Football fans eh? They’ll cheer at anything. Forget surging runs and nifty turns, it seems a fairly routine mirror, signal and manoeuvre can work them into a scarf-twirling frenzy. “I remember I was doing a three-point turn in the car on the Byres Road once and someone was beeping at me,” recalled Harry Forrester. “I was thinking, 'alright mate, calm down’. But he kept beeping then stuck his head out of the window and shouted, 'Go on Harry boy!’ I was only going for a coffee. I thought it was someone caning me for holding up the traffic.”
Goodness knows what kind of fevered show of gushing adulation Forrester received when he managed to shoehorn his motor into a tight space with a textbook display of parallel parking.
It’s the substitute’s bench that Forrester has found himself parked on recently. And, as most players will testify, that’s not a position you want to become a regular in. Mark Warburton, the Rangers manager, continues to bemoan his side’s lack of nous when in good positions and Forrester still believes he can be the key of creativity that can unlock the doors of opportunity. That can be easier said than done, of course. In the aftermath of the Hogmanay defeat to old foes Celtic, Forrester took to social media to apologise for his decision-making when he opted to go it alone instead of playing in Joe Dodoo and a chance for an equaliser was gone.
“It was eating away at me and it hurt,” he reflected. “I felt the need to say what I did and move on. There have been times when I've got the team out of jail with a late goal or an assist. For that, I've had all the plaudits with fans saying 'well done' and 'we love you'. That's great. But on the flip side if I make a mistake I know I'll get a bit of criticism, which I'll take.
“The season started off well for me but as of late, I haven't started as many games as I wanted to. Every footballer wants to play and I feel when I have played, I've impacted on the game. I believe I can provide the team with a killer pass if I get the chance. There have been times when I've done that. But lately there has been a few instances when I've been guilty of giving it away. That comes with match time and sharpness.”
Warburton knows Forrester as well as anybody, having worked with him at both Watford and Brentford before bringing him to Glasgow. “Harry has all the ability in the world but he has to be better than the players currently playing,” said Warburton of this mercurial midfielder.
There are ties that bind the pair and even the opportunity for Forrester to develop his fledgling career across the water in Amsterdam with Ajax was turned down in favour of Griffin Park. “I was at Ajax on trial and could have signed for them but instead I went to Brentford,” said Forrester. “I had played in the Hong Kong Sevens tournament with Aston Villa and done well. I got speaking to the Ajax coach in a foyer. He got wind that I was being released so got me over for a trial. I was there for three weeks and trained with the likes of Jan Vertonghen and Christian Eriksen (both now at Tottenham Hotspur). It was a different world and I enjoyed it. I just didn't think it was the right move for my career. At Ajax I was going to learn a bit more in their reserve side. But I was at a point in my career where I'd proved myself at youth and reserve level. It was about time I proved myself in a men's environment with fans screaming and shouting. Sometimes you look at the name. It would have been great to play for Ajax. But is it Ajax or is it their reserves? I might have had two years there without breaking into the first team. I'd have come back with people asking 'where have you been?' I had to make the right decision for my career and not my ego. It was a shock to people that I chose that path.”
Forrester has no regrets about the decision he made. The first year of his Rangers career has hurtled by and while there have been ups, downs, ins and outs, the former England under-17 cap is determined to become a valuable weapon in Warburton’s armoury.
“I just want to play games,” he said. “It's a short career and I'm 26 now. I'm at a great place to play. It doesn't get much better than this. So I need to get back into that starting 11 and I feel I'm fully capable of doing that. Not playing does affect me, I'm not going to hide behind that. But sometimes you find yourself in this situation. The boys in ahead of me have done well so I have to bide my time and take my chance when they come.”
In this game, it’s all about taking those chances.
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