Josh Cullen hails the impact of City legend Kompany
Republic ace holds no regrets about quitting Hammers for Anderlecht
HE was already a man with itchy feet and an eagerness to travel after far too much time spent on the bench, but for Josh Cullen, it really took just one phone call with the manager of Anderlecht to persuade him that leaving England and heading for Belgium was the right thing to do.
A move away from West Ham, where the Irish international was firmly part of the scenery but in reality a bit-part player, was in itself appealing, but the ticket to Brussels looked more attractive once Vincent Kompany got involved, and having the former Manchester City man “pour honey into his ear” smoothed the player’s passage away from London.
“He knew about me and my game, the clubs I’d been at, I knew the style of play he wanted and how he saw me fitting into the club, that made me feel I was wanted and it was good to have that conversation,” says Cullen, who joined Anderlecht from West Ham last September on a three-year deal, of Kompany.
“And I think I am a better player now, I have improved since I came here, working under this manager and his staff, it’s been great and I feel like I have learned a lot about the game. You look at the teams that the manager here has played for, the managers he played under, how good a player he was, and with that it would be hard not to learn or improve. And I feel I am improving my game as well as enjoying my football.”
In terms of day-to-day work, Cullen says Kompany is handson in directing the training sessions but doesn’t join in, leaving that to his staff.
“It’s a matter of passing on his knowledge to us, and that helps me improve my game. Then, on the odd occasion he pings a pass across the pitch and you can see he still has that quality,” he says with a smile.
Unable to establish himself at West Ham, Cullen could have been forgiven for saying no to the Belgian offer last year and sticking to the familiarity of the English game. Any move is a risk, and moving to a new country adds to the potential drama and trauma.
Add in the fact that the Hammers were on the verge of their best season in decades and there could be doubt. But he has no regrets about leaving the club, even though they could now qualify for the Champions League, unlike his new employers.
“Yeah, West Ham are having a great season but I’ve not looked back in that frame of mind. Everyone there, from David Moyes to all the managers I worked with and all the staff through the academy, I can’t thank them enough, they helped make me the player and the person I am today, but it was the right time to move on,” he says.
With the Republic of Ireland team, it can be a case of out of sight and out of mind once a player moves to a club outside of Britain.
In the last 20 years, only five players have played in a competitive international for the Republic while on the books of a continental club — Robbie Keane, David Connolly, Aiden Mcgeady, Ian Harte and Steve Finnan — as attention rarely goes further than the white cliffs of Dover: Irish football’s own version of Brexit. Irish players tend not to spread their wings and those who do get ignored — like the snub for Cillian Sheridan when playing in the Champions League group stages for a Cypriot club.
But Cullen didn’t need to clear his potential Anderlecht move with Stephen Kenny, yet was immediately reassured that he was doing the right thing.
“I didn’t have a conversation with the manager about it, I knew it was the right thing to do for my career,” he says.
“The night that I signed for Anderlecht, I was called into the Irish squad. I had a conversation with the manager then and he said that by no means would I be watched any less in the Belgian league than I would be playing in England.
“It was nice to hear that from him, but the most important thing for me, to get back into the Irish squad and to push for a place in the team, was to be playing games and carry on developing, become a better player, and I felt that Anderlecht was the best place to do those (things).
“I had options in the Championship that I could have taken but I am still young in my career and I wanted to become a better player and develop.
“It’s a gamble, maybe a life-changer, it’s a different culture and different language and it can be daunting when all you’ve ever know is the English leagues, having familiar faces all around.
“If I’d gone to another club in England I’d have known people there, even from playing against them, so it was a totally different challenge coming here. But it was one I was confident in my ability and that I could come and be a success, all the pieces of the puzzle seemed to fit and it felt right, and six months in I am glad I made the decision.”
International football has also been testing, the Republic without a goal in seven games, but Cullen has sympathy for Kenny.
“It’s been a tough time, the most unlucky spell for a national team, or any team, with the players ruled out over the last few camps with Covid and injury, so it’s been tough but I think there are positives to be taken from the games we’ve played,” he says.
“There’s no hiding from the results which we, as a group, know have not been good enough, and we need to turn that around at the start of this campaign, start winning games of football. The performances the lads have put in have been good and we can take confidence from that into a new campaign.
“We have to be up for the battle which, as a nation, we always are, but at the same time we have quality players who can win games and we are confident we can go into the campaign and win enough games to qualify for the World Cup. We want to be successful and that has to be our aim.”