FORRESTER’S FIRE
Dubliner admits that he’s playing for the future of his family, not for the good life
CHRIS FORRESTER makes it seem effortless. The deft touches, the quick-thinking, the causal 50-yard volleys looping over the goalkeeper (go to YouTube and enjoy). It all looks easy. There are dummies and shimmies and it’s as if he hasn’t got a care in the world. And, since leaving St Patrick’s Athletic for Peterborough United in the summer of 2015, his understanding of what is required of him has developed. In possession he remains as graceful as ever but there is even more purpose to the 24-year-old’s game.
‘It’s weird, I look back and I’m a totally different person and player now. I feel as if I know the game much better now, I know what it’s like to be in a changing room and you do carry yourself a bit different,’ he explains.
‘Young lads in the dressing-room, you try and guide him and set an example of what way things should be done. It’s just about having a bit more cop on. You can either try to learn and find out what way things work from people who have been in the game over here much longer and have experience, try to gain things from them to see how they go about their day, how they train.’
He could have easily lost the run of himself when former manager Graham Westley began talking him up as Peterborough’s version of Michael Carrick. ‘When you’re young you can either listen to get better or you can be someone who thinks they know it all and have made it when they haven’t,’ Forrester continues.
‘You have to be willing to listen to try and adapt to your surroundings and improve as a player and a person. I don’t think it would have went down well if I turned up in the dressing room and thought “this is me now, I can do whatever I want”. It’s about improving every day.’
It’s not hard to understand why his new boss, former Northern Ireland international Grant McCann, decided on their pre-season trip to Portugal to make Forrester his captain. ‘I never really saw myself as one but now that I am I like it and the added responsibilities,’ he says. ‘I never saw myself as that type player in the dressing room but I think I’ve taken to it well.
‘I’ve been in that situation where you’re going into a new place and being judged straight away so it’s just about being as welcoming as possible.’
Forrester’s decision to leave Ireland and make the move to Peterborough was an obvious one but it still had its drawbacks as his girlfriend and infant daughter remained in Dublin. ‘I think I was trying to let people know that I’m not here to just mess about with a few tricks, you know. I want to change my family’s life and do the best I can for myself and family at home. Lads appreciated that when I first came and they took to me a bit better.’
His family are still in Ireland, his daughter is now two and a half and while he only sees her a few times a month, Forrester is conscious of changing the current set-up. It may look easy on the pitch but there is a pressure to succeed and make things work off it.
‘That’s in the back of my mind because things have been going alright and my head’s been alright for the last few months, I don’t really talk too much about it,’ he admits. ‘I’m at a stage now where I’m a bit more used to it. It’s not ideal but I just have to get on with it and work around it.
‘Sometimes you get caught up in it, the home sickness and that. You think to yourself you have to do this because you have no either choice but recently I’ve been trying to enjoy it more and not get too caught up in everything. That approach is working for me.
‘I haven’t thought about it this season and that’s why I’m OK and my head’s alright. I might start getting too comfortable, you know. It keeps me on my toes with them being back home, it gives me that extra motivation to go and do good each week and try to keep improving.
‘Last season was really tough. Then from the start of pre-season I’ve been a lot more stable in my thinking and don’t let it affect me too much. I have a wonderful opportunity to do what I’ve always wanted to do and I have to remember to appreciate that.
‘I just have to enjoy it because when I first came my thinking was “I want to make it”. Now I’m here I still don’t think I have, I want to keep going and get to where I really want to be, but you also have to be able to enjoy playing too because if you’re not enjoying it there’s no point in doing it.’
Forrester has no problem admitting where it is he wants to be. ‘Premier League,’ he says instantly. ‘I’d love to play in the Premier League but, you know, realistically, just the highest level I can possibly play at because it’s going to be beneficial for my family, financially.’
He’ll get his chance today when he leads his team out at Stamford Bridge against Chelsea and an impressive performance will have even more people taking notice. Martin O’Neill already has, naming him in a provisional 40-man squad for friendlies with Switzerland and Slovakia last March before cutting him.
‘It’s something I always think about. It’s the ultimate, the ultimate goal. I was absolutely gutted [over Ireland omission] but it gave me a realisation that I was close, but just not there yet, and to push to where I want to be.
‘With this Chelsea game, you can go in thinking “I need to be on it here because this is the level I aspire to” and obviously clubs will be looking at you and stuff thinking “he can do it at that level so why not give him a shot?”
‘You can look at it that way, how it’s a good opportunity to show what you’re all about and how far you’ve come. That’s how I’m approaching it. It’s good to showcase it against the best team in England but you want to enjoy it as well. I won’t be thinking “I’ve got to do well here”. It’s not the end of the world if you don’t do well. You can only do well if you’re able to enjoy it.’
Premier League is the goal, I want to play at the highest level