Drinan had been training at the club for a few months but was unable to officially sign from Waterford United until the January 2018 transfer window opened. Two months earlier, McCarthy had said he liked “just about everything “in the striker’s game and, when he finally announced the deal, said that” the only frustrating thing is that he couldn’t play but is ready to go now. “

Except McCarthy was sacked 13 weeks later by a club adrift on and off the pitch and Drinan, who had been an unused sub on several occasions, was left in limbo. Two and a half years, three different managers and four loan moves passed before his debut for the club finally arrived. In the meantime, there have been disappointments, tough lessons and a tough time in Sweden.

But these experiences were very useful for the 23-year-old and at Leyton Orient, which he joined last summer, there was a new lease of life. He’s embraced the old-school ideals, courage and grind of manager Kenny Jackett and although he’s been played off at times rather than in the middle, he already feels like he’s settled in the east. from London.

“This is what I was looking for,” he said. “The loans were all short term and it didn’t help me go around without having the flow of a full season. Hope this can be the place.

Despite this being his most successful campaign at Ipswich, with 22 Ligue 1 appearances, Drinan had decided at the end of last season that a new permanent home was needed. So he knocked on the door of Paul Cook’s office and asked the former Sligo Rovers manager if he would take the offers. Then Ipswich activated an option to extend his contract for 12 months, meaning fans assumed he would stay and try to become a more integral part of the squad. Rather, it was to protect its transfer value.

“I went into his office and expressed what I felt, what I felt was necessary for me personally,” Drinan says. “He said he would have liked to keep me and that they would take the option of an extra year on my contract as a bit of protection for the club. They let a number of players go for free, but once that this was resolved, I was able to move on, then Orient entered.

The most important thing was to find a place, compared to the life of a lower league player, where he could settle down and call home. The loans had taken their toll and to maximize its ability to meet expectations a cohesive environment was needed.

Gothenburg

There had been a pleasant comeback at Waterford, a tricky stint out of the League at Sutton United and a brief spell at Ayr United, but his three months with GAIS in Gothenburg were the toughest, toughening him up but also bringing clarity of mind.

“It was a little different from Cork,” he says and while he enjoyed some aspects of the culture and the environment, the fact that GAIS’s promise was not kept led him to follow suit. ask what was the direction of his career.

“It happened at the right time but it was not the right club. I was told that I would go there and play as a striker, that they really needed it. Then I found myself on the right wing. I wanted to play as a center forward so it was a bit of a waste of time.

“Again, being in another country wasn’t. I learned more about myself. There were games where I didn’t even play, so this loan became more about how well my mental strength works. It made me realize that nothing is easy and it hardened me.

There had been no language barrier as most of his teammates were fluent in English, although his own accent was sometimes difficult to understand and he had to slow down.

It was common for players to meet up for breakfast at a pre-practice café and there were times he struggled to find what he wanted to eat at the supermarket. Then there was the time. “It was very cold most of the time,” he says. “Snow, ice. I didn’t know the cold before going, it was absolutely Baltic.

Above all, the experience gave him new impetus and, despite a few goals, his work ethic was appreciated by Ipswich fans last season. This is also what Jackett pointed out and while there have been times spent away from home at Orient, he had four goals and two assists under his belt as of mid-September.

After that, things got a bit trickier, with Orient’s early season form diminishing. But Drinan bounced back in spectacular fashion last weekend, scoring a hat-trick in the 5-0 win over Hartlepool and earning a spot in the Fifa22 Team of the Week.

Through it all, Drinan’s outlook is optimistic and he remains motivated by the long-term goal of rising to the rank of Irish senior citizens.

Having worked with Stephen Kenny at the U21 level, Drinan believes he has a good understanding of what the manager wants and can understand that it takes time for players to adjust in new ways.

“It can be difficult, but in today’s game you have to adapt to different ways of playing,” he says. “Even at the club level. It takes time for players to figure it out and it doesn’t work with players every day. He’s building for the future and it’s good to see so many young boys debuting and seeing Chiedozie [Ogbene, a former team-mate] scoring against Azerbaijan was brilliant. It’s good to try to change the way we play.

As for dreaming of his own call: “If I can continue this season, get more goals and assists consistently, bring Orient to the top – that can be a goal. This is what I want in the future but I can’t look at it too much either. To think too much about it can hurt at the club level, where I have to focus fully now to make it happen.

“I’m motivated by it, but come on Saturday, it’s about goals and helping the team win.”