AMONG SEAMUS COLEMAN’S virtues is a habit of apologising for the cliche he’s about to mention.
“Without being boring and I know it is boring and cliched”, he started when asked about Everton’s ambitions for the season on a call with The42 today, “it’s Nottingham Forest on Saturday.”
There’s nothing wrong with saying this, given the consensus on the correct preparation at the elite tier of the game is that the only game that matters is the next game.
And if it’s boring…well, surviving in football is boring.
Longevity in professional football is sedimentary layers of mundanity; constantly doing the right things day-in, day-out.
Coleman is fit again after surgery on a hernia problem, and having been an unused substitute against Aston Villa last weekend, an appearance against Forest this weekend will mean he has played in 14 different Premier League seasons. It will also be appearance number 330, taking him into the top 10 on the list of Irish Premier League appearances. Were he to play every remaining game of this season, he would be seventh on the list and one game shy of Roy Keane.
And now that Mark Noble has retired, Coleman is officially the longest-serving player at any one Premier League club, having signed for Everton from Sligo Rovers 13 years and seven months ago. (Lewis Dunk of Brighton is second on that list, followed by Harry Kane and Jordan Henderson.)
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“There is no secret to my longevity”, says Coleman, “except that I come in every single day like it’s my first day at the club. I might not train well every day and I might not play well every game, but I give 100% commitment. Every. Single. Day.
“Respect my team mates, respect my manager, and work hard for the bigger picture, which is always the team. There are good days and bad days; good months of form and bad months of form; bad seasons of form and good seasons of form. You just have to stay level-headed, take the good with the bad, and understand the journey. Last season definitely tested the mental side of it, for sure.”
There has never been a season has difficult as the last, with Everton avoiding relegation by the skin of their teeth with a comeback win against Crystal Palace on the penultimate day of the season amid a near-hysterical atmosphere. Coleman described the feeling as a relief but it carried a physical toll, too.
Coleman is mobbed by Everton fans after the club secured their Premier League status last season. PA
PA
“Towards the end of last season I was really hanging on in there”, he said. “The last six or seven games of the Premier League season weren’t easy physically. I had an issue but we were in such a position that I had to grind it out. I had a hernia procedure. It was something that needed doing, it has thankfully sorted it, as the pain has gone. The last few games of the season…go back and watch the Crystal Palace game: it was a massive relief, I wasn’t even fit to celebrate as I was in so much pain.”
Coleman hoped a week off at the end of the season might quell the problem but it flared up on international duty in Armenia. He was substituted in the second half and then withdrew from camp, forced to have surgery to clear up the problem. Having missed a chunk of pre-season, Coleman played 45 minutes with the U21s the day the Premier League returned, and returned to the squad at Villa park last season. Everton have already suffered a luckless run of injuries to defenders – Ben Godfrey and Yerry Mina will be out for some time with their opening-day issues – but the club have recruited Conor Coady and James Tarkowski, characters whose off-field presence has been needed at Everton according to Coleman.
Nathan Patterson has been playing at right wing-back and in truth Coleman’s stiffest competition for a place in the team may be Mason Holgate, who has been playing to the right of the back three, a position Coleman has played regularly for Ireland. He will brace at the suggestion he can no longer play right wing-back, but he has done so twice for Ireland in the last year (away to Armenia and Portugal) and suffered injuries in the aftermath of both games, albeit the post-Armenia injury had been a problem for weeks beforehand.
Then again, it seems an annual tradition at this point: Everton sign a right-back, and they soon fail to dislodge Coleman from the team. Among the defenders he has seen off include Johnjoe Kenny, Djibril Sidibe, and Cuco Martina. He was as important as ever last year, and Coleman alone accounted for a quarter of all the Premier League minutes played by Irish players.
“When you come back from an injury”, he said when asked if he has felt written off, referencing his horror leg break in 2017, “there’s no point lying, you are aware of things that are said. I just want to keep going for as long as I can, and take the good with the bad. Not prove people wrong, it can sound bitter to say something like that. I just love competing.
“As I’m getting older, I’ve found different motivation to drive me and to keep going for as long as I can. Enjoying being out there at 33, and enjoying competing with the 20-year-olds, and enjoying the runs after training and trying to stay with the 23-year-olds as best I can. It changes all the time, the picture changes all the time, and you have to adapt with it.”
The number of Irish players in the Premier League continues to shrink, though the total number of minutes played by those involved this season should increase from last year’s record low, given Gavin Bazunu, Mark Travers, and Nathan Collins are all first choice for their respective clubs.
Have they asked Coleman for any advice on how to stay at the top?
“The lads we are talking about, and Caoimh [Kelleher] too, with those lads we are very lucky in terms of their personalities. They are so humble, hard working, and modest. It’s the best base you can have as a player.
“You don’t get too high when things are going well and don’t get lost in the attention and love, and those lads are really motivated and hungry to be successful. Because of that they don’t need advice from me, as long as they keep working hard I can see them all having great careers.”
Seamus Coleman was speaking to launch SPAR’s Better Choices campaign, which is now available in stores nationwide. For more information, visit www.spar.ie
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'There is no secret to my longevity - I come in every single day like it’s my first day at the club'
AMONG SEAMUS COLEMAN’S virtues is a habit of apologising for the cliche he’s about to mention.
“Without being boring and I know it is boring and cliched”, he started when asked about Everton’s ambitions for the season on a call with The42 today, “it’s Nottingham Forest on Saturday.”
There’s nothing wrong with saying this, given the consensus on the correct preparation at the elite tier of the game is that the only game that matters is the next game.
And if it’s boring…well, surviving in football is boring.
Longevity in professional football is sedimentary layers of mundanity; constantly doing the right things day-in, day-out.
Coleman is fit again after surgery on a hernia problem, and having been an unused substitute against Aston Villa last weekend, an appearance against Forest this weekend will mean he has played in 14 different Premier League seasons. It will also be appearance number 330, taking him into the top 10 on the list of Irish Premier League appearances. Were he to play every remaining game of this season, he would be seventh on the list and one game shy of Roy Keane.
And now that Mark Noble has retired, Coleman is officially the longest-serving player at any one Premier League club, having signed for Everton from Sligo Rovers 13 years and seven months ago. (Lewis Dunk of Brighton is second on that list, followed by Harry Kane and Jordan Henderson.)
“There is no secret to my longevity”, says Coleman, “except that I come in every single day like it’s my first day at the club. I might not train well every day and I might not play well every game, but I give 100% commitment. Every. Single. Day.
“Respect my team mates, respect my manager, and work hard for the bigger picture, which is always the team. There are good days and bad days; good months of form and bad months of form; bad seasons of form and good seasons of form. You just have to stay level-headed, take the good with the bad, and understand the journey. Last season definitely tested the mental side of it, for sure.”
There has never been a season has difficult as the last, with Everton avoiding relegation by the skin of their teeth with a comeback win against Crystal Palace on the penultimate day of the season amid a near-hysterical atmosphere. Coleman described the feeling as a relief but it carried a physical toll, too.
“Towards the end of last season I was really hanging on in there”, he said. “The last six or seven games of the Premier League season weren’t easy physically. I had an issue but we were in such a position that I had to grind it out. I had a hernia procedure. It was something that needed doing, it has thankfully sorted it, as the pain has gone. The last few games of the season…go back and watch the Crystal Palace game: it was a massive relief, I wasn’t even fit to celebrate as I was in so much pain.”
Coleman hoped a week off at the end of the season might quell the problem but it flared up on international duty in Armenia. He was substituted in the second half and then withdrew from camp, forced to have surgery to clear up the problem. Having missed a chunk of pre-season, Coleman played 45 minutes with the U21s the day the Premier League returned, and returned to the squad at Villa park last season. Everton have already suffered a luckless run of injuries to defenders – Ben Godfrey and Yerry Mina will be out for some time with their opening-day issues – but the club have recruited Conor Coady and James Tarkowski, characters whose off-field presence has been needed at Everton according to Coleman.
Nathan Patterson has been playing at right wing-back and in truth Coleman’s stiffest competition for a place in the team may be Mason Holgate, who has been playing to the right of the back three, a position Coleman has played regularly for Ireland. He will brace at the suggestion he can no longer play right wing-back, but he has done so twice for Ireland in the last year (away to Armenia and Portugal) and suffered injuries in the aftermath of both games, albeit the post-Armenia injury had been a problem for weeks beforehand.
Then again, it seems an annual tradition at this point: Everton sign a right-back, and they soon fail to dislodge Coleman from the team. Among the defenders he has seen off include Johnjoe Kenny, Djibril Sidibe, and Cuco Martina. He was as important as ever last year, and Coleman alone accounted for a quarter of all the Premier League minutes played by Irish players.
“When you come back from an injury”, he said when asked if he has felt written off, referencing his horror leg break in 2017, “there’s no point lying, you are aware of things that are said. I just want to keep going for as long as I can, and take the good with the bad. Not prove people wrong, it can sound bitter to say something like that. I just love competing.
“As I’m getting older, I’ve found different motivation to drive me and to keep going for as long as I can. Enjoying being out there at 33, and enjoying competing with the 20-year-olds, and enjoying the runs after training and trying to stay with the 23-year-olds as best I can. It changes all the time, the picture changes all the time, and you have to adapt with it.”
The number of Irish players in the Premier League continues to shrink, though the total number of minutes played by those involved this season should increase from last year’s record low, given Gavin Bazunu, Mark Travers, and Nathan Collins are all first choice for their respective clubs.
Have they asked Coleman for any advice on how to stay at the top?
“The lads we are talking about, and Caoimh [Kelleher] too, with those lads we are very lucky in terms of their personalities. They are so humble, hard working, and modest. It’s the best base you can have as a player.
“You don’t get too high when things are going well and don’t get lost in the attention and love, and those lads are really motivated and hungry to be successful. Because of that they don’t need advice from me, as long as they keep working hard I can see them all having great careers.”
Seamus Coleman was speaking to launch SPAR’s Better Choices campaign, which is now available in stores nationwide. For more information, visit www.spar.ie
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Everton Republic Of Ireland Seamus coleman still at the top