County's midfield enforcer Ciaran Brennan has insisted strength of mind can carry his Exiles to League Two safe ground, writes Anthony Rees.
In a revealing interview, teak-hard ball-winner Brennan, once seen as one of the Republic of Ireland's exciting new football generation, has told of the mental anguish he courageously overcame when his dream of Championship stardom at Sheffield Wednesday died.
Brennan, now 25, who has deep family roots in Ireland's Limerick area, is currently in the eye of County's grim fight to cheat the jaws of the National Conference, nearly 13 years after escaping the section to seal a return to the Football League - after beating Wrexham 2-0 in a play-off showdown on May afternoon at Wembley.
Opening up, Brennan, who is closing in on his 120th professional match against Grimsby at Rodney Parade this Saturday, tells of his unbridled debt to the Port for giving him stability at a time when he was most desperately seeking it 20 months ago saying, "I owe a lot to Newport. They gave me a contract when I hadn't played as many games as I would have liked in the 12 months prior to me joining the club.
"I want to play for this club. I owe them so much and am desperate to help them get out of the situation [relegation threatened] they now find themselves in. I am going to do anything I can."
Brennan spent 11 years at Hillsborough, rising from the Owls academy to a first-team debut, being guided initially by former Swansea City manager Garry Monk, then ex-West Brom boss and icon Darren Moore.
He recalled, "Garry [Monk] really helped me in those early days. He handed me a debut [in the League Cup]. He used to give the younger players a chance and a bit of trust. He was calm and composed. He recognised that three or four of us were really pretty decent. You always remember your first-team debut.
"Darren Moore was a big influence on me too. He really did give me a chance in the Football League, I had a run in the team with him.
"Looking back I probably didn't realise how big a club Sheffield Wednesday was. It's only when you move on that you realise such things. I was there from such a young age. It was all I knew. It is so sad for me to see what is happening there at the moment. I hope the club does pick up once it gets new owners."
Raised in the Steel City, Brennan was hurt when the Owls sent him out to Gainsborough, Notts County, Swindon and Hartlepool on loan.
He admitted, "There was a period just before I joined Newport when I was a bit in limbo. I was trying to hang onto to things at Sheffield Wednesday when I wasn't getting picked. I should have probably bit the bullet and left the club 18 months before I did. Hindsight is a wonderful thing isn't it? I was still hanging on to a dream of playing for Sheffield Wednesday.
"In the 12-18 months before my contract finished at Wednesday I didn't play anywhere near enough games as I wanted for different reasons. But I can't have the regrets, because life is like that."
Departure from south Yorkshire came as no cold shock to Brennan.
He revealed, "From the January onwards until the end of my last season, that six months, I wasn't even registered for the Football League squad. You obviously know you aren't going to get your contract renewed. I was very down. It was a tough period for me, it really was tough mentally. I got through it because of the support of my missus and family.
"I spoke to a sports psychologist and that helped. Mentally, it is really tough when you feel like you can do one thing and someone's opinion doesn't allow you you to do that. But that's football, I probably should have cut my losses a lot sooner than I did. If I had done, I'd probably have another 50-100 games under my belt now."
Yet Brennan, who too often has been the unstated performer in his defensive midfield role of late, now believes his steely mindset can help carry County to solid ground - and away from the deadly quicksand that currently threatens their league life. The Exiles have been tap-dancing on their section's trap door for over three months.
After the visit of the Mariners to NP19 this weekend, County travel to Swindon, MK Dons and Salford City, all clubs with promotion ambition, within a nine-day period.
He said, "I would say I am [ready to give everything for Newport]. This is not a position I have been in before, but I know how competitive football is. You have to win. If you don't you are going to get battered by your own fans.
"But we [County's squad] know what we have in the building, We know 100% we can get out of this. We don't worry about external opinion. It is hard, though, because these days it's very easy to pick things up on social media. Nobody seems to write anything positive, but they do write negative stuff. You only jump on social media if you have something to moan about. As a footballer, you have to live with this.
"When I was a bit younger I was a naive to it all. Even if you you knew you had played well, you'd be hoping to see somebody write something good about you.
"When I go home and sit in front of the telly with my missus I know if I have played well or poorly. I don't need somebody telling me externally. I think that type have level-headed approach comes with experience. I have that, and that is what I think I bring to the group.
"Some people might say I am not the most creative [player] or a goal-scorer or that maybe I am boring. But people [at the club] know my value. This is all that matters to me. I don't need external criticism or praise because it doesn't affect what I do. "
Brennan is chipped from solid Celtic stock - his ancestors travelling over to Middlesbrough from the Emerald Isle in past time to seek work in the Teesside steel works.
Now the linkman’s desire to wear Ireland's green jersey again burns so brightly in him.
He said, "My mum had an Irish accent when she was a little girl, it's North-East, Yorkshire now. I have many first, second cousins, aunties and uncles living in and around Limerick."
Sheffield United striker Tom Cannon, The Blades' centre-back Mark McGuiness, Bristol City's Jason Knight, Southampton schemer Will Smallbone and Strasbourg raider Andrew Omobamidele all trod the same path as non-nonsense Brennan in Ireland's U-19s.
"There is an old saying, you have no friends in football, he said, adding, "I don't really stay in touch with any of them from that time. You just move on with your own career, as they have.
"I am still a young player [in terms of the number of games I have played]. Representing my country at senior level is still on my bucket list.
"I switched from a centre half to a midfield role over the last 12 months. I feel I am growing into it. My career is moving in an upward trajectory."
