He's escaped with a warning. It seems the issue was the use of the c word which he subsequently obfuscated. There found no issue with the cavemen comment or quoting MP Bobby Sands obviously.
He is bang on. Fair play to him for standing strong. Why should he keep his head down among the abuse he gets constantly? The uneducated ‘no surrender to the IRA’ cavemen brigade should be called out for what they are.
Yeah, I'm not always fully on McClean's side but I'm really rooting for him here.
So, the F.A. have dealt with his initial rant. Will they have anything to say about his comments relating to their investigation? That would be far more interesting but I suspect they won't want to go near it.
You would think that the Brits had a monopoly on fallen soldiers.Originally Posted by Fixer82
No other country in the world does this. 3 long weeks every autumn when the UK goes all poppy, and insist that everyone complies. Foreign players should not be obliged to wear them, if they choose not to. It's not their culture, I'm sure many don't like it. Although McClean would be better off keeping his mouth shut about it every year. It's common knowledge by now why he refuses, he doesn't have to explain himself every year.
We should all be wearing poppies out of respect for the fallen also, after our antics when we mercilessly murdered British soliders during our War of Independence. Lest we forget.
What? Should we? Or is that sarcasm?
I don't feel any inclination to do so anyway. And if James doesn't, that should be up to him. The storm over wearing one or not is ridiculous.
All that said, there's still nothing smart or principled about wading into an online argument calling people cavemen and c**ts. It can only ever end badly for him, and he must know this.
"the majority religion of his community is one of the reasons for the abuse he gets."
So let me get this straight. James McClean has played for a few English clubs at this stage of his career. They thought nothing about his religion when they signed him in each case. Neither did it matter one iota to the fans at any of those clubs where James goes to pray on a Sunday. But it obviously does matter to those fans that James disrespects their military veterans by not observing the poppy ceremony. I love James's commitment to Ireland, and wish more were like him, but in all honesty James should have walked away from English football (to the continent I would suggest) when this became an issue a couple of years ago. His behavior is disrespectful to the people who pay his wages, and that is never a good situation to be in.
Foreign players should respect the wishes of the fans that pay their wages. Really if they had the courage of their convictions (assuming this is so distasteful to them) they should never be playing in Britain in the first place. There are plenty of other places to go to play your football.
Yeah the Muslims shouldn't wear their clothes burqua etc in England. There are plenty of other countries where they could do that and fit in.
Just like mcclean they shouldn't go to england
Such as? We are talking about Irish footballers here. Where else do they go if they want to make it? They can't go abroad as they can't/won't fit in, so have to go back to England asap.Originally Posted by mark12345
This annual charade has nothing to do with religion. It's all about politics. Sport and politics should never mix, because eventually someone rebels when they're told what to do and how to behave.
They can't go abroad as they can't / won't fit in? Why not? Where and why will they not fit in, wherever that may be?
They could do exactly what the Swedes, Danes, Norwegians do when heading to Holland, Belgium, German football etc.
So why is it that the Irish lads cannot fit in in any other country other than England?
And you're right, this has nothing to do with religion, and wrong when you say it is all about politics? It's not that complicated. It's all about the reverence the English fan feels for his forefathers who fought to save their country in two world wars. It was born and bred into them as kids and they hate to see anyone acting in a disrespectful manner towards that 'reverence'. There were other occupations of countries along the way, which obviously James saw first hand in his childhood. Again I say, James should have walked away from English football (to a different country) when this became an issue a couple of years ago.
I think the reasons why they don't fit in to a foreign culture are obvious. The other nationalities you mention are far more open to other cultures, their international careers are largely unaffected, and in some cases enhanced. Here, you basically have to play in England or for Celtic, otherwise you're out of sight and out of mind, as far as the national team is concerned.Originally Posted by mark12345
The poppy is a political symbol. This is British culture, and if they believe that wearing that for 3 long weeks is commemorating something they had nothing to do with, honouring people they don't know and never met, that's their right. They should also respect that if you don't believe in someone else's political cause, you should not be forced to honour it.
Wearing the poppy used to be one day a year. Then it was a weekend, a whole week, and now it's an annual propaganda marathon for the British Army. The wearing of the poppy is a political symbol. McClean, as with other foreign players, should not be forced to honour the British Army, regardless who pays them.
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