I have to laugh at the boys above saying he's done nothing yet. Of course he hasn't because he hasn't had a fair crack yet. A few short cameos mean nothing. He's easily Irelands best attacking performer in the EPL followed by Long and Wes. Cox doesn't even play in the EPL and is getting more chances.
agree but it didnt stop a couple of media outlets, RTE radio yesterday morning in particular, saying that he was impressive!Originally Posted by centre mid
purely to keep the "McClean must play, why wont trap pick him?" show on the road i would imagine.
Cox has been a far more effective player in a green shirt.
Yesterday's daily RTÉ headline article on McClean was near parody, such was the blatancy of their agenda: http://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/inter...-germany-trap/
Republic of Ireland manager Giovanni Trapattoni will continue to exclude James McClean from his starting XI despite an impressive performance from the winger the 4-1 win over Oman.
McClean received the biggest cheer of the night at Craven Cottage when he came off the bench on the hour to replace captain Kevin Doyle.
The Sunderland man had the crowd on their feet twice more during his 30-minute cameo, firstly when he drew a world-class save from Ali Al-Habsi with a brilliant free-kick, and then when he hammered a difficult volley just centimetres over the Oman bar.
McClean vented his fury at Trapattoni on Friday when he appeared to criticise the Italian for not bringing him off the bench in Kazakhstan, where the Republic scraped a 2-1 win with two last-gasp goals.
But despite his excellent showing in south-west London it appears the talented 23-year-old will be on the bench again when the men in green take on Germany in their World Cup qualifier against Germany on 12 October.
He started off well but it has been a while since he put in a performance of note. This is (a) due to him being played out of position and (b) facing a higher level of opposition than he did as the start of his Irish career.
I think many of you would take Cox over anything else most evenings.
No Somos muchos pero estamos locos.
Perfectly reasonable headline in my opinion.
I think the tendency on this forum to label anything critical of Trapattoni as 'an agenda' is ridiculous.
The article linked to mentions an "impressive performance" and "excellent showing" by McClean against Oman which isn't an opinion most would share. This is an article taken from the Independent so there are a number of news sources running the same article. Hence the agenda.
Totaly disagree. There is definately an anti-Trap agenda from our media as there always inevitably is with all our managers over the years.
Its what follows the headline where the issue is. He was not anymore, actually probably less so, impressive than many of our other players Tuesday.
The free kick was actually easily saved really and he wasted a number of good crossing opportunities.
I am dying for a spark to appear from somewhere but McClean hasnt shown enough to justify the clamour to have him picked yet.
BBC give him a brief but positive review, describing him as lively, and mentioning him having a couple of shots. I guess they've got an anti-Trap agenda too.
Watched the whole game on the box here and I have to say that "impressive performance" and "excellent showing" are just ridiculous. The campaign for McClean is a bit hysterical to my mind and there are far more pressing issues, such as persistance with 4-4-2 and Shane Long's exclusion. What does he have to do to get into the team for a competitive game? Where's the campaign for him?
"lively" and "a couple of shots". brilliant, all our attacking problems are solved!
all these media outlets get their reports from the same sources for events on the scale of Tuesdays match anyway
McClean's certainly overhyped, but he's also certainly a better option on the wing than Simon Cox or Andy Keogh.
Dear me. He's really not the smartest, is he?
He's been effective against lesser opposition and not on the wing. McClean hasn't had anything like the chance Cox has.
The reason Cox has been given such a big chance is because he impressed from the start and forged an instant connection with Keane that no other striker in the squad has. I wouldn't play him on the wing but I can see the logic behind it, and for a spell it actually looked like it would yield a goal or at least some good chances. McClean has also played against lesser opposition without being as impressive, in my opinion.
*Hastily checks entire thread for any flippant remarks, attempted jokes or puns I may have made at his expense*
Only a matter of time before he googles his own name and winds up on here!
If I remember right Cox got a good run in that Celtic cup and impressed against poor opposition. McClean has been restricted to cameo roles and nothing more so it's simply daft to compare. And any time Cox has impressed he played as a striker. On the wing he's been poor. Give McLean a chance to impress before writing him off! Though the manager won't give him a chance so he won't have th chance to prove himself in a green jersey.
McClean was used as a sub in the first game after he broke into the Sunderland team and has since started two friendlies as well as getting a run out at the Euros. That is a hell of a lot more of an opportunity than a lot of Irish players get. There is a huge void in the team where Duff used to be and the fact is that Cox offers more in the way of technical ability and ball retention, both of which we are sorely lacking since Duff's departure. McClean has his own talents - he can score goals, but he is also impetuous and gives the ball away cheaply, neither an attribute Cox has displayed to date.
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