Pulled out of the Northern Ireland senior squad and wants to play for us - "Av made a decision for me personally i think would benefit me and am not gna explain myself to anyone for it. Its my decision end off case closed." Supposed to be going to Sunderland too.
Last edited by TrapAPony; 07/08/2011 at 7:06 PM.
"We lost because we didn't win"- Ronaldo
Supposed to be having a medical at Sunderland on monday, an upgrade from being a target for Peterborough. Anyone seen enough of him to give an opinion?
...and before Nigel could reel off Gerry Armstrong's number, the line went dead.Originally Posted by James McClean
I saw he was from the Creggan in Derry when he transferred to Sunderland and thought surely he must have some sympathies toward the Republic. Then I saw he was in the NI squad and decided against making a thread. Anyway, could be a good addition.
My Guarantee
Am looking for old Irish matches on VHS, PM me if you have some and I'll upload them here
It appears that the FAI have had little, if anything, to do with his decision to pull out, so it will be intriguing to see who gets the blame for this one.
McClean's a good prospect but I don't think he'd be anywhere near our squad, never mind the first team. At least just yet anyway. We'll see how he progresses at Sunderland although considering the number of attacking midfielders they brought in this season, I'm not sure how much game time he'll get right away.
Good man James
His potential depends on whether he becomes a Keith Fahey or a Jay O'Shea for Sunderland. But I think his pace, strength and direct running is very suited to the Prem/Championship and he's been one of the outstanding LOI performers of this season. Every chance he'll make the leap and he's always come across as confident and assured off the field, so suggestion his mentality is right too. Here's hoping.
Ou-est le Centre George Pompidou?
Good interview with him here
http://interviewloi.blogspot.com/201...-lay-with.html
"We lost because we didn't win"- Ronaldo
"Turncoat" McClean switches allegiance to Republic.
Darron Gibson, Shane Duffy, Marc Wilson, Daniel Kearns and Paul George have all taken advantage of a FIFA ruling which, because of the Good Friday Agreement, allows players born in Northern Ireland to play for the Republic providing they hold an Irish passport
God help the spleens of IFA fans when they feast their eyes on this headline.
It shows that James has a lot of belief in himself, to pull out of a senior Northern Ireland squad where he was embarrassingly told he was destined not to play by the manager - "an honour", as Gerry Armstrong reminds us. Had the move to Sunderland happened sooner, we might have seen a different story of course, but it didn't and who really gives much of a damn? A young Derry man has opted to follow his dreams. Bravo!
End Apartheid Now! One Team in Ireland!
The FAI's very existence is to blame sure. And let's not forget the sectarian idea of an independent Irish nation.
I'd argue that McClean's chances are as good, if not better than what Seamus Coleman's were when he signed for Everton. With a bit of luck and hard work, he could become a first choice, who knows?
End Apartheid Now! One Team in Ireland!
The tone of that piece is extraordinarily derisive, even for the Belfast Telegraph. They're usually more embarrassingly clueless than explicitly hostile.
No word of a lie; I actually broke into hysterical laughter when I read this bit:
Darron Gibson, Shane Duffy, Marc Wilson, Daniel Kearns and Paul George have all taken advantage of a FIFA ruling which, because of the Good Friday Agreement, allows players born in Northern Ireland to play for the Republic providing they hold an Irish passport.
It's just how it reads like a list of precise provisos or criteria as outlined by FIFA; all completely wrong and plucked out of God knows where, of course. Again.
One or two choice comments here, but overall they seem resigned to it?
http://www.facebook.com/ourweecountry?sk=wall
.....maybe he's just still stewing over the failed referendum on the Alternative Vote.
Perhaps someone could alert OWC to the possibility?
Last edited by The Fly; 08/08/2011 at 9:20 AM.
Hold on to your keyboards everyone as this thread becomes the scene of the same old arguments! Good on you James.
Delighted with this - great to see him back himself to be good enough to play for the side he really wants to play for and not end up like McGinn & Co putting up with NI just to have an international career, I hope this works out for him, Myler got his chance at Sunderland and hopefully McLean will also, and take it.
I was just about to go in and copy similar text from RTÉ's article but it seems to have been changed since I read it this morning. Still a little wrong but not too wrong.
www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2011/0808/mccleanj_ireland.html
Anyone know anything about Brian McLean, one or two are wittering on about in the comments on the newly-edited BT 'article'?
Just a pity big shot McClean didn't decide that his boyhood dream was to play for the South earlier, and thus free up the Northern Ireland shirts he wore for players whose boyhood dream was to play for Northern Ireland - but, at least he's now weeded out, thank goodness.
The Englishmen came over in the year 2005
But little did they know that we'd planned a wee surprise
Sir David scored the winner, and Windsor Park went wild
And this is what we sang...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_McLean
A "**** up" by the IFA at the time.
Rule changes mean the IFA could now call him up.
The Englishmen came over in the year 2005
But little did they know that we'd planned a wee surprise
Sir David scored the winner, and Windsor Park went wild
And this is what we sang...
What difference would it have made if someone else got a couple of U-21 caps? You really think any potential replacement wouldn't find his way into the NI setup ultimately if good enough? If it's just about getting to play, McClean surely was honoured to play international football for NI. Just because his ultimate dream is to play for ROI, it hardly negates his feelings at the time of playing underage.
According to the BBC report he told Worthington of his intention three days after being called-up. More decisive than previous cases and surely closer to what NI fans would want in terms of clarity?
Ou-est le Centre George Pompidou?
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