HUNGRY LIKE THE WOLF
Spell out injured gave Brophy time to reflect. Now he aims to make up for past mistakes
EAMONN BROPHY owned plenty pondering time in between rehab work and consuming painkillers. The St Mirren striker put it to good use. Resting up with a stress fracture of the foot earlier this year could have proved mentally punishing, particularly given the back story to the injury.
Suffered in pre-season for Kilmarnock last year, the problem was not correctly diagnosed until six games into his St Mirren career in February.
Brophy, nicknamed ‘The Wolf’ by his team-mates, channeled most of his frustration at himself, however, which turned out a most productive exercise.
For he realised the wheels had started to come off long before he struggled through all of an arduous 2020-21 dealing with that fitness setback.
Seeing the light in his darkest days of physical inactivity permitted Brophy to figure out that personal flaws and professional failings had contributed to progress stalling on a promising career.
In the summer of 2019, Brophy was in business. He rounded off the season with match-winning penalties against Hibernian and Rangers to cement a superb third-place finish for Kilmarnock.
On the back of his 12-goal campaign, Steve Clarke called him up for Scotland immediately after leaving Rugby Park for Hampden. He led the line on his debut in the 2-1 win over Cyprus.
All the promise shown as a Hamilton youngster, then as a touted shrewd signing by Lee McCulloch, it seemed, was coming good.
But Brophy toiled with four goals for Kilmarnock in the first seven months of the following season, often isolated in attack under Angelo Alessio and unable to exhibit the explosive style that earned national team recognition.
By the time he hit his stride, coronavirus stopped the campaign. His injury ensured a false start when play recommenced.
On reflection, Brophy confesses he failed to build on that spurt of success under Clarke.
Making peace with his mistakes, he’s keen to correct them with Jim Goodwin’s side — complete with an improved, hungrier outlook thanks to his spell in self-analysis.
Brophy explained: ‘Being injured can give you time to reflect on what you’re doing right and what you’ve done wrong.
‘When you’re younger, you’re not always doing the things you should be doing.
‘That certainly applied to me at that time. I’m glad, now I’ve come back, to have the chance to learn from my mistakes.
‘Hopefully, I can get back to my form of a couple of years ago — or even surpass that. And I believe I can do that.
‘Two years ago, I was in Scotland squads and finishing third with Kilmarnock and people were expecting me to kick on. But I never did.
‘So that’s a bit of a regret. But sometimes things happen you just need to learn from.
‘In terms of lifestyle, I wasn’t bad. But, when you’re out injured, you maybe realise what you should be doing.
‘You see other people doing well, you want to be involved and not just sitting in a physio room.
‘Since coming back, I’ve been a lot hungrier to be the best I can be. It’s a short career and I want to try to make the most of it.
‘It’s been tough. I’m 25, not a kid
anymore, and want to try to get to the highest level I can in my career.’
Brophy has no fondness for the 2020/21 season, other than it featuring a mid-season move to St Mirren he’s convinced will bear fruit in the long term.
He scored only three goals for Killie when not fully fit last season, then drew a blank on eight occasions for the Paisley team either side of surgery.
‘I basically wasted a year,’ he said. ‘I picked the injury up at Kilmarnock, then it didn’t get identified until a couple of weeks in the door here.
‘I knew something was wrong because I wasn’t as sharp as I could be. When I found out what it was, it was weird. I wasn’t disappointed. It was more relief.
‘I’m just glad to be back and off painkillers. I took them up until about a month ago but I’m completely fine now.’
Goodwin banked on reliable top-half Premiership form when he went shopping earlier this year.
In addition to Brophy, he picked up Alan Power and Greg Kiltie from relegated Kilmarnock in the summer.
Charles Dunne and Curtis Main helped Motherwell to a Scottish Cup final three years ago, while Scott Tanser was fresh from St Johnstone’s season of high achievement. Brophy’s two league goals have contributed to decent draws at Dundee on the opening day then away to Hibernian last Saturday. But victories will be required soon to place St Mirren in the mix for a top-six challenge.
All three points against Aberdeen today, one of the clubs linked with Brophy last season, would be quite the springboard.
He said: ‘We’ve had four draws and just need to turn a couple into wins to make it a very good start.
‘It’s easier said than done. Aberdeen are going through a sticky patch but they’ll still expect to win.
‘I don’t want to say if Aberdeen were an option for me but I had a number in Scotland.
‘A lot of people were surprised I came here but the manager really believed in me.
‘He’s certainly done that since I’ve been here, too, and it’s not been easy. I didn’t hit the ground running but he’s always stuck by me.
‘I’m very grateful. That’s why it’s 100 per cent still the right decision to come here.’
Hopefully, I can get back to my form of a couple of years ago