Paul Fennessy reports from Abbotstown

FOR JAKE O’Brien, the last month has been all about adapting to a new way of life and style of football.

On 26 August, the Irish U21 defender’s parent club Crystal Palace announced he had joined Belgian side RWD Molenbeek on loan for the duration of the season.

Eagles striker Luke Plange also made the same move to the Belgian First Division B.

The 21-year-old only joined Palace permanently from Cork City in July of last year and has already made an impression with his new team, scoring on his home debut.

“I came on up top,” he recalls. “I was only there a week. We were 2-0 behind and I got thrown up top as a kind of a target man and that brought it back to 2-1. We got a corner in the last minute and got a goal.”

O’Brien has already played four matches for a side who are bidding for promotion, having narrowly missed out last year after finishing second and subsequently losing a playoff.

“It’s different but I’ve always been open-minded in going out and trying new things,” he says of his Belgian stint. “It is a different style of football, the culture, the language, but I really like it there.

“At the start, I was going to stay in England but then it came about that this was there for the taking. I had a few discussions with people at the club and what’s good and bad about it. 

“The style of football out there is similar enough to the way Palace play — a possession style. I went out there to have a look at the club, spoke with the manager about their ambitions for promotion and thought I could go out there, get promoted and it might open up a lot of opportunities and I haven’t looked back.

“I had a lot of discussions throughout the week and to be fair Palace weren’t pushing, it was up to me to do whatever I wanted to do. We looked at the style of football and what would be the fastest way of progressing into the first-team at Palace and this was the best option.

“There are links with one of the owners, John Textor [who is co-owner of Crystal Palace, RWD Molenbeek and Brazilian club Botafogo]. But that wasn’t the full factor of me going, it was more how it would develop me over there and the style of football. A few Botafogo lads came over [too].”

Particularly with the different language and environment, homesickness is a potential problem for a young player in Belgium, but O’Brien says it is not an issue for him.

“I love it out there. Obviously, there is a language barrier but it is alright. It is easy enough out there. All the lads are all sound. You meet up with the lads after training. Keeping busy is the main thing really.”

When asked, O’Brien says he did not consult current Ireland senior international Josh Cullen, who recently spent two seasons in Belgium with Anderlecht, but the player did get feedback about the move elsewhere.

“I’ve spoken with some at Palace about playing in Belgium and they were all for it, being in a different country, away from family and how you will grow as a person and a player.

“Compared to England, it’s a lot quicker and more technical, it’s less physical. But that is like any league, there are ups and downs, and there are things I can take from this loan that will help me develop.” 

It is a considerable change from last season, when O’Brien spent time on loan in League Two with Swindon.

That move began well and the Cork native made 22 appearances for the club in total, but he was mainly out of the starting XI towards the end of the campaign, with his last five appearances all off the bench, including both legs of a playoff semi-final loss to Port Vale.

“After the international break, I came back, I had a few niggles in my ankle, basically throughout the whole loan and I kept playing on it when I was there and it caught up with me towards the end. It was only five or six games after I came back from the international break [that I missed]. I think it was best for me to take a break but they were on a good run, so they put me back in, and then we got the playoffs and obviously got knocked out. But it was a good run of form.”

Regardless of what club he plays for, O’Brien knows he must regularly be getting 90 minutes under his belt to progress in his career.

“Everyone wants to play, especially with going on loan — the most important thing is playing and showing what you are about. Obviously, no club is going to be like: ‘You’re starting week in, week out.’ You have to prove what you’re like and I think I’ve staked my place.  

“There have been discussions about my future [at Palace] and everything, it’s all positive. I think this loan will be big for me and maybe going back in January or the next pre-season and showing what is possible and try and stake my place for that team.” 

Before he worries about club action again, O’Brien will be spending the next few days focusing on Ireland U21 duty.

The centre-back got plenty of minutes under his belt during Ireland’s qualification campaign but had to be content with a place on the bench for their last group match — a disappointing 4-1 loss away to Italy.

Eiran Cashin and Mark McGuinness were preferred in defence that day, but with the latter ruled out for the upcoming Israel playoff games, O’Brien is expected to slot back into the team.

“Definitely [the loss of McGuinness] it is a big blow but for the whole squad, everyone is capable of coming in and doing a job. It’s a strong squad all around and there is always a lot of strength in every area.” 

And what would it mean to become the first-ever Irish U21 squad to qualify for a major tournament?

“Being the first team to do it would mean a lot. It would be up there with one of the best things in history really, for Ireland, wouldn’t it?”