James McCarthy M free agent b.1990

[tetsujin1979]

note to self. never disagree with James McCarthy.
about anything.
ever.

[Fixer82]

He won the ball. I thought a free against was harsh

[tricky_colour]

Don't think it matters much if you win the ball or not, it just a matter of whether it is dangerous.
The results suggest it was.

[Fixer82]

Don't think it matters much if you win the ball or not, it just a matter of whether it is dangerous.
The results suggest it was.

Maybe so but collisions will happen regardless.
I think what it comes down to is intent.
He definitely had intent to win the ball but did he have intent to cause physical harm to the other player?
Well, the ref was closer than me so I'll have to take his word for it over mine

[tricky_colour]

Maybe so but collisions will happen regardless.
I think what it comes down to is intent.
He definitely had intent to win the ball but did he have intent to cause physical harm to the other player?
Well, the ref was closer than me so I'll have to take his word for it over mine

I am not to sure these days, it used to be if you got the ball it it was fine, then you were not allowed to
go in with two feet or something like that. But it seems to have gone full circle from virtually anything goes
to a hardly anything is allowed.


This is what FIFA says

Careless, reckless, using excessive force


“Careless” means that
the player has shown a lack of attention or consideration when making his challenge or that he acted without precaution:
no further disciplinary sanction is needed if a foul is judged to be careless

“Reckless” means that the player has acted with complete disregard of the danger to, or consequences for, his opponent:
a player who plays in a reckless manner shall be cautioned

"Using excessive force” means that the play has far exceeded the necessary use of force and is in danger ofinjuring his opponent:
a player who uses excessive force shall be sent off

Seems it was deemed reckless, I can see the logic in that. There was no intent to injury but an injury was likely.

[geysir]

It's only a flesh wound.
It looks like McCarthy left studs did the damage to scrape Junuzovic's left knee.

[tricky_colour]

It's one of those tackles which requires to people, if James has got injured the ref would have booked the other player.

[DeLorean]

Wigan are doing it again. With their form and that of Southampton and Villa, it looks like it may be Reading, QPR and Sunderland that'll go down. Looks like being a fairly productive season for Mac with his progress with Ireland and hopefully an FA Cup Final as well.

[Colbert Report]

Wigan always play great for the last ten matches or so of the season. I picked Kone and Maloney up for my fantasy team last week.

Reading are 1/20 to go down, and QPR are 1/5. Fair to say that there's not much chance of either of them surviving.

The eighteenth spot in the Premiership will be very interesting. Sunderland, Aston Villa, and Wigan (in that order) are next, and one of those three will almost certainly go down.

from betfair: Sunderland 2.7, Aston Villa 2.96, and Wigan, 3.15.

Sunderland going down would see McClean and O'Shea in the Championship, Villa would see Given and Clark, and Wigan McCarthy, though I'd be willing to bet he'd be snapped up immediately by a Premiership club like Liverpool or even Arsenal if they got relegated.

Other than Hull, can anyone give us a round-up of the Irish players likely to be promoted this May into the Premiership?

[tetsujin1979]

Other than Hull, can anyone give us a round-up of the Irish players likely to be promoted this May into the Premiership?
All here: http://irish-abroad.appspot.com/CompetitionDetails?competitionID=2
(need to update a few players though)

[Colbert Report]

Many, many thanks for that link.

[Charlie Darwin]

Showing plenty of attacking intent vs QPR but Wigan haven't made many chances.

QPR have been down to 10 men for most of the match after Phil Dowd decided to punish Bobby Zamora's high tackle not only with a red card but, according to the BBC report, by sentencing him to death.


It's a straight red for Bobby Zamora. The striker's tackle was late and high, booting Jordi Gomez on the chops. Referee Phil Dowd discussed the challenge with his assistant Scott Ledger and decided to inflict the ultimate punishment on the former West Ham man.

[elroy]

I think Trap has a point on McCarthy and the need for the lad to impose himself on the game. At Wigan, he seems to play a more defensive role, letting the likes of McArthur and McManaman to do the attacking. Having said that he does alot of the 'simple stuff' very well, tracking back, five yard passes etc, the sort of stuff Roy Keane was exalted for. He does need to add the presence that Keane had to his game to be move to the next level.

From an Irish point of view, I think Wigan probably would be our choice to go down out of Sunderland, Villa and Wigan? Good chance McCarthy would end up back in the PL next season even if Wigan go down.

[tricky_colour]

I think you have to get the balance right between attack and defence, I think
he is perhaps trying to get forward to much now or taking too big a risk where as in the past he
was perhaps doing the opposite. You see the goal they conceded here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OamnrGm2C0M

They should have at least one man back as an insurance policy, the risk they took pushing so many men
forward far out weighted any benefit they were going to get from having so many man forward IMO.

They are nearly caught out in a similar fashion a few minutes before that but it seems they learned no
lesson from that.

[DannyInvincible]

Manchester United keeping an eye on McCarthy, apparently: http://www.goal.com/en-ie/news/3912/english-premier-league/2013/04/11/3894666/manchester-united-on-trail-of-wigan-starlet-mccarthy


Manchester United are monitoring highly-rated Wigan midfielder James McCarthy, Goal.com understands.

Scouts for the Premier League leaders have been tracking the progress of United loanee Angelo Henriquez at the DW Stadium this term but the 22-year-old Ireland international has also caught their eye.

Sir Alex Ferguson has been made aware of the midfielder's impressive performances for the relegation strugglers, and is keen to keep further tabs on the youngster believing him to have strong potential sell-on value, given his age.

The United boss is keen to accrue a group of talented youngsters to secure the club's long-term future at the top of the Premier League and McCarthy, who is thought to be available for around £10 million, would fit the ideal profile at Old Trafford.

McCarthy, who moved to Wigan from Hamilton Academical four years ago, signed a new five-year contract with the Latics in 2011, but Roberto Martinez is keen to conduct further talks regarding an extension to that deal in order to secure his future at the club.

The 22-year-old has become a pivotal member of Martinez's first-team squad at the DW Stadium, epitomising the club's attractive passing style alongside the likes of James McArthur and Jordi Gomez in the Wigan midfield.

Liverpool are also thought to be keeping tabs on the Ireland starlet, who has received 11 caps under Giovanni Trapattoni for the Boys in Green.

[NeverFeltBetter]

I could sort of see McCarthy slotting in to the United midfield, they do have some problems keeping that section of the pitch staffed. Giggs in CM against City didn't work out too well, Anderson is (reportedly) moving on, think Scholes is calling it quits again, Kagawa plays more forward anyway. They have Carrick and Cleverley though, so you'd wonder how many games McCarthy would get.

[Stuttgart88]

He'd never play another international friendly again so.

[Crosby87]

Unfortunately Roberto Martinez has a wife who was born a City supporter.

[NeverFeltBetter]

Prior business dealings too, with Valencia. I could see it happening, but I wouldn't think it would be the smartest move for him, Liverpool might be a better bet.

[Charlie Darwin]

I wouldn't have any faith in goal.com as a source. And the guy who wrote the article has, in the past week alone, linked McCarthy with United, Kompany with Bayern Munich after a "bust-up" with manager Martinez and Goetze with all the top English clubs. Bull**** merchant, in other words.

[tetsujin1979]

I wouldn't have any faith in goal.com as a source. And the guy who wrote the article has, in the past week alone, linked McCarthy with United, Kompany with Bayern Munich after a "bust-up" with manager Martinez and Goetze with all the top English clubs. Bull**** merchant, in other words.this. posting links to goal.com transfer rumours is a suspension on some football sites.
(yes, I know I posted a link to a goal.com story last week)

[BonnieShels]

But you did pre empt your post with a disclaimer and it wasn't a transfer rumour.

[Charlie Darwin]

Goal links are fine if they're reporting what somebody else says, but they are not taken seriously by anybody so nobody credible is ever going to leak news to them.

[DannyInvincible]

My bad.

[Charlie Darwin]

Not good enough. You're finished, Danny.

[SkStu]

RIP DannyI.

[geysir]

Looks like you'll have to use up all your credits to avoid an imminent disgrace, Danny. You're back to zero :)

Still, you'd wonder if a higher profile club would take a punt on James, has he done enough this season to attract that type of attention?

[Charlie Darwin]

I wouldn't say it's an issue of him needing to attract attention. By all accounts, Chelsea and Arsenal have been scouting him for a couple of years, and I'm sure Manchester United would be another one to keep an eye out. I think it's unlikely one of the those clubs will take a punt on him, but perhaps that's just my pessimistic nature not allowing me to believe an Irish player could make it at an elite club.

[Colbert Report]

I remember when this thread first started and people were going on about Barcelona tracking him. Doesn't seem so foolish now.

[geysir]

Somehow I've had the 'feeling' all season that this would be his last with Wigan, regardless of their end season table position. That he needs to move onto a new challenge, different coaching etc. But I suppose something, sometime, has to happen to make that so.
I'd be curious to find out what coaches from top 5 or 6 clubs think about James, could he step up another level and play for them?

[DeLorean]

Sir Alex Ferguson has been made aware of the midfielder's impressive performances for the relegation strugglers, and is keen to keep further tabs on the youngster believing him to have strong potential sell-on value, given his age.

You'd swear he was some obscure 16 year old in Venezuela. I'm sure Ferguson has seen plenty of McCarthy himself. Also, if he is interested, I'm sure it's because he sees him as having the potential to control United's midfield for the next ten years, not to make a few quid off him.

[geysir]

James had a good game against Man City, it's just insane to think he was on the cards to be dropped against Sweden.
He shipped a nasty kick to the back of the shin from Tevez, he was limping for much of last 15 minutes.

[Charlie Darwin]

I can't imagine he'll be at Plucky Little Wigan next season regardless of whether they stay up (I think they will, more comfortably than expected). I just wish he'd score more goals.

[Fergie's Son]

That's really not his gene though and he's been dropping back a lot more per Martinez's instructions.

[Yard of Pace]

Guardian piece from today or yesterday on the Player of the Year nominations.


Bale, 23, and Hazard, 22, are also on the shortlist for the Young Player of the Year – whether they should feature on both is debatable – and the former is being tipped to win both awards. Christian Benteke would be a better choice. His goals could keep Aston Villa up and there are bigger clubs who are kicking themselves for not spotting him last summer. Romelu Lukaku has also made a strong impression during his loan spell at West Bromwich Albion.

However there are surely more deserving candidates than Jack Wilshere and Danny Welbeck. The former has not truly caught the imagination, while the latter has scored only twice for his club despite playing up front for the champions-elect. If you could combine Welbeck and Javier Hernández you would have the perfect forward, but that remains a problem for a mad scientist to solve. Southampton's Luke Shaw, Manchester City's Matija Nastasic and Wigan's James McCarthy can all feel aggrieved not to have been shortlisted.

[tricky_colour]

I can't imagine he'll be at Plucky Little Wigan next season regardless of whether they stay up (I think they will, more comfortably than expected). I just wish he'd score more goals.

Results did not go too well for them today, they are odds on to go down, but only just.
If they play well to the end of the season they should be OK, a lot of teams feeling safe might get dragged back into it again.

[Colbert Report]

Wigan are odds on to go down, Aston Villa are 2-1. The next team is Newcastle at 24-1 so I think it is safe to say that only Wigan or Aston Villa will realistically go down now.

[back of the net]

With the amount of young Irish Players on the verge of getting game time with the villa first team and the type of manager Lambert is, really hoping for our National Side that Villa stay up

[tricky_colour]

Wigan are odds on to go down, Aston Villa are 2-1. The next team is Newcastle at 24-1 so I think it is safe to say that only Wigan or Aston Villa will realistically go down now.

I think the fact that Wigan has to play Villa makes all the difference as a least one must drop points were it not
for that the teams above would be a fair bit shorter than 24-1.
You could make a case for Wigan getting 12 points and Villa getting 9 putting both on 43

ie Wigan winning Spurs (H), West Brom (A), Swansea (H), Villa (H)
and Villa winning Sunderland (H), Norwich (A), Chelsea (H). ( they would also play a Man U side with nothing to play for).

But that seems tough, they might be able to do it getting 9 and 6 points, but even then their poor goal difference is a big problem.

[Crosby87]

Big Mac: Me not thinking about Man U.
http://www.express.co.uk/sport/football/395019/Wigan-s-James-McCarthy-quashes-talk-of-Manchester-United-move

[Charlie Darwin]

Linked, more realistically, with Newcastle here. The article also pours a bit of cold water on the Manchester United link.

http://www.journallive.co.uk/nufc/newcastle-united-news/2013/05/01/alan-pardew-keen-on-wigan-star-james-mccarthy-61634-33263561/

[BonnieShels]

I still think Everton would be the ideal destination for me. Him and Gibbo in the middle... Nom.

[Bungle]

I would agree that Everton would be a great destination for him. A very good competent team with some very good players and a good core of Irish players as well. He would massively improve them and if they keep their team and David Moyes and make a few more astute signings, they could make the Champions League next year.

I think Liverpool and Arsenal would be good moves for him also. He is the closest thing I have seen to a young Steven Gerrard, even if the way Wigan have him lining up, he isn't given the freedom to be as dynamic as Gerrard was at his age. I actually think Rodgers is going to do a good job for Liverpool. Arsenal would be a great move for him also.

I think personally he would make the United team. I think he is a far better player than Carrick and I have seeb nothing in any of the other United midfielders that would make me worry for James making the team. Fergie likes to have a core of British/Irish players and I think he is aiming to build another great United team before he retires. McCarthy is definitely good enough to be part of that.

City and Chelsea would be bad choices for him. Both are more likely to bring in an established world class player and James really needs game time to continue developing.

[Charlie Darwin]

I'm not sure McCarthy has the natural aggression to be compared to Steven Gerrard, but he could prove me wrong. Personalitee, as Trap puts it.

[gastric]

More rumours, at least it keeps us interested! And you would have to feel sorry for Robbie.

http://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/premier-league/arsenal-and-chelsea-lead-race-for-15m-mccarthy-29246585.html

[KK77]

I think even if Wigan stay up it would be the right time in his career to take the next step and move to a bigger club.

[Stuttgart88]

Independent (the UK paper - Jack Pitt-Brooke is a young writer there and is a guy I really rate) has a feature on young James here (http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/chelsea-and-arsenal-considering-summer-transfer-swoop-for-wigan-midfielder-james-mccarthy-8605316.html).


Chelsea and Arsenal considering summer transfer swoop for Wigan midfielder James McCarthy

Youngster has held Wigan's midfield together during another turbulent season to the extent that some of the league's leading clubs are interested

Jack Pitt-Brooke Tuesday 07 May 2013


Such has been James McCarthy's form this season – for a faltering and once again belatedly awakened Wigan Athletic – both Chelsea and Arsenal are considering a summer move for the midfielder.


The 22-year-old is currently trying to direct yet another escape from relegation, in which victory on Tuesday night against Swansea City would be crucial. His bravery, skill and vision in three consecutive relegation battles have been noticed and whether Wigan survive or finally drop, there is certain to be a fight for his signature this summer.

McCarthy, yet again one of Wigan's most impressive and consistent performers in a turbulent season, is thought to be open to the possibility of a summer move for the sake of his career, but is not necessarily desperate to leave yet. Should Wigan go down, though, it is implausible that he should play Championship football next season.

There are few midfields in the country that would not be improved by the Republic of Ireland international. In an age of specialists he is a genuine all-rounder, who would add authority where it is lacking at Stamford Bridge and bite where it is missed at the Emirates. He may even prefer a less high-profile club, in the interests of playing more games, as he did in choosing to sign for Wigan in 2009.

But there is a sense that, after four years at the DW Stadium, now might be the time to take the next step and move up, especially given the climactic finish Wigan have this season, with their crucial game tonight, their FA Cup final against Manchester City on Saturday and then league games against Arsenal and Aston Villa left to save themselves.

Those who know McCarthy well feel this too. Billy Reid, who gave McCarthy his Hamilton Academical debut at the age of just 15, told The Independent McCarthy can go on to a team at the opposite end of the table. "I still don't think he's realised his potential yet," Reid said, "that's no disrespect to Wigan, I think he can go and play for one of the top teams in England."

The former Republic of Ireland international Ray Houghton, an old friend of McCarthy's family, also from the Castlemilk district of Glasgow, agrees. "He's at a good age now," he told The Independent, "he's probably at a stage now where he might need to move on to improve."

The impressive thing is just how much McCarthy has improved already. He has grown, under the tutelage of Roberto Martinez, into a remarkably complete midfielder. Martinez insists on a very high technical and tactical level from his players, but McCarthy has the brain as well as the touch required to run their midfield.

McCarthy is beautifully balanced, able to pass incisively with either foot and seemingly able to see through the holes of his ears. He is also a ferocious worker, able to call every part of the pitch his own, and a great tracker and marker, as he showed against Tottenham's Gareth Bale last week.

That talent has never been in doubt. It is the growth of McCarthy's confidence and assurance that has made the difference. "James has good qualities," the Ireland manager, Giovanni Trapattoni, memorably said earlier this season, "but I have told him 'I will punch you if you don't stop being shy.'" McCarthy has just broken into the Republic of Ireland side but could bring their midfield a nuance they have desperately lacked recently.

It has been a long journey for McCarthy already. He had brief unsuccessful spells as a boy at Celtic and Livingston but was back playing boys' club football at 14 before Hamilton's scouts first saw him.

"When I watched him for the first time I couldn't believe what I'd seen," Reid, then Hamilton manager, remembered. "He just had everything: he had balance, two-footed, he could cover the ground, he was a winner. I asked to speak to his mother and father straight away, we asked to get him off school and get him into training, and the rest is history."

Reid gave McCarthy his Hamilton debut at 15, against Queen of the South in the Scottish First Division. In his second season Hamilton won the title and were promoted; in his next, in the Scottish Premier League, he won Young Player of the Year.

"He never missed a minute for me," Reid said. "He played every game. I used think about moving him about but you couldn't leave him out of the team, all the way through from 15. He was so good at that level. He was just a model of consistency."

Those performances were soon noticed by big clubs in Scotland and England. But a teenage McCarthy rejected moves to Celtic, Liverpool and Reading to continue his development at Hamilton. Eventually he moved, in 2009, to Wigan Athletic, in Martinez's first summer in charge. Martinez's assistant, Graeme Jones, used to work at Hamilton.

The move to Wigan was difficult at first, and the 18-year-old McCarthy struggled on debut, in a 4-1 Carling Cup defeat at Blackpool. He was given a few months out of the team to develop, then Martinez brought him back in January 2010 and he has played fairly consistently since, taking on more and more responsibility to the point where few midfielders in the country carry as much on their shoulders.

Liverpool have since tried again to tempt him from Wigan, but again he stayed. Scouts from a host of Premier League clubs are routinely at the DW Stadium, looking at the quiet young man in the middle of midfield. He has other immediate concerns, but the attention will not go away.

Wigan wizard: McCcarthy facts

19: Age at which McCarthy made his Republic of Ireland debut against Brazil in February 2010

87.7 per cent Pass completion rate in the Premier League this season

£10,700: Cost per league game to Wigan, having made 112 appearances since his £1.2m move from Hamilton

[Bungle]

I really think James can become a top player in the coming years. We have alot of players that fill me with hope, but Seamus Coleman and James McCarthy are two names I can see playing for the very best teams in the coming years. I also like that both seem to have grown not just as players, but as men in the past year and seem more vocal on the pitch. James could be an Irish captain for the next campaign.

[tommy_c12000]

Just scored a super goal V Swansea. Great run forward, nice first touch, and cooly slotted passed the onrushing keeper. Class act

[Stuttgart88]

Just scored a good goal to put Wigan 2-1 up. He's got a lovely casualness about him, although he was a little too casual on one occasion just before his goal.