we meet up. 'I would have been 100% confident two hours before full-time but this is also football. 'You can be a much better team and still lose a match. 'I'm not going to take too much from this because we have had a steady growth and there are so many factors that could have produced a little bit lower quality performance than we did.' Within his broader scope, embracing the structural improvements over his 10 games at the helm since last September, he's reason to be optimistic. Ireland were out of the competitive running early in their last four campaigns, World Cup, Nations League and Euros under Stephen Kenny and the incumbent's Nations League tilt. They can't afford to be left chasing come September 10. 'People might say we can get a draw against Hungary and win in Armenia but probably it would be worse if it was the opposite,' he contended. 'Four points would be okay for a good start. Yet six is what we'll aim for.' Read More Nathan Collins happy to see Ireland carry momentum into World Cup qualifying
The Independent
11-06-2025
- Sport
- The Independent
Nathan Collins happy to see Ireland carry momentum into World Cup qualifying
Nathan Collins is relishing the prospect of heading into the Republic of Ireland's World Cup qualification campaign with momentum despite surviving a scare in Luxembourg. Heimir Hallgrimsson's men brought down the curtain on their season's fixtures with a disappointing 0-0 friendly draw with the nation ranked 91st by FIFA on Tuesday evening, in the process extending their modest unbeaten run to four games. They will have to be significantly better if they are to emerge from September's opening qualifiers against Hungary in Dublin and Armenia in Yerevan with positive results, but the fact that they will set out having lost just once in six games is a huge plus for Brentford defender Collins. He said: 'When we come back in September we're going in with great momentum. We haven't lost. 'We know there are more things to work on, we know there are things we can get better at, but at the end of the day, going in unbeaten in the last four, going into a qualifier, I've never experienced that myself. It will be a nice feeling.' Asked how big the Hungary game will be, Collins added: 'I can't wait for it. The fans will be at it. What we've created, the bond with the fans, is great. 'I'm looking forward to be back at the Aviva, hunger straight off the bat. We've a massive game.' That said Collins, who captained Ireland at the Stade de Luxembourg, knows they are slightly fortunate to have preserved their unbeaten run after a difficult evening, somewhat unexpectedly so after Friday night's encouraging display in a 1-1 draw with Senegal at the Aviva Stadium. Had it not been for Bristol City keeper Max O'Leary, who made vital saves from Danel Sinani and substitute Vincent Thill on his senior international debut six years after his first call-up, Hallgrimsson's men might have lost. They might have won too with both Collins and substitute Jack Taylor hitting the woodwork, but that would perhaps have been unjust. Collins admitted: 'We're lucky that it still carries momentum. The way we played, we could have lost that. We didn't deserve to win, but to sit in and defend the way we did, we didn't deserve to lose. 'Credit to Max O'Leary, he's been in the camp a long time and not got his caps, but he made two great saves. (Matt Doherty) got a tackle in and (Jason Knight) was class in front (of the back four). 'We weren't at our best, but we defended well, dug in and had our chances. We wanted to be not as passive and wanted to get after them more, but we weren't at that. 'Considering how we were nowhere near our best, we still dug out a clean sheet. But we all know that was nowhere near our best and we have so much more to give.'
Irish Daily Mirror
10-06-2025
- Sport
- Irish Daily Mirror
Nathan Collins tries to take positives from poor Luxembourg performance
Nathan Collins knows Ireland's performance in Luxembourg wasn't good enough but the skipper is still drawing on the Boys in Green laboured to a 0-0 draw and nearly won it at the death when Jack Taylor smashed a shot off the despite a frustrating night, Ireland are still unbeaten in their four games this year going into the World Cup campaign in ace Collins said: 'A lot of things weren't right. Before the game we didn't want it to be that last game, end of season friendly feel to it.'We didn't want to be that passive and wanted to get after them more but we weren't at that.'But considering we're nowhere near our best, we still dug out a clean sheet. But we all know that was nowhere near our best, and we have so much more to give.'Collins continued: 'We're lucky that the result still carries momentum. The way we played we could have lost that.'We didn't deserve to win but to sit in and defend the way we did, we didn't deserve to lose.'Credit to Max O'Leary, he's been in the camp a long time and not got his caps but made two great saves.'Doc (Matt Doherty) got a tackle in and Knighty was class in front of us. We weren't at our best but we defended well, dug in and had our chances'And when we come back in September we will build on that. We have great momentum and we haven't lost in a few games.'We know there are more things to work on and get better at. Going unbeaten in four into a qualifier, I've never experienced that before so it's good.'Collins played every minute of the Premier League season for Brentford and has been a mainstay for Ireland of the players are heading straight on their holidays from Luxembourg, so Collins feels there are reasons for the flat performance.'It's been a long season,' he said. 'I've been trying to push myself to the limit. I'm physically tired, but I'm more mentally tired. I doubt I'm the only one in that boat.'We've pushed ourselves to the max this season. Away to Luxembourg, it's not an easy game.'They played a really good game, they were very good, they pressed high and that probably hurt us as well.'I know the passiveness was there but we still made them force things, we still defended in a nice solid way and made them go around us.'And Collins also believes that some fringe players have put their hands up for selection against Hungary in September after capitalising on the absence of others.'I think that's the whole point of this, you want players to come in, you want players under pressure for the next person,' he added.'You want to have that feeling, that the people behind you are pushing for your spot, it's a great thing.'
Irish Times
10-06-2025
- Sport
- Irish Times
Ireland 0 Luxembourg 0: How the Irish players rated
16: Max O'Leary (Bristol City) Needed a second chance to get hold of a cross in the 13th minute but just before the half-hour mark O'Leary made an impressive diving save high to his left to deny a goal-bound Sinani shot. Used his feet to block a near-post effort in the second half. A solid international debut. Rating: 7 5: Jake O'Brien (Everton) Suffered a bang to his head late on in what was an otherwise largely uneventful game for O'Brien. He tried to get up the field when Ireland were in possession but so much about this encounter felt like an end of season affair. Rating: 6 22: Nathan Collins (Brentford) Captained Ireland on the night and despite some scrappy defending by the team at times, they finished with a clean sheet. Collins went close to scoring with a first-half header but his effort hit the woodwork. Rating: 6 4: Dara O'Shea (Ipswich Town) Showed good positioning and decision-making when heading Smallbone's free back across the face of the goal for Ireland's best goalscoring chance in the first half – only for Collins to be denied by the woodwork. Rating: 6 READ MORE 11: Robbie Brady (Preston North End) He was forced off injured after just 20 minutes, a disappointing end to what was a positive season for Brady in green. Brady pulled a free short from a decent crossing position early on. Rating: 4 17: Kasey McAteer (Leicester City) Showed good endeavour early in the second half to get on the end of a goalscoring opportunity but his left-footed shot bounced wide of the right post. Was full of workrate and ambition throughout, though his finishing wasn't on point. Rating: 6 8: Jason Knight (Bristol City) He got back well to put his body in the way and make an important block on a close-range shot from Jans in the opening stages of the second half, the Luxembourg captain's shot hitting Knight and ricocheting out for a corner. Worked hard all night to try energise Ireland. Rating: 6 Ireland's Killian Phillips and Jason Knight. Photograph: Ryan Byrne/Inpho 24: Killian Phillips (St Mirren, on loan from Crystal Palace) It has been a very encouraging few days for Phillips, who built on his first Ireland appearance in the draw with Senegal by earning his maiden start in this game. But like most of his team-mates, struggled to make an impact in a low-tempo contest. Rating: 5 6: Will Smallbone (Southampton) The Southampton midfielder whipped in a lovely weighted pass from a free late in the first half and it created Ireland's best scoring chance in the opening period, O'Shea nodding the ball back across the face of the goal where Collins headed against the woodwork. Rating: 6 9: Evan Ferguson (West Ham United, on loan from Brighton) He struggled to carry any real attacking threat in what was a lacklustre fixture. The Meath man was booked for a foul on Carlson, which prevented a Luxembourg breakaway midway through the second half. Ferguson was taken off with 15 minutes to go. Rating: 5 7: Troy Parrott (AZ Alkmaar) The Dubliner had something of a running battle with Korac and won two frees early on after the Luxembourg defender was forced to drag him down. Battled well and produced a lovely dinked finish for a goal that was correctly ruled offside in the 66th minute. Rating: 7 Subs: Ryan Manning (Southampton); Jack Taylor (Ipswich Town); Festy Ebosele (Istanbul Basaksehir); Adam Idah (Celtic); Matt Doherty (Wolves); John Patrick (Stade De Reims) Manning was busy and made a very positive impact after his introduction. Ebosele and Taylor combined to create a good goalscoring chance soon after they came off the bench. Taylor also smacked the crossbar with a rasping shot late on. Doherty made an important late interception. Rating: 7 Manager: Heimir Hallgrímsson On what was his 58th birthday, Hallgrímsson was at least able to celebrate Ireland getting through this international window unbeaten. This match will not last long in the memory but over the course of the two games he did at least get to have a look at some new players in green. Rating: 6
