Ireland have just played their first game of this years European
championships, losing out 3-1 to Croatia. Millwall's David Forde may be third
choice goalie for the Irish, but I bet if you told him 4 years ago that he
would be in the squad for a European championships, he would've thought you
were crazy.
Forde joined Millwall in the summer of 2008 after being released
by Cardiff City and he soon endeared himself to the lions faithful, in only his
fifth game for the club he dramatically saved a last minute penalty against
Huddersfield to secure the lions first win of the season. This was a good first
season for Forde at the den, after saving a Jermaine Beckford penalty in the
play off semi final against Leeds, before losing to Scunthorpe in the final,
despite this Forde had a good season also by keeping the 2nd highest amount of
clean sheets. His strong personality shadowed his play on the pitch, from quiet
to loud-mouthed in seconds. Plus being described a having a "Jekyll and
Hyde" personality by more then one teammate will endear him more to the
Millwall faithful, A passionate mentalist.
Forde went on to play in all competitive games the lions in both
of their play off seasons as the lions went back to wembley the following
season, this time to win as they beat Swindon Town. Forde went from being
relatively unknown to being one of the most reliable goalies out of the two top
divisions. Forde was also another brilliant example of Kenny Jackett building a
successful team on one of the smallest budgets in the division.
A higher division brought a higher challenge for the whole team,
especially Forde as higher quality players would come up against them, little
faults began to become apparent in the Ireland internationals play, his kicking
was poor and looked to be beat easily from long range. Despite this Forde was
still the lions number one as the lions flirted with the play offs in their
successful first season back in the championship. This season also saw Forde
collect the highest honour in playing football, playing for your country. Forde
play and collected his first cap against Northern Ireland in May 2011
The lions second season in the championship saw Forde come under
pressure for the first time. Poor performances and injuries saw Steve
Mildenhall come in for his first run in the team. Forde brought more mistakes
into his game, including errors against West Ham and Brighton cost the lions
vital points in their relegation battle, which saw him dropped again. This was
the final straw for Kenny Jackett who brought in Maik Taylor on loan. Taylor's
great performances saw him signed up on a one-year deal for the upcoming
season.
Despite less game time, Forde was picked for the EIRE euro 2012
squad. Despite being considered third choice, this could bring new found
confidence to Forde. Good enough to beat Maik Taylor to the number 1 jersey
next season? Not for me, but he isn’t a bad second choice.
No comments:
Post a Comment