David Forde added to Stephen Kenny’s management team to care of players ‘having difficulty’

Former Republic of Ireland goalkeeper David Forde, who is head of psychology at Crystal Palace, has been drafted into the international set-up by Stephen Kenny. Picture: Joe Giddens

David Forde, the former Republic of Ireland goalkeeper and current head of psychology at Crystal Palace, has been drafted on to Stephen Kenny’s management staff.

The Galwayman is also a co-founder of Pathfinder Coaching and Development and a senior practitioner with the European Mentoring and Coaching Council and he will be involved in this upcoming international window and others to follow.

Kenny volunteered the information ahead of Wednesday’s opening World Cup qualifier against Serbia when asked about the social media abuse suffered in recent times by players such as Shane Duffy and James McClean.

The Ireland boss also highlighted the targeting of Jonathan Afolabi, on loan at Dundee from Celtic, and Aston Villa’s Tyreik Wright, and he joined the chorus of people demanding that social media platforms “be held accountable in some way” for what is happening.

The news about Forde was also prefaced by Kenny’s appraisal of other players “having difficulty” with the strains of life in lockdown with those on loan at clubs particularly at risk of isolation when facilities are out of bounds.

“You’re not supposed to interact with anyone not in your bubble. How long does the bubble exist? A year or two? Does that mean you can’t interact with anyone for a year or two? There are a lot of grey areas.

“The social media aspect of it, some of that has been horrific. Some of the abuse Shane got. Someone taunted the fact that his father recently died. Just incredible stuff.

James McClean has had a barrage of abuse for a number of years and Jonathan Afolabi at Dundee and Tyreke Wright got it as well: a young player coming through.

It is for these reasons that he has involved Forde in a camp that welcomed the first players to its Manchester base yesterday and moves on to Serbia, back to Dublin and then to Hungary before dispersing back to their clubs next Wednesday week.

“He’ll be there in the camp, in the background, morning, noon and night. He’ll just be there as a resource for everyone,” Kenny explained. “It’ll be a bigger squad than normal. Because of Covid you can’t call players in, they have to get a Covid test three days beforehand, then they have to go into a bubble and they can’t interact with you.

“So it’s hard to get players later into the camp. That’s one of the lessons that we’ve learned (last year). That’s why we have so many players in the squad this time. One of the reasons, not the only reason.

“Obviously, there are three games in the six days, which is another big factor. So, David is there as a resource for everyone.”