Collins Massively Surprised By Town's Position Thursday, 24th Jan 2019 19:42 Recent recruit James Collins admits he was “massively surprised” that Town were rock-bottom of the Championship when he signed a short-term contract through to the end of the season earlier this month. Collins, 35, had been at the club earlier in the season when Paul Hurst was still manager and at that time he felt they were in a false position, hence his shock at finding they had not been able to climb the table. The ex-Aston Villa and West Ham defender said: “I was massively surprised. I know they made a lot of changes in the summer and brought in a lot of young lads from the lower leagues but it seemed like a false position at the time. “As soon as you get into that frame of mind where you’re losing games — and I know it can work the other way as Hull are showing by going on a long winning run — it is difficult. “I came into a club this month that based on training looked far superior to their league position. I found it odd and I just feel they’ve got into a bit of a rut. Before you know it you’re down there at Christmas and it’s tough. “But the good thing about having a squad with a lot of good young players is that we should be going into every game with no fear. They are capable of going out, expressing themselves and helping us to win football games. That’s all we can do.” Collins’s experience — his record beats that of any of his Portman Road colleagues — could be a major factor going forward as he looks to help inspire a relegation rescue act over the final 18 games of the season, starting at former club Villa this weekend. “I am a talker but not a massive one to go around the players,” he added. “I’d rather sort of make sure that I perform on a Saturday to a level where they can all think ‘Jesus, if he’s doing it why can’t we?’ I’m probably not as fit as I should be at the minute, as in sharpness-wise, so I’m just concentrating on myself and having chats with the boys individually. “I’ve always been one to look at an older player or a captain and think that if they’re performing at a certain level that’s where everyone should be at. “That’s my focus at the minute, making sure that week in, week out, I’m at a level that I’m happy with and I’m performing well.” Collins struck a huge blow for the image of today’s professionals, many of whom are regularly portrayed as money-grabbing types, when he ripped up the contract awarded him by Villa a few weeks ago after he had impressed in training following an invitation extended by manager Dean Smith, who was disappointed to miss out on a player with so much big-time experience. He explained: “I could have gone back up there and trained. I spoke to Dean a number of times and he was brilliant with me, as were all the staff at the club. “I went up there, got injured and then trained for a bit, only to get injured again. Dean was saying to me ‘Come back and train, you never know what can happen’ because they were desperate for a centre-half at the time. “I did my own fitness work and it just never happened. I got myself fit and then I spoke to Jimmy Walker [Town goalkeeper coach] and the gaffer, who gave me an opportunity to come here and go straight into the team. “I felt it was a chance to start playing again and one that I couldn’t turn down. Also, it was the type of challenge I’d been looking for, to help out a club in trouble. “When I first came to Ipswich earlier in the season it was also with a view to signing and playing. Again it didn’t happen because I didn’t feel 100 per cent fit and wasn’t convinced I could do myself justice. “I came away from it for a bit, did my own fitness work and went back to West Ham to train. They were great to me and I got fit when I was there but by that time Paul Hurst had lost his job. “At that point things came to a bit of a stop to be honest before I went up to Villa and then came here. Coming here and playing straight away against Rotherham wasn’t too difficult because I knew the lads from being here a few months earlier.” Collins’s successful career as a defender wasn’t what he had in mind when he started out with first club Cardiff. At that time he was considered to be a promising young forward, more interested in scoring than stopping goals. “I actually played for the Cardiff first team as a centre-forward and in my youth team days I was always a centre-forward,” he remembered. “I loved it up there — playing football and scoring goals is what you want to do — but I think it was Alan Cork or Lennie Lawrence who came in and soon realised that I wasn’t going to make it as a number nine. “I moved back to become a defender and it’s something I love doing. People describe me as a bit of an old-fashioned defender and I love that side of the game — the heading, the tackling and putting your body on the line. “That’s something I enjoy as much as the boys who love scoring goals. I think I was quite fortunate that they decided to switch me to a defensive role.”
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