QuoteI know - that's why I stated what I did.Originally Posted by tetsujin1979
I know - that's why I stated what I did.
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...
A piece written by David Adams in today's Irish Times: http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/...316238699.html
Goes into a bit more detail on McClean's recent comments in the rest of the article and even speculates on the roots of his surname...IT’S A pity that James McClean, the young Derry-born footballer, has opted to play for the Republic’s national team rather than Northern Ireland. He is a decent player, and Northern Ireland could be doing with him.
Still, under the terms of the Belfast Agreement, as interpreted by Fifa, it is McClean’s right to choose between the two, and his decision should be respected – if not necessarily the reasons he put forward for making it. McClean spoke of how, growing up in Derry, he always supported the Republic: “It’s a nationalist city, where everybody supports the Republic of Ireland. You’re brought up that way.”
So the principle won't apply in retrospect. Michael O'Connor can sleep easy the night before his next cap.
End Apartheid Now! One Team in Ireland!
Your conclusion and finish must summarise the overall feeling/tone/context of your piece. He ruins it by this at the end :
"how welcome would he have been made feel by his neighbours if he had opted to play for Northern Ireland?
A lot less welcome, I bet, than his teammates in the Northern Ireland squad would have made him."
I dont mean you personally DII gather you are the first comment below, well done DI - maybe thats why you posted the piece, somewhat out of context to the rest of the argument ; ).
Last edited by paul_oshea; 17/05/2012 at 1:24 PM.
I'm a bloke,I'm an ocker
And I really love your knockers,I'm a labourer by day,
I **** up all me pay,Watching footy on TV,
Just feed me more VB,Just pour my beer,And get my smokes, And go away
Very poor and extremely myopic article. "Although the Football Association of Ireland is highly active in seeking to entice young (Catholic) Northern Irish players to its ranks ..."I'm all ears Mr Adams -Alan Kernaghan thinks you're full o'**** mind.
Also alludes in his closing that MacClean'd have had a warmer welcome in the Northern Ireland squad if he'd chosen to play for them then he might have gotten in his local community had he chosen to turn his back on the FAI to do so. Speculation and conjecture. Ask Baird, McCourt, McGinn etc how much or little jip they've to put up with from locals. If any I've never heard of it.
" I wish to God that someone would be able to block out the voices in my head for five minutes, the voices that scream, over and over again: "Why do they come to me to die?"
Yes, I know.
Nothing I stated says otherwise.
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...
The same way the average ROI supporter felt about Alan Kernaghan perhaps?
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...
Oooohh that Irish Times article...*shakes fist*
The worst thing for me is his smug reference to McClean's name. As if name profiling in NI isn't already crass enough, the way he unveils it from his sleeve like an Ulster-Scots trump card is so self-satisfied despite being utterly irrelevant. What a douche.
Ou-est le Centre George Pompidou?
He was ****e and I hated when he was selected as always knew he was prone to make a mistake(which he did). Luckily for us he had a World class defender beside him for most of that.
A bit like stephen ward now i suspect.
Scored a wonder fluky goal once though, and a good header for us as well, but my biggest memory was being at fault for 2 goals i think against spain.
I'm a bloke,I'm an ocker
And I really love your knockers,I'm a labourer by day,
I **** up all me pay,Watching footy on TV,
Just feed me more VB,Just pour my beer,And get my smokes, And go away
Am I the only one who thinks McClean is indulging in a bit of historical revisionism? He said back when he first decided to declare for the FAI that he felt he'd been unfairly left out of squads in favour of Irish League players and, at worst, hinted that he'd have accepted a call-up to the senior IFA team. He may have felt unwelcome as a nationalist in a side with a strong British identity, but I imagine no less unwelcome than Niall McGinn or Chris Baird. The whole 'stepping stone' argument falls a bit flat in light of his initial disappointment at not being called up by Worthington.
I think, like a lot of players including some in the senior FAI squad, he just wanted to play international football and chose to do so with the IFA purely because he didn't think the FAI would ever call him up. As soon as he gained enough confidence in his ability that he could be called up for the Republic of Ireland, he made his allegiances clear.
Yeah, but not only does he make one reference to it, but he bases his article around the theme of the second name.
McClean is unequivocally a Catholic Republican from Derry who supports and plays for the football team of the Republic of Ireland.
It's like in Harry Potter when people who don't have entirely wizard blood are entitled 'Mudbloods'. James McClean may have had a great-great-great (etc.) grandfather who was party to a plantation. So what?
Does David Adams realise he shares the same second name as a certain Gerry?
I think he's making the same points, in different times to different questions. Should McClean have a consistent 'party-line' on his switch almost a year apart? Seems a bit of a stretch.
Besides when he first declared, he was nowhere near the Irish team. Now he's in the squad maybe he feels safer to speak more forcefully about it. Or maybe he's been alienated by the stick he's received and wanted to make a point?
Either way, I don't see it as a particularly bad thing. There's a multitude of reasons why he isn't playing for Northern Ireland, he doesn't have to stick to one.
Last edited by SwanVsDalton; 17/05/2012 at 4:08 PM.
Ou-est le Centre George Pompidou?
Well he either saw it as a stepping stone or he didn't. His initial comments suggest he didn't, his latest comments state that he did. I'd be more inclined to trust his initial comments before the stream of abuse and the controversy it whipped up.
I don't think it ultimately matters since it's clearly always been his dream to play for Ireland, but I don't think he seriously believed it would ever be a stepping stone because I don't think he believed he was good enough to make the step up.
I'd agree with your latter par. But I guess I don't get the point your making...is that really revisionism, if McClean's has his mindset from when he was a Sunderland newbie to a Euro 2012 squad member?
Having written a paragraph, and then deleted it, I'm just going to back away slowly from this debate since it involves far too much minutiae analysis of every word James McClean said. And I've met James McClean. It's just not worth it.
Ou-est le Centre George Pompidou?
Yeah I'm only really going on a couple of interviews. I can see why his views might have become more entrenched in the meantime.
We are agreed that McClean's ideal situation would have been to always have been involved with the FAI.
With hindsight, McClean describes his participation with the IFA as a "stepping stone". That is to say that he accepted international recognition, as a League of Ireland player, with the hope that it might lead on to greater things (be that a call from a Premier League scout or other). This is clear to me.
When he was a Derry player he probably (and reasonably) believed that he would never get the opportunity to play for the FAI. Like Matt Doherty not making the U21 squad, he was evidently disappointed seeing out-of-form/lesser players chosen ahead of him for the IFA. This need not conflict with the notion of settling for the IFA as a means to greater things.
The facts changed - he signed for a Premier League team - and he changed his goals accordingly.
End Apartheid Now! One Team in Ireland!
In hindsight, his time with the IFA has become what he refers to as a "stepping stone". Whilst representing the IFA, he wasn't to know that it would prove to be such.
Regardless of the player or issue at hand, this is what happens almost every time this thread rears its head. (Although perhaps that isn't the best phrase to use, since this whole discussion has yet to enter a dormancy phase)
Apart from the annoyance you've expressed above, another gripe of mine is the nitpicking some engage in regarding the entirely sensible proposal proffered by NB.
Last edited by The Fly; 17/05/2012 at 8:16 PM.
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