Anthony O’Connor’s Plymouth gamble paying off
Armed with a fresh three-year deal at Blackburn Rovers, the Cork native could have slipped into a comfort zone of being a back-up accepting a life of playing the odd game.
For a 22-year-old, that dilemma should never even be considered as their career status is still at the ‘hoping to impress’ stage. But the money afforded to players, especially in England, has altered that mindset.
If O’Connor were to look around at some of his peers, he would see players content with simply picking up a pay cheque each week. For example, Emmanuel Adebayor has earned £3.4million since his last Premier League start for Tottenham Hotspur – which was on November 2.
Although, progressing on the pitch is what motivates the former Kilreen schoolboy. And that’s why he chose to rip up his contract with a Championship club and drop two divisions to sign for Plymouth Argyle.
If that wasn’t enough of a gamble, the versatile defender only penned a six-month deal.
“I think a couple of years ago I was on the verge of breaking through at Blackburn after my loan spell at Burton, but it just didn’t seem to happen for me for one reason or the other,” revealed O’Connor.
“I ended up asking to go out on loan because I didn’t want to be waiting around for a chance. So I went out on loan to Plymouth, then went back to Blackburn in January, and made the decision that it was time to go.
“I enjoyed my time at Plymouth so I decided to come here until the end of the season. I’m not really worried about what happens in the summer because I just want to get this team promoted and by playing each week I’m getting my name out there.
“So I’m not nervous about what is going to happen at the end of the season. I’m just concentrating on doing my job for Plymouth and getting this club into League One. Then I can look at my options.”
The good news is that Plymouth are flying high in League Two as they command a play-off spot ahead of today’s trip to struggling Carlisle United. So it appears that the only way is up for the newest Irish Pilgrim.
O’Connor, though, isn’t one to take anything for granted. He lives football 24/7 and is constantly striving to improve, which is why his recent switch to midfield has gone better than many expected.
Under the guidance of ex-Republic of Ireland international John Sheridan, the transition from a tough-tackling defender to a box-to-box, goalscoring midfielder has brought out the best in O’Connor at a crucial time.
“Obviously he’s (Sheridan) played for Ireland and he was a really good player in his day and he seems to like the Irish lads as I’m here and so is Carl McHugh, but I’ll always give my all whoever I play for,” stated O’Connor.
“John has a lot of fight in him and he’s always on to us about striving to be better. He joins in training every day and you can see that he was a good player as he never gives the ball away and he has a real passion for the game.”
Clearly that passion has rubbed off on O’Connor and his career trajectory is back on an upward curve as a result.
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