ARTER ATTACK
James McClean lets rip at Ireland team-mate for his no-show after bust-up with Keane
THE analogy was a little crude, but James McClean’s message to Ireland team-mate Harry Arter — and to some extent teenager Declan Rice — was clear: ‘You’d have to put a gun to my head for me not to come and play for my country.’
Arter has returned to the squad this week after declaring himself unavailable last month following a furious bust-up with Roy Keane in which it was alleged the assistant boss called the midfielder a ‘f****** p***k’.
McClean, though, was in typically abrasive mood when it came to addressing the issue here in Dublin in the run- up to the Nations League double-header against Denmark and Wales.
‘I don’t mind Harry as a person but I’ll tell him myself, I thought he was wrong not to show up,’ said the Stoke winger.
‘You’d have to put a gun to my head for me not to come and play for Ireland. I don’t mind the tough approach ( from Keane). I’d like to think I’m capable of giving it back myself. It will take more than that to stop me from turning up. From my point of view, when Roy speaks, I listen.
‘But I’m not going to go against him ( Arter), that’s his issue. He’s a very good player, we need good players. I felt he should have showed up last time, but he’s here now, let’s get on with it.’
One player who is not here is West Ham’s Rice. The Londonborn 19-year-old played in three Ireland friendlies earlier this year but is now considering an approach from England.
Former Ireland international Kevin Kilbane has attacked the youngster on social media, stating he would rather be ranked 150th in the world than have Rice play for the country again. McClean replied with, ‘Bang on lad’.
McClean was a little more diplomatic here but the sentiment, you feel, remains.
‘I like the lad and obviously he’s a good player, but I don’t agree with the situation,’ he said. ‘I am proud to play for my country. It means a lot to me. But I don’t have a problem with Declan as a person. If he comes back in, I’ll welcome him 100 per cent. But the situation isn’t ideal.’
Maybe it was talk of young players perhaps being offended by Keane’s expletives that prompted McClean to then take issue with the mindset of those emerging from Premier League academies.
He referenced Stoke team-mate Peter Crouch, who said on these pages last year that teenagers were kidding themselves with Instagram posts of gym workouts when they had earlier barely lifted a leg in training. McClean said: ‘I agree with Crouchie 100 per cent. It’s all for show.
‘I find social media means more to the young lads now, especially at the top clubs where a lot of them don’t want to drop to lower leagues and do the football.
‘They’d rather stay at Chelsea or Man City with their flash cars, nice watches and it’s all for social media, not their playing career. Everyone is pampered nowadays. You can’t say boo to them, you can’t play practical jokes. There’s anti-this and antithat, everybody has got a problem with everything.
‘You can’t do anything without someone taking offence.’
McClean was not done there. Next in his sights were the media, who asked whether O’Neill should be sacked after the 5-1 World Cup play-off defeat by Denmark was followed by a 4-1 loss in Wales last month.
‘Who is that speculation coming from?’ he shot back when asked about his manager’s future. ‘You guys? Sometimes when we’re not doing well you thrive on it a bit more. He’s the right man for the job, 100 per cent.’
It had been a bullish performance from the outspoken 29-yearold, who had the last word when he said: ‘Some would say I am wiser now, some would say not. I like to think I am.’
O’Neill would no doubt agree, Arter and Rice, perhaps less so.