But thats all we have mate, we're discussing the abuse and vitriol McClean receives for not wearing a poppy. So far only two players have made that decision.
Do any of these players play in England and refuse to wear the poppy every year?
James McClean: 'Does being abused for being Irish and anti Irish abuse acceptable?'
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No we don't, we have comparables. We have a constant in he him a bit of a prick year round, and as weve seen with other players that are pricks all year round, the vitriol we see from a selection of fans and trolls remain. No you're talking about that exclusively. I'm saying that this focus is borne out of external factors. If you want to look at this only in an isolated environment, then the treatment of Matic goes against your theory anyway. Neither of us have seven mentioned Callum Wilson's decision not to wear it, and his ommision speaks volumes.
How so?
Lots of people may or may not think McClean is a prick, he is a bit of a tool. But the first year back in 2012 when McClean refused to wear a poppy he got abused, received death threats and got negative coverage in the British press right away. That didn't happen because people thought he was a prick mate. He had barely been playing in England when that happened, lets bare in mind at that point he hadn't said or did anything that people would find offensive beyond not wearing a poppy.
So i'm going off the contrasting reactions two players have received for making the same choice. As i said maybe i'm way off and Matic will get dogs abuse this year, we'll have to see.
I'll be honest mate i forgot all about him not wearing one. Don't know if it was down to his own choice or the kit mans fault. Either way he hasn't felt the need to explain himself people seem to have respected the fact he didn't wear one for whatever reason. If only McClean had been afforded the same courtesy we wouldn't be discussing this situation surrounding him every year.
Now come on, you’re pivoting here. You wanted to know why he’s continuing to get abuse. I haven’t said he received the level he did because people previously thought he was a dick. Clearly that was about the poppy. As I’ve said, it’s continued year on year because of how he conducts himself. The abuse would’ve lessened considerably if he didn’t insist on surrounding himself with controversy. That’s why when others have made this decision, the level of vitriol isn’t nearly as much. You act the twat on Twitter, mock other fans and countries, turn your back on the flag, you’re going to get more abuse from these people. Wilson and Matic do not do that. McClean does.
You seem to angling continually for this to be about him being Irish. There simply isn’t that level of animosity there for this to be largely about this.
How does he insist on surrounding himself in controversy?
See previous posts.
This is factually incorrect, in bad taste and no doubt controversial.
Sterling is this and that. A hero and getting awards. What I get week in, week out, compared to what he’s got in one week, one game?
One interview complaining about the abuse he gets on a daily basis from idiots is him surrounding himself in controversy?
Really ?
Really ?
Much the same as gingerism. You take the piss out of someone for the colour of their hair its hilarious. Do it for the colour of their skin and it is abhorrent.
He brought up Sterling and sounded like the same bigots he was talking about in the first instance.
He made one statement asking why is the abuse he gets which include death threats by the way different to anyonr else's including Sterling .
Unless you are trying to say he deserves to be abused because he complains about getting abused I dont see how anyone can blame him for this or say he is surrounding himself in controversy
No need to bring up Sterling or belittle what he or people of his race have faced, its trendy to compare peoples injustice to that of your own peoples but in no way is it truly comparable or needed, say what you want to say without sounding like a closet racist yourself, that’s my point.
He's hasn't belittled it again he is asking why is it ok to give him abuse and not anyone else ?
People need to stop with this pathetic excuse of he deserves what he gets so they can excuse their own bigotry and continue to abuse him
Is he wrong though? Sterlings suffered abuse mainly through the media, James gets it every time he. Steps on the pitch.
Certain posters are basically calling James uppidy here.
Racism is racism yet the undertones are that one deserves it
The way he phrased it, it definitely sounded like he was downplaying the abuse Sterling's received. He said:
To suggest that the abuse Sterling received was a one off is extremely belittling, the guy was physically attacked outside of his stadium just a few hours before a match ffs. He's also received abuse in stadiums for both England and City, not to mention the ongoing campaign from the media. He's not wrong on his wider point, racism should be stamped out, no matter the ethnicity of the victim, but he could have said that without trivialising what Sterling has been through.
I'm no fan of McClean's but he makes a good point.
Saying it's a fecking joke and an embarrassment he was left out of the national side. Mocking NI for not qualifying. Turning his back on the flag. Celebrating in front of the Sunderland fans and getting into a tussle with Danny Graham. The numerous times his Twitter account has been deleted, from his comments on Rice to his tweets about Brexit, to calling Middlesborough fans cnuts, to his Broad Black Brimmer comments etc. Yeah, he's a regular Timid Tommy!
Show me where one person has said this. Gone on.
You think turning your back on flags and tweeting about his favourite Wolfe Tones song is him shying away from controversy? He goes beyond making respectful decisions on not wearing a poppy.
I've pretty much been discussing the initial reaction to McClean the last few posts.
I know you didn't say that but mate this is exactly my point maybe i'm not articulating it well enough i don't know. The abuse for McClean started instantly because he refused to wear the poppy and yet two other players haven't been on the end of similar levels of vitriol.
Whats the main difference between McClean and Matic/Wilson? Why did they receive very different reactions from fans and the British media for refusing to wear the poppy in your opinion?
Forget about everything McClean's said and done since because thats all irrelevant to how he was initially treated. I'm talking about the abuse/threats/negative coverage he received in 2012 and the vastly different reactions 3 players have received for making the same decision.
Mate i've said this already its the combination of him being Irish and refusing the poppy that i think is driving this hatred towards him from a certain section of English football fans.
The interview is a very poor representation of his point and in bad taste. There's absolutely not need to erroneously minimise Sterling's situation to prove his own point.
In the past he's tweeted about his favourite rebel song whilst playing for an English side which will always cause a reaction in the UK right leaning press. He turned his back on the UK national anthem in a pre-season friendly game for West Brom in America, a completely meaningless game that no one in the world cared about and the anthem was only played as part of that daft American pageantry that they love so much. He tweeted for dual nationals that might have doubts on which country to represent to 'sod off' from the Irish national team.
No it isn't correct. Sterling has been racially abused playing for England numerous times, he was also aggressively confronted by a fan last season who fired loads of racial slurs at him and kicked him.
https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...ly-assaulting-manchester-city-raheem-sterling
I have never said that he deserves the abuse. I think the FA should act on the abuse and agree that he's free not to wear the poppy if he so chooses.
All that said, I don't think it's controversial to feel that Mcclean is a nationalist headbanger himself and a provocateur.
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I'm from N.I. myself and unfortunately we see a lot of these knuckle dragging fools over here (on both side of the community). McClean will no doubt be a hero in his local knee breakers bar, telling tales of how he told the Brits every week where to go, loved the Wolfe Tones, poppy not poppy etc. The guys a mug, hates England and the English so much he feckin lives and works there! Why not go play in Spain, Italy, oh that's right you'd need to be good to play there.
He gets abuse mostly because he comes across as a prat. Plenty of players refuse to wear poppies, even our own Matic did it. They give simple, short explanations and leave it at that but come 11th November, McLean will be getting himself in the news again about it.
He loses the last shred of sympathy from me for the Sterling comments. He chooses not to wear a poppy. Sterling didn't choose what colour skin he has.
He loses the last shred of sympathy from me for the Sterling comments. He chooses not to wear a poppy. Sterling didn't choose what colour skin he has.
No he should shut his mouth and let the pond life abuse him all they want and not respond according to most...
I know that's what people seem to want . You can see it in this thread even much easier to say he brings it on himself and insult him rather than say its wrong
That comment kinda makes it hard to distinguish from the kinda things these knuckle dragging fools you speak of might say, wiphich im sure wasn't your intention mate. Whether you like him or not, or understand his reasoning to not wear a poppy, or like him being proud of his nationalist background is fair enough, but you have to respect the point being made, that it is an absolute disgrace the abuse he gets....if you think he deserves the anti-Irish, anti-catholic abuse he gets then fine, but surely the issue is not James McClean and whether he is a person deserving of our pity, the issue is that this Anti-Catholic and Anti-Irish abuse still exists and it is horrendous that people try to justify the abuse he gets and the fact that Sky don't report on it, FA do f.a about it is a joke.
I travel to the UK a lot, in fact I was born in the U.K. to Irish parents. I moved 'home' to Ireland as a kid so have a very heavy west of Ireland accent. I have no dislike for English people or the English nation. Yet, every time I visit and go out for a few drinks, I nearly always get a comment thrown at me about being a dirty Paddy or some 'hilarious' comment about potatoes, referencing the famine in Ireland. 99% of English people are wonderful towards me and don't bat and eyelid at me being Irish, but there is still that 1% who have those knuckle dragging opinions that tell me to feck off home or to move somewhere else. Like that comment you made above. Not looking to pick a fight with ya, it's just a heads up on how that comment came across.
terrible post
This is an extremely dangerous and naive comment. McClean doesn't wear the poppy because of where he's from and the atrocities carried out there by the British armed forces. He didn't choose either of those things.
Can you imagine the reaction if McClean had made the recent comments made by Danny Rose where he said he "couldn't wait to be finished with football" because of the abuse?
It's still a choice he makes, whether you like it or not. Completely different kettle of fish to racism.
If Sterling was asked to wear a symbol commemorating fallen members of the KKK, would that be a choice too and a different kettle of fish?
I'm not comparing the British armed forces and its members to the KKK here, just providing an equivalence of an oppressive regime from McClean's perspective.
This is why the newbie system was brilliant.
3 players so far that i know of have not worn one and two of them didn't get much or any abuse or negative press. McClean got abuse, death threats and countless articles wrote about him from the very first time he didn't wear one so the abuse didn't start because he's a prat. And at that point in 2012 all he had done was refuse to wear the poppy.
McClean is a guy with some very suspect views on race himself. His response to Rice declaring for England was some guff on instagram about how strong the Irish race is which was all very uncomfortable. The guys as bad as the buffoons who abuse him.
That's about as reaching a post as iv ever seen . Off all the excuses to continue abusing someone this trying to make out hes racist is the worst
Honestly I have a lot of time for people that feel any type of racism or negative attention because they are a part of a group. So even if I'm something like the total opposite of an irishman I kind of feel for him.
But the Sterling part... That leaves clearly a bad taste in my mouth. I hate the 100m sprint to the guy who have it the roughest. Or at least come with some real facts on why rather than name dropping someone and create more confusion than anything and deviate the debate from your original purpose.
But the Sterling part... That leaves clearly a bad taste in my mouth. I hate the 100m sprint to the guy who have it the roughest. Or at least come with some real facts on why rather than name dropping someone and create more confusion than anything and deviate the debate from your original purpose.
If he sees it that way, that the KKK is equivalent to the British Army, then he really is an idiot
And despite all that, it is still a choice he makes not to wear it.
Yeah a perfectly valid and understandable choice that no one should have a problem with or be offended by.If he sees it that way, that the KKK is equivalent to the British Army, then he really is an idiot
And despite all that, it is still a choice he makes not to wear it.
And yet there are idiots who do got offended and abused him for that choice.
I think that 1% is prevalent in every nation unfortunately. As an Englishman that’s been abroad many times I’ve had the same. Most folk are absolutely sound but there’s always 1 or 2 who just have to be a nob for whatever reason so I know what you mean.
White trash is not acceptable and majority of the people I hear saying white trash are actually white (I live in Texas). White people don't care about the term b/c it's usually said in jest. Secondly, "white trash" doesn't have the same history as slurs like "n*gg*r" or monkey chants. Your attempt to draw parallels is a bit of joke.
You are so full of shit I don't even know where to begin. McClean is getting abused b/c of choosing to not to wear a poppy, not because he is white. Secondly, the incidents with Raheem Sterling, Kean, and Rose were given so much press b/c a) it's so prevalent and b) these are famous footballers. There are a lot of people who don't think Kick it Out is doing enough to standup for players of colour (Google it), so this notion they somehow only care about protecting black players is absurd and based solely on the random conspiracy theories in your head. To equate prevalence of monkey chants in European football and entire footballing nations (Italy and countries in Eastern Europe) hurling racist abuse at players ONLY because they are black with the McClean situation is ignorance and whataboutism at it's laziest.
Of course he shouldn't be racially abused for not wearing a poppy and the footballing authorities should protect all players receiving this kind of abuse, but to insinuate that black players are somehow favored b/c the authorities haven't acted on this one-off scenario is pure ignorance on your part.
Calm the aggression down. It does you no favours.
Racist language shouldn't be acceptable just because people take it "In jest", or because another group have historically had a much worse time.
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