One player who always gave it his all an Ireland jersey was James McClean. The Derry man earned over 100 caps for Ireland before calling time on his international career last November in a friendly against New Zealand at the Aviva.
The move to retire came soon after he made the drop down to League Two to play for Wrexham and some felt Ireland couldn’t be selecting a player plying his trade at the bottom tier of the EFL.
The farewell in November wasn’t what McClean had envisaged. He was disappointed to not be made captain for the occasion and he even said the way it ended “left a sour taste” in his mouth. McClean went on to have a fantastic campaign with Wrexham this season and played a crucial role in the Welsh side achieving promotion to League One.
John O’Shea Open To James McClean Return
Interim Republic of Ireland manager John O’Shea said that he had spoken to James McClean after Wrexham’s promotion and seemed to be open to the idea of recalling the 35-year old in the future.
I spoke to James. I know James well from his young Sunderland days, I spoke to him because I know the type of character he would be, desperate to help out if possible,
But I spoke to him and was congratulating him with the season he had with Wrexham, but I said look, just go and enjoy your summer. If he’s obviously showing what he can do later on next season, we can deal with that.
But for the summer I said I was largely going to focus on the squad that I have picked for the two games with maybe one or two others as well. James will never consider himself officially retired. I’m sure he’s so proud to represent Ireland, but for me it wasn’t going to be the case that he was going to be involved
He’s incredible, the way he looks after himself.
The Interim Republic of Ireland manager however was quick to point out the glaring issue that the age profile of left backs in the current squad isn’t ideal. Both Robbie Brady (32) and Enda Stevens (33) are both the wrong side of 30 and have been called up.
Meanwhile players like Ryan Manning have been tearing up the Championship for a couple of seasons now but rarely get a proper opportunity to nail down the left back spot.
O’Shea acknowledged this issue and named some younger players coming through who could be in line for a chance sooner rather than later.
I picked Enda and Robbie and I know they are in their early 30s but we need some more younger players.
Ryan (Manning) is obviously 28, we need more younger ones to keep kicking on and producing as well, whether it be Anselmo García McNulty who is doing well, obviously there’s Tayo Adaramola, Alex Murphy, there’s some good kids coming along but we just need them to take the next step and if they can kick on too, it will be important.
Even if a James McClean call-up isn’t the most exciting move, it’s hard to deny the fact McClean has always given 100% when playing for Ireland, in both the good times and the bad times McClean’s mindset and determination has been exceptional and he can be a great influence on the next generation.
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