James McClean Says Irish

Sorry, are you trying to say people have lost their jobs over not liking the national anthem or wearing a poppy?

 

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 £340m 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. * 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, 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 the Chinese and Russian investors buying up large swathes of London be informed 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. Should he be lynched, or put on a plane back to Portugal? 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 * 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 * 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 * 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. (© Daily Telegraph, London)

 

What benefit does McCleans opinion bring him then? I can't think he stands to benefit from it at all, and given the fact he's had death threats etc (from those incredibly tolerant english too!), I would say he's suffered a lot because of it.

The argument that 'he earns the English (British) pound so should respect everything the country stands for in all circumstances is just draconian. He earns an internationally traded currency and is paid by a private entity, not the British state ffs


Anyone who lost their job for choosing to respectfully decline facing that country's flag during a national anthem would have a * of a court case on their hands. It's actually quite frightening that you think that should be the case or is in anyway normal.


You're right though, the English media isn't a fair barometer of English people in general, if you actually read people's posts here, instead of just ranting about anti-Englishness, you would see that fact is pretty widely recognised here. You want to see a more tolerant nation than England? Look to your immediate north. It sure as * wasn't £4m Scots that just voted UKIP :bbpd:

 

Why would it be 'rightly so' ?

 

The history of it is against Britain/England.

 

Rovers or the tricolour :icon_mrgreen: I just don't believe every Englishman would.

 

The Soldier Song mate.

Nah but you wouldn't bat an eye if they did. Something I've saw pointed out, England played Ireland in a friendly a couple of months ago. Full English team didn't stand and face the tri-colour as Amhrán na bhFiann was blaring in the stadium, did they?

Complete non-story, only bothering the EDL types.

 

Listen pal, I think it's pretty clear to see what side of the fence your sitting on, however hard you try to pretend your sat getting jags in your cheeks..

You want McLean to respect Gstq, why does it bother you? Why can't you see Mclean's perfectly legitimate reasons for quietly turning away? Your first post did claim to admire his stance at first, did it not? Yet you keep harping on like a man with a big bag of wedges on either shoulder, "you don't respect the English" "we are the most tolerant of countries" blah blah * blah. Get over it, not everyone loves this country, and some of the things it's forces and government have been responsible for. Have a nice day

 

James McClean has given a fairly clear and rational explanation as to why he has taken such a standpoint, in the form of an open letter to his then employer.

Whether he sat down and actually typed the letter, or dictated it to a more skilled writer is beside the point, and really a non-issue. He has put his name to a letter which clearly outlines the justifiable issues which he has. I would say that if you or anyone else can't recognise or understand those reasons, then that perhaps says more about you than anyone else.

 

McClean is a legend.

 

James McClean
James McClean – Verified account ‏@JamesMcC14

Training finished, gym finished, Derry's officially getting its rightful name back, have a great day folks
5:06 AM - 24 Jul 2015
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