Now in his second season in red and white, Conor McManus feels that it’s a big year for him.

The Irishman, who arrived in west London in January 2023 from Bray Wanderers, has settled well into life with the Bees as part of the left side of defence.

Over the best part of one year, Conor has become accustomed to the style of play and the hard work required to nail down a place within the B team line-up.

Looking back on his journey so far, Conor says he’s improved a great deal from the nervous young player who first stepped foot into the building.

“It’s crazy,” smiled Conor. “The year has flown by and it’s been very enjoyable. I’d turned 18 and moved across to London and now I’m coming up to 19 and you don’t really know where the year has gone. The experiences that I’ve had within that time, I’m struck with the number of amazing opportunities that we’ve had.”

Stepping foot into a new environment at the tender age of 18 can be tough for anyone, especially when moving away from home into a high-performance environment. Naturally it will be physically taxing, but what about the mental side of things? Conor says that’s something he has had to work on.

He explained: “The biggest learning curve I’ve had is to do with the mental side of the game. For fans it’s probably quite easy to look at a player not doing well, but the mental health side of it has so much to do with it.

"It’s something I’ve tried to home in on and I’ve managed to improve that and I almost look at it as part of my training which has then helped with my improvement on the pitch.”

The youngster from Cabinteely, just south of Dublin, didn’t come through a traditional academy route.

There was no rising through the ranks within a professional club in the Premier League, and Conor said coming into the Robert Rowan Performance Centre there was a time of adaptation as he joined a group of players, some of which had come through academies such as Fulham, Chelsea, West Bromwich Albion and Aston Villa.

He continued: “A lot of the lads come from big academies, and for me, coming from where I have in Ireland… people ask me where I was before and I tell them Bray Wanderers and they don’t really know about it.

"I’ve always been tough on myself, and I always want to win. Perhaps sometimes your biggest strength can become your biggest weakness. I want to win so bad and then sometimes I can be too hard on myself and I don’t cut myself any slack. That’s when you need to be careful not to cross the line.

“I remember the first three to four months last season where I was with the group and in my first couple of training sessions I struggled to process what was going on. The standard was so high.

"I was looking at some of the lads and putting them on a bit of a pedestal. Initially I didn’t see them as teammates and you’re looking at them and the clubs that they’ve played for. It’s something I’ve had to learn to be better at, but I’ve become more confident around the building and on the pitch and settled in after coming from Ireland.

"This pre-season was better, and I got myself into the mindset of knowing there would be new fresh faces and I’m not a new one. This is my time to really kick on.”

Conor McManus has been a regular for the B team this season and has proved to be very versatile

It takes some steel to force yourself into first team football at a young age. At the age of 17 Conor made his debut for Bray in the League of Ireland First Division against Wexford FC and went through an impressive period as he adapted to senior football back home.

The aggressive defender earned himself a reputation for being able to handle himself among older players which stood him in good stead when he moved to Brentford.

“I had a pretty boring life back home in Cabinteely,” laughed Conor. “It was a nice upbringing with my family- I’m the youngest of three and I had to stay strong and not be bullied by my brother and sister! I was always football mad from a young age, whether that’s playing in the garden with my brother or down the local park with my mates.

"I worked my way up playing football in Dublin up until the age of 15 and then played League of Ireland at under-15, under-17, under-19 and then got the chance to play in the second tier of Irish football.

"There was some interest from some bigger clubs in Ireland, but I never really felt it was right to move. I was comfortable and had good friends at a club where I’d started to make a bit of a name for myself with Bray Wanderers.”

As Conor and his teammates prepared for a league match back home, the youngster was then given some news which brought about a huge change in his life on the pitch.

“It was crazy. We had a match on a Friday, a big game against a team who were second in the league, and I really wanted to play and I’d been starting every game before,” explained Conor. “I found out that I wasn’t in the starting line-up and I was a bit annoyed.

"The staff told me they had some news for me, but I had to wait until the Monday. I was waiting all weekend not knowing what to expect and I even thought I’d done something wrong! Thinking back, my mum and dad were dropping hints because they were aware before I was.

"I trained on the Monday and was fuming before I went into the office and was told about the opportunity to trial at Brentford and to go and enjoy it.

“I walked in the door (at Brentford), and I was so nervous. I was 17 and I didn’t know anyone’s name. I’m quite a shy lad anyway and those first few days I felt a bit starstruck. I walked onto the pitch and saw all the first team lads training and it just felt surreal.”

Conor has been a regular this season for the side and recently started at left centre back in the match against West Ham United away from home recently.

The youngster feels he’s made huge strides since his arrival at the club and is learning all the time from fellow players and the coaching staff.

He continued: “I’m on the right route but I’m not where I want to be yet. Last year I was continuing my school work and settling in and this year is about kicking on. Football isn’t perfect, you have ups and downs, but as long as the trend is upwards for the majority then that’s what I want.

"I think I’m doing well and putting in the extra work to try to get better. The funny thing about me is I don’t think I’ll ever be where I want to be. Even if I reach Premier League level then I always want that bit extra. It takes a lot for me to be satisfied!

“Having said that I do look back even a year ago at the player that I was and there are big differences physically and I’m a lot more composed and calmer. Everything has improved tenfold.

“I want to play in any position that gets me in the starting XI. Every position has its positives and negatives.

"I enjoy left centre back because defending is what I love to do and if I go to left wing back I have the freedom to use my energy and make something happen going forward. Left back is probably the best balance.

“It’s about consistency. The way I look at it is that I’d rather be a seven out of 10 every week rather than an eight or a nine out of 10 some weeks and then you drop to a four or five. Keeping my mindset in the right place is important because you know that everyone can have bad games but that’s just football.

"It’s very rare where you’ll get through a game and there isn’t something you’re not the happiest about. We’re so lucky here with our coaching staff that we can go and talk to them at any time to pick their brains. You have to take from their experiences because you’d be silly not to use them.”

When you assess the options at full back Conor is spoilt for choice in terms of inspiration. Whether that be the lung busting runs of Rico Henry, or the fantastic versatility and progressiveness of Aaron Hickey. Mads Roerslev too, another product from the B team, who has gone on to play regularly in the Premier League.

For Conor, he can’t help but sit back and admire the talent that he can learn from. He continued: “Everybody wants to be a first team player and I look at Aaron Hickey as a player and I think he’s a complete full back.

"I genuinely can’t tell if he’s right or left footed, he’s so good going forward and so good defensively. Overall, what more can you ask for from a full back? I look at Rico Henry and his positional play going forward and the way he arrives into the box. Those are things that I want to learn to develop my game going forward.”

Conor takes inspiration from first team defender Aaron Hickey

As we near the end of 2023, it’s been a positive start to life with Brentford for our young Irishman, and as the young Bees aim to finish the year positively, there’s no doubt Conor will play a key role for the side in the coming months as he aims to continue that upward trajectory.