Sunderland RCA first team coach calls manager Forrest ‘unbelievable’

Sunderland RCA first team coach Thomas Kelly-Hansford has hailed manager Mark Forrest as ”unbelievable.”

Kelly-Hansford has argued that Forrest is taking Sunderland RCA in the right direction after a tough period for the club.

Kelly-Hansford said: ”He’s unbelievable. He’s a businessman by trade, so he’s really good at managing people and the players, all of them. They all want to play for him.”

Forrest took over Sunderland RCA this summer following their relegation from Division One last season. Currently RCA sit second to bottom in Division Two after a full rebuild of the squad this season.

The 20-year-old coach added: ”He’s (Forrest) absolutely relentless, but you always want to do it for him. If he says go to a game tomorrow night, I’ll go tomorrow night.”  

The first team coach further revealed the trust Forrest has in the rest of the coaching staff when he said: ‘‘He puts massive trust in me, Adam the assistant, and Paul (RCA Reserves Manager) to decide on certain team selections, key tactical decisions.”

Kelly-Hansford also praised Forest’s squad assembling as he said: ”I don’t think any other club in the Northern League gets the squad that we have with the the resources that we’re currently using.”

He further spoke on the difficulties RCA have faced this season saying ”It was literally only four, five players (that stayed on from last season) we held an open trial one night where I think we got about 30 players down. Couple of them signed on a lot of them didn’t.”

However, despite the difficulties of working on a shoestring budget, Sunderland RCA and their coaching team are determined to get the best ‘bang for their buck’ and continue to work towards building a sustainable future for the club.