Western Daily Press (Saturday)
I have the feeling... maybe this season could be the one
Bristol City and Republic of Ireland winger Callum O’Dowda opens up to Gregor MacGregor about life at Ashton Gate
IT’S been a curious 2019 for Callum O’Dowda. The winger has received universal acclaim for his performances in the Championship and become a staple of the Republic of Ireland squad.
He also remains one of the more popular players at Bristol City, particularly among the younger generation. But in the background has been constant uncertainty about his future in BS3.
With Leeds United and Fulham among the interested parties, O’Dowda delayed signing a new contract throughout the summer and seemed set to leave when his deal expires next summer.
But almost from nowhere, the 24-year-old agreed a contract this month and has now been firmly welcomed back into the fold as a key member of Lee Johnson’s team.
Q Was it a relief to finally sign a new Bristol City deal and why did it take so long to get sorted?
I would say it was a relief to get the new contract signed. It did drag on way too far. But I’m happy and I’m all sorted now because going into the last year of your contract is not ideal – you never know what might happen in football.
Look at what happened to Benik (Afobe, who suffered a serious knee injury) the other day – something that came just out of the blue.
The reason it took so long – and I’m not going to go into the depths of the contract – but what I can say is that it was one of those things where it had to be right for both parties.
And that was the reason it took so long. But we got there in the end and I’m delighted it’s all sorted now and I’ve committed my future.
Q What would you say to those Bristol City fans who believe that you only signed a new deal after moves elsewhere fell through?
Listen, the fans don’t hear that from me. I’m not going to openly just say, but there’s always interest. I was coming to the last year of my contract and there was always going to be teams left, right and centre, but if I’m brutally honest I always wanted to sign it.
I just wanted to make sure it was right for me and the club at the same time. The message to the fans is ‘listen – and I even said it to fans after games – I want it to get sorted’. I just needed to make sure it was right.
Q What’s your relationship with Lee Johnson like? Were you frozen out at the end of last season?
Frozen out? I wasn’t. I had my LCL (knee ligament) injury and, if I’m being honest, even when I came back I wasn’t fully fit. Because I missed eight weeks out.
I did declare myself as half fit-ish. I remember just having an open dialogue with the gaffer – I said I’m fit but I haven’t got the minutes in me and I haven’t got the sharpness because I was out for a good eight to ten weeks.
And we were both honest with each other. We got the good result against Millwall and he said, “I’m going to stick to the same 18”. I respected that and at the time we still had a great chance to make the play-offs. I know it was a bit slim towards the end, but we were honest with each other. It was fine.
Q What do you make of Ireland’s Euro 2020 qualifying chances?
I don’t want to speak too early about it because look what happened in the World Cup. The World Cup qualifiers, we started great but then results started to turn a little bit. We’ve got a good group, the manager’s been really good since he’s come in – and come in with great ideas – so I’m just hoping that we keep building on that. We’ve had some great results – obviously the Switzerland game – so we need to just keep at it and we’ll see, really.
Q Do you have a good relationship with Mick McCarthy and did you have to put in a word with Max O’Leary for the boys in green?
With Mick, he’s a really, really good guy. I’ve noticed he’s a really good man manager as well, and as a coach he’s brilliant. You know as he’s been around the game for so long.
I really respect him as a man and a coach. He comes up with good ideas and that’s probably the benefit of going away with Ireland – it’s a nice change of scenery because you’re going from one to the other and it’s different and you can always bring things back and bring ideas to it,
whether it be set-pieces and how you defend them. It’s good.
With Max, it was quite nice because he got called in. I didn’t see him for too long because I don’t think he had his passport sorted in time.
I remember speaking to the old goalkeeping coach about him because he was constantly asking, and the current one, (Alan) Kelly, was asking me, too, and what’s he like? I was throwing compliments left, right and centre, obviously, but it’s good for him. I still speak to Max every now and then and drop him a text. I get on well with Max.
Q Joe Morrell is now at Lincoln City and I think your former boss, Michael Appleton, has just taken over there. Have you given Joe any advice?
Joe’s already texted me, actually. He texted me the other day and said, “We’ve been linked to him, what’s he like?” I said that he was really good for me, gave me a chance.
Q
How highly do you rate him?
Yeah, I really rate him very highly, actually, Michael Appleton. I got on really well with him. He trusted me and he just let me get on with it, really. He was good with managing me because I think I was at an age where I was just breaking through. I managed to score 10 or 11 goals.
I didn’t start too many games, but he knew when to take me out and when to start me and that was the big thing I noticed with him at the time. He was saying, “You’ve got to trust me on this”.
He said that sometimes he felt I was better as an impact player with my pace, and that was the thing. At the time I was young and wanted him to start me every game, but he was really good.
He had some good coaches and we had a good team that season, but a lot of it was down to him. Hopefully, he’ll be good for Joe Morrell because I rate Joe very highly. He’s got so much ability and has done well to deserve the call-up the other day for Wales.
Q Have you spoken to Matty Taylor since he’s been at Oxford United, your old team?
I never played with Matty at Oxford. We went to the same school, so I’ve known Matty for years.
I remember watching Matty when he made his Oxford debut – I was in the stands. So he obviously knows Oxford. But I still keep in touch with Matty every now and then. I get on well with Lisa (partner), so I still keep in contact. I spoke to him after the Rovers game – obviously he got injured. I was saying, “Make sure you go and score against them”. I messaged him after his goal last weekend – “Well done mate, you’re off the mark now, really happy for you”.
Obviously, I didn’t text Joe Morrell!
Q Ashton Boys FC – you saw them playing in the park and you were asked to give them a motivational talk and tips on how to bounce back from a defeat? Do you know how they did afterwards?
Yeah, they then won 7-0! It was quite funny, actually. I was walking my dogs and all of a sudden this ball comes towards me. I was knackered anyway from training. I kicked it back and then it was, “Callum, do you fancy…”
I went over there and they got all the boys in. A few of them knew me. I just took over and asked how they were getting on. I was saying about bouncing back because obviously they’d lost.
I said that I would come every day and watch them train, but it was the last day they were training there.
It was good. I was just talking about believing in yourself and things that I wanted to hear when I was that age, growing up and when you’re not sure.
Football is serious at the time when you’re in the academy, but I think it starts getting really serious when you’re heading towards 16 and obviously scholarships become involved. It’s time to make sure they really enjoy it as well.
Q And you enjoyed that? Could that possibly lead on to something?
I don’t know. It could be. I haven’t really looked at it too much. I think it’s one of those things that when you’re a bit older you look at, but I’ve always said that I’d love to get into coaching, whether it be under-23s, under-18s. But then it would be nice to be part of the first team. I like the environment, the matchday buzz, the pressure to perform. I just need to get all of my badges now.
Q What’s the mood in the camp heading to (today’s opponents) Preston? The record against them isn’t very good.
That’s all the fans talk about. I came out of the game the other day and they were all saying it to me.
We don’t talk about it because I think a lot of it is that the squad is constantly changing, so there’s a lot of players in our dressing room that don’t know that. That’s the thing. We haven’t really spoken about it.
I know because all the fans are telling me, but I think you just look at how well we’re doing, how well they’re doing, and that’s more of a bigger factor, I think – whether they’ve had a loss and whether they’re going to bounce back or they’ve done all right and got a few wins and draws and then you don’t know what to expect from them.
Hopefully we go there and get the three points. We’ll see. Obviously, it’s away and we’d rather it be at home, but we’ll see.
It’ll be a tough game, it’ll be cagey because obviously both teams are good and in good form, but I’m hoping that we can create more chances. The start we’ve had has been brilliant so it’s just building on that and getting the consistency throughout the year as well.
Q Were you in the training session when Benik Afobe got injured and have you heard from him?
Benik’s been in a few times but there were two sessions going on at the same time. I didn’t see it but he’s actually shown me how it’s happened. I couldn’t really see too much of it from a distance.
It’s frustrating because obviously he’s a great player – everyone knows how good he is and what he’s done for us so far this season. It’s a bit annoying at the same time, but these things happen in football.
I think the good thing is our squad this season – I notice when the boys aren’t playing or the boys are on the bench. They’re at it so much in training. They’re not sacking it off – standards are high.
It’s good, there’s a lot of good feeling around the camp at the moment. I’ve not really had that feeling for a while, so I’m hoping this season could be the one.
Q How do you see the Championship panning out? Do you look at the table?
You just never know, do you? You look at some teams and who they beat. There’s a few teams that you know are going to be up there and I’d like to think that we’re in that, that top half, that top six.
I think we could get automatics but I think we have to get play-offs at least. If I had to put money on it, I’d say at least play-offs.