There’s an assumption from many Premier League players that you must know who they are. If they offer you a welcome at the training ground, you can count yourself lucky.
So when James Collins looms into view, extends a hand and declares: ‘Hi, I’m Ginge,’ you sense that he just might be a very good man for West Ham’s current predicament.
It seems quite appropriate that his well-established nickname at the club — ‘the Ginger Pele’ — is an ironic one.
He once had pretensions to be something more sophisticated than a utilitarian British centre half.