Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
FUN AND JAMES
Mick excited by the prospect of Mcclean relighting the Irish fire
JAMES MCCLEAN has been told to carry on causing chaos on the flanks as Mick Mccarthy believes he can be Ireland’s trailblazer in the upcoming Euro 2020 qualifiers.
The returning Ireland boss named the first squad of his second coming yesterday.
And he is clearly excited about teaming up with the Stoke City wideman, who often saves his best work for the green shirt.
Mcclean has been in and out of the Potters’ team this season but Mccarthy has been to see him play and is pleased with his form.
“James is one of the first ones that I spoke to, he answered the phone!” said Mccarthy yesterday
“I watched him against Ipswich and he was back playing wide left.
“I think that he is the one who can set something up for the team.
“He presses from the front, he has a goal in him and he can certainly put crosses in from that wide left position.
“He also protects the full-back if you are playing a 4-4-2.
“I like his personality and everyone I’ve asked says he’s a great guy around the camp.”
Mccarthy added of the Derry man: “He personifies somebody who is committed to the cause the way he plays and that’s a nice quality to have.”
James Collins, Padraig Amond and Mark Travers are newcomers to the Ireland set-up while Caoimhin Kelleher, Kieran O’hara and Jimmy Dunne are also uncapped.
At the other end of the scale, Glenn Whelan, Aiden Mcgeady and even Stephen Ward seemed like yesterday’s men, yet are back in the frame.
So too is David Mcgoldrick, although he has a far stronger case for making the cut when the 38-man squad is trimmed to 23 on St Patrick’s Day.
The Sheffield United front man – who played for Mccarthy at Ipswich – has 11 goals this season. But capped six times, he hasn’t played for Ireland since the summer friendly defeat to Mexico in 2017.
He was kicked to touch by Martin O’neill, amid rumours that the pair had a falling out.
But Mccarthy (inset) said: “He’s a player of wonderful ability, really top, top in terms of his touch, his passing and finishing.
“He’s a really talented player, gifted technically. He was blighted by injuries.
“I don’t know what happened between him not getting games – no idea, he didn’t get picked, he came back and played for me. But whenever he was picked he was delighted and more than happy to go and play.”
Asked if this group is good enough to put a smile back on faces after the doom and gloom of the last 16 months, Mccarthy said: “That’s my intention.”