THE GOAL CHRIS FORRESTER scored in the win over Drogheda yesterday is as good as you will see anywhere.
It was wonderful. There is a lot involved and you would have to speak to him to know whether it was in his head for a couple of minutes to catch the goalkeeper off his line but good players tend to notice these things.
You have to have that vision and when the ball sat up for him, it is all about the awareness and execution of the volley. Everything about the goal is perfect and it goes to show the quality of the guy. I had heard he’d scored a wonder goal but I didn’t expect that. It was just out of nowhere.
If it wasn’t for the performances of himself and Christy Fagan, I think St Pat’s may not be in the position they’re currently in. They’re starting to hit top gear now but those two players and Conan Byrne as well have been vital so far.
Forrester’s displays in particular have been outstanding. Last season his performance level dropped off somewhat but that is understandable given the age of the lad. There was an awful lot of pressure and expectation on his shoulders after the start he had to last season and that lob he scored against Shamrock Rovers the previous year.
It is difficult for a young player to deal with that sort of hype as it’s a very different world now in terms of exposure. Everything you do now is available on social media or YouTube straight away. That wasn’t the case for us a few years ago. I only wish at times there were videos clips of games I was involved in. These days there is access to everything and with that comes added pressure.
It’s brilliant because it gives the league exposure when moments like that go viral. To be fair to Pat’s, they are very good at uploading goals and games online and have been for a number of years.
Getting back to Forrester, it’s fully understandable that he had a dip last season but to be fair to him he has come out of that and in the couple of games leading up to Pat’s winning the title he was excellent at critical times — he scored away to UCD and at home to Dundalk. I remember talking about it on MNS and he showed great maturity in those performances.
I recall seeing him play at Bohemians about three years ago under Pat Fenlon and he had loads of potential. It is wonderful to see him get better and better and as a spectator now you love watching guys like him come through.
He is an inner city Dublin kid who doesn’t come from a privileged background but has a good family behind him. Nothing has ever been handed to him and whatever he has achieved he has done it himself. He has shown so far that he is very determined and extremely talented.
There is nothing to suggest he can’t go all the way to the top but a lot depends on Chris’ application. You look at Wes Hoolahan who is from a similar background and also had loads of ability at a young age. He may have needed direction as a kid but one thing he always did was train very well and he had an interest in physical conditioning.
Wes had to do it the hard way by going to Livingstone from Shelbourne and working his way up from there. That may not be the case with Chris but if he keeps on performing the way he is, there is no limitation to what he could achieve.
His ability is undoubted but he will have to couple that with the right attitude and application plus some good advice here and there. If it is a case that he does make the move to England you would hope that he gets the right club as we would all love to see him in an Ireland jersey in the future.
You have to enjoy these players while they are here. If they are good enough to move elsewhere then you can’t stand in their way but this league gives players the chance to play regular senior football and allows them to express themselves — an opportunity they may not get at clubs in England.
We heard Roy Keane recently on Soccer Republic alluding to the fact that the League of Ireland can be a good starting point for young players rather than going over at 15 or 16 and being overwhelmed.
We are getting our fair share of young talented players and the numbers of ex-LOI players in the current Ireland squad is great to see.
These players are there to be watched and it’s just a shame that more people don’t go to watch them.
