Collins happy to be back in saddle
VETERAN: Collins JAMES COLLINS plans to park the tractor this afternoon after admitting he felt too young to spend his weekends watching others in the driving seat. The Ipswich defender is determined to keep Norwich at bay when the Championship leaders host the bottom club in ‘El Tractico’. Instead of his first Old Farm derby, the former Wales star, 35, could have been safely retired after his rejection by West Ham at the end of last season and self-imposed departure from Aston Villa.
But Collins – brought to Ipswich on a free by Paul Lambert last month – soon realised it was too early to hang up his boots.
He said: “I didn’t really know what to do with myself on Saturday afternoons so I jumped at the chance to come back and come into a challenge.
“Hopefully, we will do well because I was really missing football. I had worked with Paul for about two or three weeks at Villa before I went back to West Ham so we knew each other a bit. There was no hesitation.”
Collins bounced around between West Ham and Villa, with two spells at either club, before his most recent period in the Midlands came to an unusual end in December.
Signed on a short-term deal by former Villa boss Steve Bruce, the defender suffered a calf injury in an early training session and voluntarily ripped up his own contract.
He said: “It just didn’t seem right. I went back to the club and they’d been so good to me.
“I trained two sessions with Steve Bruce and he got sacked. Fortunately, Dean Smith and John Terry were there and they were great to me. I got offered a short-term deal, signed it, and then got injuryed.
“I didn’t think twice about it, really. I saw Dean on the way off the field and told them not to send the contract through or rip it up.”
Villa’s loss could be struggling Ipswich’s gain.
Collins added: “The players still believe and so do I. I’ve never been relegated in my career. It’s something I’m proud of and it’s a record I intend to keep intact.”
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