Roddy Collins has returned to English football as a football consultant with Ebbsfleet United in the National League South – the sixth tier of the game in England.
Collins will act as an advisor and representative of new owner, Dublin businessman John O’Leary, who took full control of the club this week, settling its hefty tax bill with HMRC.
The club had been served with a winding up order in July and were suspended by the National League after their first three league games were postponed.
However, they are set to begin their National League South campaign against AFC Totton – where his son Roddy Jnr once played – on Saturday.
“My remit is to come in, get the feel for it, listen to the supporters, and try to figure out how a club this small got into such a financial mess,” Collins said in an extensive interview with the club’s Youtube channel.
“When all that settles down, I’m moving over with my wife and I will become an integral part of the club. If there’s a conduit here between anyone here and the owners, it’ll be me and I can give my honest opinion.”
Collins, whose last managerial gig was at Athlone Town, said he was in Spain when he got the call from the new ownership last Sunday.
“They said, ‘Rod, we’ve bought a club. We need your help because of your expertise and experience.’
“And I like the people involved that I’ve met in the consortium. I turned to my wife, Caroline, the boss, and said, ‘what do you think?’
“She said, ‘Rod, c’mon. You’ve too much to offer.’ So, it was either walk the beach in Spain and have a nice swim or stand here! And my commitment is here.”
The former double-winning manager said he will be primarily involved in cleaning up the club’s financial position but that he will also be advising the owners on football operations.
“This is real football and they’re [Ebbsfleet supporters] real football people. I’m a real football person. I’d get more enjoyment out of this than if a league club rang me up and said ‘we’ll give you a directors’ box…’ Nah, this is real football.”
Collins had an extensive managerial career between the mid-1990s and the 2010s, the high-point of which was winning the double with Bohemians in 2000-01, securing the north Dublin club’s first league title in 23 years.
Roddy Collins celebrates after leading Bohemians to the league title in 2001
He subsequently enjoyed a high profile stint with Carlisle United, where he also worked with a Dublin owner, the late John Courtenay. His later managerial career has been chequered, with short and unhappy stints at Shamrock Rovers and Derry City among others. However, he did lead Monaghan United and Athlone Town to First Division titles in the early 2010s.
He made headlines recently after engaging in a war of words with Derry City’s James McClean, after he branded his signing as the worst in the club’s history and predicted it would lead to the exit of manager Tiernan Lynch.
“I’ve managed every top club in Ireland,” Collins told Ebbsfleet United FC TV. “Shamrock Rovers, Bohemians. Carlisle United. FC Floriana in Malta. And I love it.
“But unfortunately, I took on the establishment and I lost. And I lost my career. But I’m back in it now.”