Kenny drafts in Forde to help players deal with online abuse
Former Republic of Ireland international David Forde has been asked to join up with the Irish camp this week by Stephen Kenny in a psychology role to help players deal with issues such as social media abuse.
Galway native Forde (41) has a relationship with Kenny that goes back to their time together at Derry City. After finishing playing in 2019 he went to university, in Portsmouth, to complete a masters degree in Executive Coaching and Development and set up his own mentoring company, with a strong focus on sports psychology.
Kenny is aware of the extra pressure on modern-day footballers, coping with the type of social media abuse suffered by James McClean and Shane Duffy in recent months as well as racist comments directed online towards young Irish footballers such as Jonathan Afolabi and Tyreik Wright, while Covid-related restrictions mean that players spend a lot of time on their own, so isolation is an issue.
Forde (inset), capped 24 times (2011-2016), will be part of the Irish set-up, in a non-coaching capacity, for the next three camps. “David Forde is actually coming into camp with us for this week and the next couple of windows, joining the backroom team. He has a degree, a Masters degree and he has lectured on the Pro Licence in that area as well. He is there as a resource for the players over the next two camps,” says Kenny.
“He’ll be there in the camp, in the background, morning, noon and night. He’ll just be there as a resource for everyone. Obviously he has a degree in sports psychology and all of those things. He can help them.”
Kenny says the social media issue is a concern which Forde will address, with incidents like Duffy being mocked over the death of his father last year. “Some of that has been horrific, some of the abuse Shane got. Someone taunted the fact that his dad rather recently died. Just incredible stuff,” Kenny says.
“James McClean has had a barrage of abuse for a number of years and Jonathan Afolabi at Dundee, and Tyreik Wright got it as well. The social media is a huge issue and I think everyone knows that the social media companies have to be held accountable in some way. There has to be a new way and that is at Government level to decide that. But there has to be a degree of accountability and that is obvious to everyone.”
Before his sacking at Celtic, Neil Lennon admitted that Duffy’s personal circumstances, where he was living alone, contributed to his struggles at Parkhead, Lennon saying: “You go home to an empty house and that can be difficult to deal with”.
Kenny also raised the issue of players living in isolation from family and friends. “I am aware that players are having difficulty. I understand that,” he said. “Some players have gone on loan to clubs and it’s just their personal circumstances, they live on their own in apartments. It’s not like before where you go into the building, have breakfast, stay around and go training, the gym, then lunch and you’re there all day.
“Now you go back to your flat or apartment and you’re there all day and all night on your own.”
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