Quote:
Herald Scotland
JAMES McCarthy has no intention of playing for Scotland and remains totally committed to representing the Republic of Ireland.
MICHAEL GRANT chief football writer
11 Feb 2011
The Wigan Athletic midfielder has been at the centre of intense will he/won’t he speculation since it was revealed that he had withdrawn from the Irish squad for their Carling Nations Cup tie with Wales this week. That instantly provoked rumours that the 20-year-old, who has yet to officially commit to the Irish by playing a competitive game for them, was having second thoughts and wanted to turn out for Scotland. McCarthy was born in Glasgow and his appeal to Scotland is obvious.
The manager Craig Levein and the Scottish Football Association have declined to comment on the situation. Discreet inquiries were made, though, and inevitably Scotland would be receptive to any change of mind by McCarthy. But there will not be one.
His allegiance to the Republic of Ireland was made when he was only 15 as a mark of respect for his Irish grandfather, although McCarthy has always stated he would have committed himself to Scotland first if he had been chosen by the SFA at youth level. Various attempts to woo him by the Scots have ended in failure and this week’s speculation has been a red herring. It arose because of misinterpretation of comments made by the Ireland manager Giovanni Trapattoni, subsequently compounded by those of the Wigan Athletic manager Roberto Martinez.
McCarthy’s only Irish cap came in a friendly against Brazil last year and he is not formally committed to them until he has appeared in a competitive game. Trapattoni, who intends to pick him for his squad to face Macedonia in a Euro 2012 qualifier next month, had said: “He is 20 years old, he can decide freely, ‘I like Scotland, I like Ireland’. He has the possibility. He knows our position, he knows we like him. He can decide. It’s his heart that decides.”
Martinez did little to end the speculation yesterday when he also claimed that McCarthy still had a decision to make. “It [international football] is something he needs to think about with his family, with his friends. It is something very, very deep.” Martinez insisted he kept the Republic of Ireland fully informed about McCarthy, who was withdrawn after he scored twice in the 4-3 win over Blackburn Rovers. He had been out with an ankle injury for 14 weeks and returned to action a fortnight ago. An agreement was reached between the Wigan medical staff and the Football Association of Ireland’s that it was too soon for him to appear in an international game, and so he withdrew.
Martinez said: “It wasn’t the right time for him to go. He could not have coped with the physical demands. That’s it really. I spoke with the Republic of Ireland staff to make sure they knew the programme James was on. When James got injured late in October he was so disappointed he just wanted to get back fully fit as quickly as a he could. He told me then he needed to forget his international career. If you look at his performance on Saturday, James McCarthy is going to be one of the top footballers in Europe. What a player to have for your country or club.”
McCarthy rose to prominence with Hamilton Academical. He spent almost three years in their first team as a teenager before signing for Wigan in a £1.2m deal in the summer of 2009. Since then he has continued to shine and has emerged as one of the most promising young players in England’s Premier League. His team-mate for club – but not country – Steven Caldwell admitted he would love to play alongside him in dark blue. “He’d be a tremendous addition for Scotland. We want good players and if he wants to play for us then I’m sure there will be a place for him. I want him to make the right choice for him and his family and I’m sure he will.”
Sadly for Caldwell, and Levein, the matter is redundant. Despite rumours to contrary, the Wigan Athletic midfielder will not switch allegiance to Scotland.