COLLINS: FORGET ‘LITTLE CLUB ON HILL’ TAG
Skipper sets his sights high for next season...
WITH EFL survival secured with two games to spare, next on the agenda for Forest Green is ‘doing an Accrington’.
That’s according to skipper Lee Collins who, rather than allowing the ‘little club on the hill’ to rest on their laurels after a job well done, is dreaming a whole lot bigger.
After promotion from the National League last summer, Rovers were seen as something of an anomaly: an eco-friendly club with a vegan matchday menu and robot lawnmower (affectionately known as ‘The Mowbot’) based in a town of just 6,000 people to be marvelled at for a season before returning whence they came.
The ‘little club on the hill’ became a patronising stick to beat them with. Instead, a 0-0 draw at Yeovil in midweek saw both clubs confirm their place in League Two for another season.
Not that defender Collins – signed from Mansfield last summer – ever had any doubt Forest Green were more than capable of competing in the fourth tier during their firstever campaign at that level.
“It gets a bit more stressful as you’re running out of games, but to seal survival with two to spare takes that pressure off and full credit to the team for staying in the EFL,” said the 29-year-old.
“We were favourites to go back down, but I’ve been around League Two for a long time and I’ve seen a lot of small clubs succeed at this level.
“When I saw the set-up at Forest Green, they’re not ‘the little club on the hill’ that they’re labelled – it’s more than ready to be an established League club.”
Smashed
Rovers could have been forgiven for revelling in their survival, but Collins is already looking to next term and targeting promotion to League One.
And he is using Accrington – who have earned promotion this season despite their small budget and looked nailed on for the League Two title before the weekend – as an example to follow.
“If you look at Accrington, they haven’t got a big budget on paper, but they have smashed the league this year,” he explained. “We definitely use them as inspiration – there’s no reason that couldn’t be us next year.
“We just need to make sure we make the right signings, not just big-money signings. There are a couple of clubs who have chucked big money at it this year but haven’t come close to making the grade. I’ve got no doubt the gaffer (Mark Cooper) has good connections within the game. As long as we get our business done early and aren’t scraping around, then we’ll be fine.
Capable
“The core of the squad is there and we’re already more than capable of beating anyone, so, once we add a couple of players, we’ll be in very good shape.”
Though this is his first season at Forest Green, Collins took over the captaincy from Liam Noble in October – shortly before the current Notts County midfielder was released – and quickly bought into the culture of the club.
He credits boss Cooper for not only tempting him to the New Lawn ahead of other, more established League Two clubs, but masterminding Rovers’ EFL survival.
“The selling point for me was the manager,” added Collins. “When I left Mansfield I had quite a few clubs interested in me, including a couple who I pretty much said I was going to.
“But then I met the gaffer and couldn’t turn it down. He’s a total footballing man and I’ve always wanted to be in a team that plays a lot of football.
“I don’t like the stereotypical League Two, long-ball game. It became clear he didn’t want to play like that from our first meeting, so it was a no-brainer for me.”
So, with the job done, for this season at least, is Collins looking forward to a couple of months of rest and relaxation?
“I don’t like how long the summer is! I think six or seven weeks is too long.
“I go a bit stir crazy,” he said. “I would love the winter break to be introduced just to make the summer shorter!”