James McClean Appreciation Thread

Rocko · July 18, 2015, 9:46pm

Jamesie during the playing of God Save the Queen today:

Nembo_Kid · July 18, 2015, 9:50pm

That explains why the Cark cunt was so hell bent on screwing Derry over today.

Vol James McClean is a national treasure.

anon7035031 · July 19, 2015, 1:30am

He’s a fair man to resist giving a Nazi salute.

Fran · July 19, 2015, 7:25am

Tassotti · July 19, 2015, 9:39am

little cunt should fuck off back to that hellhole he crawled out of if he doesn’t want to respect our anthem, he’s happy enough to take the Queens Shilling

Rocko · July 21, 2015, 7:43pm

A really good article on McClean from the Daily Telegraph of all places.

##James McClean’s flag snub starts an undignified race to be offended

Let me tell you a secret. I don’t much like the national anthem. Quite apart from the fact that sending a lady “happy and glorious” when she is already worth an estimated £340 million and lives in a big palace is probably just a touch superfluous, it’s not even a very nice tune. La Marseillaise, there’s an anthem. The Italian one is a delight. God Save The Queen lacks any verve or spirit. It’s tame, dry, unsure of itself. It’s a Malted Milk biscuit in musical form.

So on an artistic level at least, I can empathise with James McClean. Last week the West Brom winger was in South Carolina for a pre-season friendly when, in a curious display of ostentation far outstripping the prestige of the actual game, the national anthems were played and the English flag unfurled overhead. While his team-mates turned to face the flag, McClean turned his back and refused to acknowledge it.

McClean is from a Republican area of Derry in Northern Ireland, and has previously opted not to wear a Remembrance Day poppy because of his political beliefs. For this he received death threats, taunts about the IRA, boos from his own fans. Despite all this, it is McClean’s impoliteness under the microscope, as if he were a house guest who has insulted the decor. His manager Tony Pulis publicly rebuked him, warning of a developing “stigma around him” and ordering him to “face the flag” in future. A Derry MP advised West Brom to sack McClean, adding that “he’s not worth the trouble”.

Now, McClean’s politics might not be to everyone’s taste, and nor might his methods of expressing them. But in an age when footballers are becoming increasingly anodyne, there is something refreshing about one who believes in something; anything. Not that you know it from the furious reaction. One of the great things about social media is that it allows you to find out what idiots are thinking without actually having to talk to them, and sure enough McClean’s gesture provoked the sort of anger that the internet has turned into a performance art.

The criticism essentially runs thus: if McClean is content to earn a living in Britain, why does he hate it so much? Why not go back to where he came from (which, we should probably point out, is technically also Britain)?

This idea that earning a living from a country should entail tolerance for its customs and rituals remains surprisingly tenacious, if inconsistently applied. At what stage, for example, should we inform the Chinese and Russian investors buying up large swathes of London about the ancient British tradition that houses are lived in, rather than left empty and used as investment vehicles? Jose Mourinho, meanwhile, admitted in an interview last year that he dislikes British food. Are we obliged to lynch him, or can we just put him on a plane home? Instead, McClean’s lack of reverence is singled out, largely by the same people who thought Gazza pretending to play the flute during the Old Firm derby was absolutely hilarious.

In 1938 the England team famously performed the Nazi salute whilst playing in Berlin. And the irony is that had one of the England players dissented and turned his back on the swastika, he would now be hailed as a principled hero. McClean, meanwhile, is being reproached for turning his back on God Save The Queen, which as we’ve established isn’t even a good song. Of course, the analogy doesn’t work, because it implies some sort of correlation between the Queen and the Nazi salute, which would be entirely ludicrous.

The issue for the game here is obvious enough. Footballers seem increasingly disconnected from the wider world, and the McClean furore encapsulates why. Take a stand and get pilloried by fans, dressed down by your manager, painted as a troublemaker. Far better to keep your head down, son. Don’t cause any trouble. Face the flag.

flattythehurdler · July 21, 2015, 7:45pm

:-))))

myboyblue · July 21, 2015, 7:49pm

Christ, how on earth did that make it through the sub editors in the Telegraph?

anon25556527 · July 21, 2015, 7:49pm

Rocko:

A really good article on McClean from the Daily Telegraph of all places.

##James McClean’s flag snub starts an undignified race to be offended

Let me tell you a secret. I don’t much like the national anthem. Quite apart from the fact that sending a lady “happy and glorious” when she is already worth an estimated £340 million and lives in a big palace is probably just a touch superfluous, it’s not even a very nice tune. La Marseillaise, there’s an anthem. The Italian one is a delight. God Save The Queen lacks any verve or spirit. It’s tame, dry, unsure of itself. It’s a Malted Milk biscuit in musical form.

So on an artistic level at least, I can empathise with James McClean. Last week the West Brom winger was in South Carolina for a pre-season friendly when, in a curious display of ostentation far outstripping the prestige of the actual game, the national anthems were played and the English flag unfurled overhead. While his team-mates turned to face the flag, McClean turned his back and refused to acknowledge it.

McClean is from a Republican area of Derry in Northern Ireland, and has previously opted not to wear a Remembrance Day poppy because of his political beliefs. For this he received death threats, taunts about the IRA, boos from his own fans. Despite all this, it is McClean’s impoliteness under the microscope, as if he were a house guest who has insulted the decor. His manager Tony Pulis publicly rebuked him, warning of a developing “stigma around him” and ordering him to “face the flag” in future. A Derry MP advised West Brom to sack McClean, adding that “he’s not worth the trouble”.

Now, McClean’s politics might not be to everyone’s taste, and nor might his methods of expressing them. But in an age when footballers are becoming increasingly anodyne, there is something refreshing about one who believes in something; anything. Not that you know it from the furious reaction. One of the great things about social media is that it allows you to find out what idiots are thinking without actually having to talk to them, and sure enough McClean’s gesture provoked the sort of anger that the internet has turned into a performance art.

The criticism essentially runs thus: if McClean is content to earn a living in Britain, why does he hate it so much? Why not go back to where he came from (which, we should probably point out, is technically also Britain)?

This idea that earning a living from a country should entail tolerance for its customs and rituals remains surprisingly tenacious, if inconsistently applied. At what stage, for example, should we inform the Chinese and Russian investors buying up large swathes of London about the ancient British tradition that houses are lived in, rather than left empty and used as investment vehicles? Jose Mourinho, meanwhile, admitted in an interview last year that he dislikes British food. Are we obliged to lynch him, or can we just put him on a plane home? Instead, McClean’s lack of reverence is singled out, largely by the same people who thought Gazza pretending to play the flute during the Old Firm derby was absolutely hilarious.

In 1938 the England team famously performed the Nazi salute whilst playing in Berlin. And the irony is that had one of the England players dissented and turned his back on the swastika, he would now be hailed as a principled hero. McClean, meanwhile, is being reproached for turning his back on God Save The Queen, which as we’ve established isn’t even a good song. Of course, the analogy doesn’t work, because it implies some sort of correlation between the Queen and the Nazi salute, which would be entirely ludicrous.

The issue for the game here is obvious enough. Footballers seem increasingly disconnected from the wider world, and the McClean furore encapsulates why. Take a stand and get pilloried by fans, dressed down by your manager, painted as a troublemaker. Far better to keep your head down, son. Don’t cause any trouble. Face the flag.

The outrage over BBC’s golf commentator is similarly ridiculous.

Rocko · July 21, 2015, 7:50pm

The Mark James thing? Agreed. It was a meaningless slip of the tongue or just carelessness. It wasn’t a government-sanctioned landgrab as far as I could tell.

mickee321 · July 21, 2015, 8:55pm

not so sure about this lads
Rico made some good points on Soccer Republic last night, look, Rico and I respect Mclean’s views, nobody can judge him for the shite his family had to put up with in Derry and i applaud a man who clearly values his upbringing and is not for turning.
But for fuck sake man, you clearly hate the Brits , then why in God’s name do you need to force yourself to live there? why dosent he fuck off to a different league and make a living, then hed never have to see a union jack again. its bizarre really and it just makes him look like a complete fucking simpleton

mickee321 · July 21, 2015, 9:28pm

[/quote]

The outrage over BBC’s golf commentator is similarly ridiculous.
[/quote]

the were some babies crying on facebook earlier coz some lad called yer man Dunne a Potatoe as he stumbled between fairways

Sidney · July 21, 2015, 9:36pm

It’s great clickbait for Joe.ie, Inaneshite.ie. and Fuckface.ie, though.

braz83 · July 21, 2015, 9:41pm

“I’d suppose he’s Irish again now after he made a mess of the final round”, thousands of fucktards around the country who think they are witty and original were doubtless saying over the last 24 hours.

Sidney · July 21, 2015, 9:45pm

Just a month away now from the Rose of Tralee when they can use that hilarious “they all have lovely bottoms” line from Father Ted again.

anon61956325 · July 21, 2015, 9:46pm

What a brave man James is. A hero and example to us all.

Tim_Riggins · July 21, 2015, 9:55pm

We’re the best though, we need to remind ourselves of that

Mac · July 21, 2015, 10:08pm

And here’s what 20 random English people tweeted about ‘the hurling’

anon61956325 · July 21, 2015, 10:12pm

@Rocko- can James be made a freeman of TFK?

The_Most_Infamous · July 22, 2015, 12:18am

If he was a more technically gifted player, this wouldn’t be the main reason James is in the papers. Obviously his heart is in the right place but he isn’t even Derry’s Pele.

If he feels so strongly he would be better off moving out of England for his own sake end of. That would be my advice anyway if I knew the lad.