TOPIC: James McClean.

In the news again,this time for turning his back when they played the national anthem in West Broms latest game in the U S A.

Which anthem? God Save The Queen? If so, why on earth were they playing that?

Can't understand why they play the anthems before boxing bouts either?

Which National Anthem do you think i meant?

Wasn't sure if it was the "U S A" anthem (as that's where you said they were playing) or the English anthem as err, WBA are an English club?

Little tosser should be shot. Quite happy to take the English pound. I dont think id be happy playing on the same team as him.

Don't think he would be foolish enough to turn his back on the Star Spangled Banner when playing in the U S A.

Ok, so now you've revealed it was GSTQ, any idea why they were playing that?

Agree with DB btw.

does McClean mean he's jockish so it wouldn't be his anthem anyway?
it's a tiresome dirge anyway and as Billy Connolly says , it should be the Archers theme tune.

No idea.

Not sure what the answer is with him really.

Can see why he don't want to sing it etc... but like db says he is happy taking the wages from the English. Probably the best Club in his situation is Celtic.

mojo wrote:
Its the same guy who refused to have a poppy on his shirt at Sunderland. As i say he hates England but not enough to not collect his wages in English pound notes.

I'm sure in the past he has said he doesn't wear a poppy or take part in GSTQ because he is Northern Irish and a republican.

If you had seen/had any of your family/friends shot by the British Army would you want to take part in It ?

Personally I can understand why he does it.

In the same way that expats work all over the world but may not agree with what the governments of those countries do.

DeckchairBlue wrote:
By the same token then i probably wouldnt want someone playing for my football team whos friends or family may have blown up British citizens but hey lets all blame the British Army eh?

DeckchairBlue wrote:
Had he seem any of his friends or family shot?

ParcelPete wrote:
Artistic license no doubt.

He posted a link to this article on his Twitter:
webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=...&hl;=en&ct;=clnk≷=uk

Not sure why any non English fan likes God Save the Queen as a national anthem. It is an anti Scottish song with the original words along the lines of ' Kill the rebellious Scots'. Should have been changed along time ago to, 'Rule Britannia'. Also think Of Flower should be dropped too for the same reasons.

McClean is living in the dark ages, most people in Ireland have moved on and for a professional sports man to turn his back is a little bit naive, he should just stand their with his mouth shut just like the the majority of the England team.

Wazza wrote:
Why are Celtic the best club in this situation wazza, do they except the English pound? Thought they had Scottish notes to pay their players?

Good write up that, keep bigots out of football.

melbourneblues wrote:
And by doing what he does that is exactly what he is so i agree. Kick him out of football if hes intolerant of the national anthem.


bigot
/ˈbɪɡət/
noun
1.
a person who is intolerant of any ideas other than his or her own, esp on religion, politics, or race

I thought it was his democratic right to do what he wants or isn't it? Intolerant of the national anthem? Ha.

I wonder if someone was to sign for say Derry City and did the same whenever the soldiers song was played that the locals would be so favourable to the individual as English fans seem to be. Tbh i dont think a player in that situation would last too long over there. I am probably wrong as usual though.

DeckchairBlue wrote:
He does it because he hasn`t got a brain.......does he not know that plenty of his forbears from the south fought and died in WW1 along side the English so a poppy signifies the deaths of those men long before the north south divide .....I see Andy Murray seems to have grown out of this Nationalistic stuff

I'm not sure that's played as a national anthem at Derry db, one thing i do know whatever side of the fence you sit on this argument could go on all night. that's why i hate these topics coming up there are no winners.

Imho McLean is merely standing by the family values he was brought up with, ie do not celebrate and support the mass murderers who terrorised his community, or indeed their commanding officers

Seems perfectly reasonable to me.

seesaw50 wrote:
I would have said the opposite, he does it because he has brain, a rare commodity in footballers these days.

Touche (as in Touchay) Melbournes.

Board gonk as in board gonk seesaw.

melbourneblues wrote:
Agreed. Stuff like this is always gonna provoke reaction though. Maybe hed be being braver and saying its time to move on and not protesting in the hope of communities coming together in the future.

He should respect the anthem of the nation of the club. No one expects him to sing it. If he doesn't agree feel free to wander off back to Bigoted Ireland. We all have things we don't like doing at work, this one of those such occasions.

Baaaaa.

SquarePass wrote:
Well I am guessing he is playing in England because he cannot get the level of pay in Northern Ireland or the Republic, he could play somewhere else in Europe but very few British or Southern Irish do that already do they as they like their home comforts. So that leaves the option of playing in Scotland, no way would he play for Rangers (even if they were at the top of their game and able to pay high wages) therefore Celtic is the obvious fit - highest wage he will get in Scotland, political beliefs fit and very close to home. Greuther Fürth may be an option as well but only if they get back in Bundesliga.

Wazza wrote:
Ah I know what your on about now, wazza.

To be fair I say political beliefs but he may not even be that staunch about the whole situation etc... not like he is going and getting pissed and singing songs about killing the Brits is it. Might well be getting leaned on back home to do what he does with this, you never know.

Then again:

www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/sport/footbal...reland-28748007.html

Like melbourne says no winners when this sort of stuff crops up.

he's well within his rights to support his beliefs! He's quite obviously very patriotic! Just not patriotic enough to play for the country of his birth!

Bluesmad wrote:
By that comment you obviously don't have a clue about the whole situation.

McClean seems to be a man of principle by the sound of it. Not many would put their self forward because of the grief that ensues.

Having him shot seems a bit harsh.

nobbyblue wrote:
I should have said i was only meaning with a water pistol . Anyhow as Melbourne has said theres no winners on these sort of threads so im saying nowt more about him. I watched a programme a few weeks back possibly Ross Kemp and they were in a boxing gym in Belfast that the guys running it were trying to get kids from both sides of the divide involved. Its a shame there arent a lot more things like that going on.

To be honest that was a petty jibe.... I understand a bit more about the situation than i've demonstrated... James McClean is Catholic which has undoubtedly led to his decision to represnt the Rep of Ireland...

I know he was a child of Creggan one of the biggest estates in Derry and most deprived... It was also an area heavily associated with the IRA.... I understand there'll be deeper rooted issues!

I know many people from Northern Ireland both protestants and catholics and he is not well liked in either community.

I think you'd just about have to have grown up in Ireland (or Derry in this instance) to truly understand how feelings run very deep.

My grandfather was born in Dublin and fought for 'us' / the Allies, all over the World in WW2. His brother did the same and lost his life in action, fighting the Germans.

Don't want to sing the anthem... fine. Not wear a poppy? James McClean insults the memory of men and women he would call 'countrymen'.

SquarePass wrote:
Lord, grant that Marshal Wade,
May by thy mighty aid,
Victory bring.
May he sedition hush,
and like a torrent rush,
Rebellious Scots to crush,
God save The Queen.

I don't think the lad is helping himself or any cause to be honest. I know a lot of Irish people and visit Ireland regularly, and whilst there will undoubtedly be some people who admire his stand, there will be many more who think he is a fool who could be setting the process back years by his actions.

He's anti-british he said in an article that british flags in Northern Ireland made it uncomfortable to play for the nation 'Daily Mail' I think! So why live and work in Britain and regularly disrespect what we hold dearly! I suppose in a nutshell thats what I struggle with...

Darron Gibson Marc Wilson etc all wear the poppy and respect the anthem! Darron Gibson was born and raised in Derry!

Darron Gibson was born and raised in Derry!

As was Martin Oneill I think who played for Northern Ireland and now manages the Republic.

He was manager at Sunderland when McClean refused to wear the poppy and said he could please himself it was no problem.

Politics and Sport eh........

The feeling amongst a lot of Irish folk is the lad is a complete tool. I think most English fans will feel the same way. He's thought of in Northern Ireland as being one of the biggest pricks since Lennon. He's not the first footballer to be born without a brain but even he should be smart enough to realise that most people in Northern Ireland just want to move on.. "That flag makes me sick etc."

If he was getting paid over 10 grand a week to play for Carlisle in the Premiership, which would be paid for by normal lads paying to get into Brunton Park and via satellite subscriptions, I wouldn't expect him to make a show of himself when representing the club. He has the right to work anywhere he wants in the EU, and with the amount of internationals he plays he could probably get a work permit to play in any league in the world.

If one of my relatives had died in the Falklands, and even a huge payrise and rise in living standards couldn't get me to accept a job in Argentina, then that would be that. I wouldn't go and work in Buenos Aires, take the high wages but then disrespect the locals at every opportunity. If he is playing for a club representing English supporters I think lots of fans will feel that if certain aspects of that make him feel uncomfortable he'd be better off just buggering off.

I don't think I've read a reasonably balanced argument about this all week.. the one he posted a link to on his twitter account betrayed the authors lack of knowledge of the recent history of Londonderry, including even what country it is in.

It is a mess up there like.. Catholics often played for Northern Ireland.. since 1997 anyone born on the whole island can apply for an Irish passport, and FIFA allow anyone with an Irish passport to play for the republic, so the split goes all the way down to the kids... which is the opposite of what needs to happen. On another note UEFA allowed Derry City to move to the Irish league which was a disgrace. I'm sure they'd allow Rangers into the English league just as easy...

A club like Derry City or Celtic is probably the best club for such a pillock.

My cousin's husband is a Derry City supporter, he was born and brought up in the Bogside. I was over there when he had his 50th birthday a few years ago and surprised him by going to his party, he was late because he'd been to watch Derry City play. He, his brothers, and loads of other Derry City fans, were very unhappy with moving to the League of Ireland.

Derry is different, the feel of the place is different, I've been a few times, and even though those Bogside flats don't exist anymore and there has been a fair bit of reconciliation, there is still that underlying feel about certain parts of the place. I was recently in Belfast again, and it was 4 years since my last visit, the whole city is transformed by the way, it is a great place to visit. I was able to wander up and down both the Falls Road and the Shankill Road without any problems, the locals were all very pleasant and accommodating. Obviously still police in force, in landrovers etc, but the change in how the place feels was massive.

Unfortunately there are some people who don't want things to get any better and McClean would appear to be one of them. But in my experience of Northern Ireland there are many more who do want things to improve, and they're all actively trying to change things for the better.

There was more trouble this 12th in Belfast than there has been for a years which is a shame. It's still kicking off up the Ardoyne every night from about 6pm... I know what you mean about the city being transformed but I wouldn't recommend a waltz around the Falls tonight. You are correct that the the large majority want reconciliation.. it's a shame seeing pricks like Neil Lennon and McClean making the most ridiculous, bigoted statements in public.. but then you could argue that footballers shouldn't be role models anyway....

Yeah, we were back before the bother started again, and we certainly wouldn't have been there for the 12th anyway.

One of the interesting things about Central Belfast is the pubs, there are obvious loyalist pubs, and there are obvious republican pubs. The normal Belfast punter goes in one or other, but doesn't go in both, always been the way I guess, always will be. But as a tourist you can easily go in any and not get any hassle at all. Ask locals why they don't and they just never have and never will. Perhaps different for younger punters I guess, but we heard the same story from loads of people.

If anybody's thinking of going to Belfast, and I would encourage anyone to do so, if you stay around the city centre and the newer Titanic quarter you will be made most welcome, and there's loads to do and see. Don't go too far to North Belfast (Ardoyne) or West Belfast (Falls, Shankill), well you don't really need to, there's so much there.