Adrian Forbes – Past And Present

The first chunk is from Kevin at Swansea and the rest is from Toronto Pool from Blackpool.

There were mixed feelings regarding the release of Adrian Forbes this Summer, and quite a difference amongst some about his overall ability.

I remember when he was signed by Kenny Jackett prior to the 2004/05 season that he was regarded as one of our best signings. He joined from Luton, where he scored 14 goals in 39 matches, the season before.

He made 36 appearances in the league in his first season with us and scored 7 goals. He particularly showed the knack of scoring vital goals for us when it looked as if the Swans were heading for 0-0 draws in certain games. 2 goals in the last 2 games gained us 4 points. The 1 goal in the first minute at Bury was enough to gain us automatic promotion to League 2.

This was intended to be a balanced article and believe it or not I liked Forbesy but despite playing up front usually for Luton, he was moved to the right wing and although you never doubted that he’d put in 100% effort and commitment every game, he never really had the ability to go with it – not for a right winger anyway.

You have to admire the effort he puts in though, and in all fairness he can’t do more than his best – whatever the level that might be at!

Whilst he showed excellent finishing ability (I think his goal at Forest demonstrates that) he doesn’t really posses any of the skills you need for a right winger. He had pace but was never capable of beating a full back and then follow it up with a cross, they’d either be just useless or would be deflected for a throw-in.

Jackett did try him up front during the 2004/05 season when he was without certain strikers, but he still didn’t look comfortable as a striker and didn’t pose much of threat to the opposition that day.

It’s difficult then where to play Forbes, you can either play him on the right and have his fellow right back to help him our with crossing, or you can put him up front where he might score as much as Steve Watkin during a season.ing said that I think it was the right decision for him to move on. He was useful to have as a substitute but really, when your target is automatic promotion, we need every player in the squad to be capable of gaining a first team place and keep it. When you look at Britton on the right wing, you know then that we need a player like him (maybe a bit taller!) to add competition for places.

I’m hoping he does well for Blackpool and I think he will. I wish him all the best just apart from when he’s playing against us!

So, as the Blackpool fan in this article, I haven’t the greatest knowledge about Adrian Forbes. After watching him in training for two days in the past fortnight, I have come to the conclusion that he doesn’t possess many ball skills, doesn’t have a great first touch and can’t beat a man. Great I’m thinking as I watch on at Squires Gate training ground. ‘What have we signed here?!’. Well, the effort he puts in is unbelievable! Running for anything and everything, his smile and energy is infectious around the club. This was evident on Saturday also, as we played local ‘rivals’ Fleetwood Town in a hostile friendly. He started on the right, didn’t set the world alight, but never stopped chasing and harrassing the Fleetwood left back (Ok, they’re not up too much) and provided some much needed energy to the seasiders cause, and after he got into the game, we started to take control.

This may be off topic slightly, but the lad is a really nice bloke as well. Always ready to stop and chat, his smile as I said is infectious, with you find yourself smiling for no reason. A good quality to have when you’re with footballers day in, day out!

For me, on what I’ve seen, he is not going to put a killing ball in, or burst past three or four players and set a chance up. He does have something however, a certain aure about him. He will be useful to the squad, although as we may be play off contenders this season he may not play every week. He is the type of man who will take that and think what he’s done wrong, and come back a better player, hopefully. To sum up, he is an average footballer, a Martin Bullock without pace type, but he has a massive heart and may find himself up top when we are struggling more often than not. Good luck Forbes!!

See what Swansea think of all things white..