• Home
  • /
  • Football
  • /
  • David Forde's Conduct After The Sickening News Impressed Everyone

David Forde's Conduct After The Sickening News Impressed Everyone

Balls Team
By Balls Team
Share this article

Most had assumed that Martin O'Neill would play it safe and stick with David Forde, the man who had begun the qualification campaign as Ireland No. 1.

When he threw on Forde for the final half-hour of tonight's run-out against Belarus, many seemed to read it as confirmation that Forde had a seat on the plane.

[soundcloud url="https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/266804362" params="auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true" width="100%" height="450" iframe="true" /]

However, he plumped for the in-form Westwood and Forde was out. O'Neill appeared to be pained by the decision in his post-announcement interview with Tony O'Donoghue on RTE.

Speaking to reporters outside, he praised Forde's performances in the qualifiers. The deciding factor in leaving him out was that he hadn't played enough in recent months.

David Forde is obviously disappointed because he has been a big part of proceedings and made a wonderful save against Germany way back when they were leading 1-0.

They could have gone 2-0 and the game would have been long way back and we end up getting that point that eventually takes us to France.

That’s a disappointment for him. He has been excellent for us and there are one or two disappointments as well. It’s a shame but that’s part and parcel of the game.

While most seem to agree that Westwood was the correct call, many have argued that Given was a better candidate for omission than Forde. Though, it was long accepted that this was unlikely.

Recommended

Forde's conduct after the game has been praised by Brendan O'Brien. After hearing the sickening news that he would not be travelling and that his international career was effectively over, he walked outside and diligently hung around signing autographs. 

In other news, Westwood has been handed the No. 1 shirt. Significant?

 

Advertisement

 

Join The Monday Club Have a tip or something brilliant you wanted to share on? We're looking for loyal Balls readers free-to-join members club where top tipsters can win prizes and Balls merchandise

Processing your request...

You are now subscribed!

Share this article

Copyright © 2024. All rights reserved. Developed by Square1 and powered by PublisherPlus.com

Advertisement