CURIOSITY HAS REPLACED expectation when it comes to what Troy Parrott can achieve in his career.
By opting to leave Tottenham Hotspur for AZ Alkmaar, when he still had the option of seeing out a lucrative contract with another loan spell in England’s second or tier, the Dubliner is beginning to reimagine the possibilities of what can come next.
His move to AZ was earned off the back of 10 goals on loan with Excelsior Rotterdam in the Eredivisie last season. He has five already this term and added a sixth in the Europa League.
It’s part of the reason why Parrott is also steadfast in his belief that there is so much more to come from him in a Republic of Ireland jersey.
“I’m not the finished article. I need to keep getting better and learn more. No, you’ve not seen the best of me,” he said.
Parrott turns 23 in February and has earned 23 senior caps. With five goals, the Dubliner is the highest-scoring forward in this international squad for the Nations League double header with Finland on Thursday and Greece on Sunday.
Ireland have won once in the last year and it was Parrott who scored the winner in injury time after coming off the bench against Hungary in a friendly in June.
Only Adam Idah has more appearances (28) among the strikers, while Robbie Brady (66), Josh Cullen (36), Jason Knight (32), Jayson Molumby and Dara O’Shea (both 26) are a quintet with more caps.
Parrott didn’t add to his tally last month and had to make do with a watching brief from the bench for the 2-0 defeats at home to England and the Greeks.
“It’s not something I’m going to sit around and cry about. We’re here now, it’s a new camp, we have to see what happens,” Parrott said.
Heimir Hallgrímsson is the fourth Ireland boss – including John O’Shea’s four-game interim reign this year – that Parrott has played under, but banging the door down to look for reasons why he was left out is not how he operates.
“I am not really the type to ask a lot of questions [of the manager]. If he’s made that decision, that is his decision, it’s gone and I can’t change what’s happened.”
He believes there are better days to come in an Ireland jersey and it’s easy to understand why. Parrott arrives into this international window off what he describes as “the biggest game so far” in his club career.
That was AZ’s Europa League clash in Bilbao against Athletic Club. “That’s why I wanted to move away and play in those type of games, to get that experience and test myself at that level,” he explains.
AZ lost 2-0 but Parrott already got off the mark in the league phase of the competition when he scored the winner from the penalty spot in a 3-2 victory over Elfsborg last month.
Six goals in 10 appearances (including four in one game against Heerenveen) have helped AZ into third place in the Eredivisie, and ensured he is a rare breed: an Irish player in form and full of confidence.
“I want to play, I’m ready to play. But again, it’s the manager’s decision, I can only come here and be as fit as I can, play, train the best I can and see what happens,” Parrott said.
“If I get a chance to play then I’m going to feel ready and I’m going to feel like I can make an impact on the game. So, yeah, I could see why the team feels a bit low on form because of previous results. But I think it’s on all of us to try and turn it around.”
It’s almost five years since Mick McCarthy handed the Dubliner his senior debut at home to New Zealand in November 2019. Of that matchday squad, only Brady, Cullen and goalkeeper Mark Travers are involved this week.
Parrott was 17, and within a month of that Ireland milestone Jose Mourinho sprung him from the bench for Tottenham Hotspur to give him his Premier League debut.
“[There was] quite a lot of pressure put on. When I was younger, I’ll tell the truth, it used to get to me a bit but now I am older, I have played more games, I have been in England and the Netherlands and am experiencing new things.
“So being away, it’s not necessarily being out of the spotlight, it’s just a new experience for me that I’m really enjoying. For me to be enjoying my football is the most important thing. It is one of the reasons why I have managed to do well up to now.
“Trying to live up to the hype at such a young age, it was never going to happen that early because football isn’t so easy,” Parrott continued.
“For me it was more about growing up a bit and trying to block out the noise. It (hype) was a lot from the media, not a lot of people around me. I knew that I had talent, how good I was I didn’t know. I didn’t get many games to try to show that but it was a lot to do with the media.”
There is no hype now, but intrigue with how he navigates this next stage of his career for club and country.
