There was a quirky period in the 1970s and 80s when it seemed that to be a left-winger for the Republic of Ireland, a player also had to be a university graduate in politics or history, as Steve Heighway and Tony Galvin happened to be. The team’s current left-winger, James McClean, did not go to college but he has views on those subjects that have earned him a degree of scorn from people who object simplistically to his refusal to wear a poppy on Remembrance Day.
Another reason some Premier League followers dislike the West Bromwich Albion winger is that his skillset is limited and his tackling does not always recognise the border between full‑blooded and over-the-top. Those are fairer criticisms but, on the other hand, they also allude to the reason why McClean has many admirers: if a footballer plays for years in the Premier League despite not being blessed with much finesse, then he must have exceptional quantities of other qualities, such as energy, moxie and commitment to a cause.
McClean has those by the bucketload – along with, yes, a splash of finesse, as he demonstrated when firing in the winning goal against Wales on Monday. That is why he has been the outstanding player of the Republic of Ireland’s World Cup qualification campaign so far and the perfect on-field ambassador for their manager, his fellow Derryman Martin O’Neill.
If McClean did not exist, O’Neill would have to invent him. Although Ireland’s captain, David Meyler, said that the manager worked meticulously on team shape before the showdown in Cardiff, giving precise collective and individual instructions, O’Neill tends not to preach an elaborate philosophy; rather his greatest managerial strength is his ability to transmit a spirit, a rousing cussedness whereby he and, to an extent, his team seem happiest when making opponents uncomfortable. No one does that more wholeheartedly and more effectively than McClean.
The manager’s approach can seem an irritatingly modest ambition against teams whom Ireland might be able to outclass, but it often works well against supposed superiors, which is why Ireland’s finest exploits in this campaign have been in the away matches against the three countries seeded above them in Group D. They took seven points from the nine available from trips to Austria, Serbia and Wales.
In the two victories from those matches – in Austria and Wales – McClean scored the decisive goals with crisp finishes that made light of the high stakes. Those finishes showed maturity and polish, proving there is a decent and improving craftsman there as well as a formidable warrior. He also scored twice in the win in Moldova. With four goals he is Ireland’s highest scorer in the qualifiers.
Overall, his 55 caps have brought 10 goals (a very respectable tally for a wide midfielder) and 10 yellow cards – not as many as you might expect for a player of his style and reputation, although it is still true that there are times when he, and the person he is tackling, would be better off if he took a deep breath before diving in. Joe Allen would no doubt agree after being forced off the pitch in Cardiff as a result of being shunted by McClean into Meyler, whether intentionally or out of clumsiness.
For most of this campaign, however, McClean has channelled his combativeness well and turned himself into a valuable performer. One senses that composure does not come as naturally to him as it appears to for, say, Callum O’Dowda, the 22-year-old who shone with elegant menace on his first competitive start against Moldova last Friday. O’Dowda was full of dynamic thrust in that match but also made astute decisions, in contrast with the over-eagerness that more experienced payers, including McClean, had shown when chasing an equaliser in September’s home defeat by Serbia. O’Neill must have toyed with the idea of starting O’Dowda in Cardiff – but not for long. Because, lapses and all, McClean has earned his manager’s trust.
Before Monday’s match, much was made of the potential consequences to Wales of Gareth Bale’s absence. But O’Neill evidently had not forgotten that Bale did not make much of an impact in March when the sides drew in Dublin. In that match McClean angered the Real Madrid player by ending one of his runs with a robust and perfectly fair challenge in the fourth minute. Bale seemed affronted and distracted thereafter and his most memorable contribution to the match was a splenetic tackle on John O’Shea for which he could have been sent off.
McClean, by contrast, was declared man of the match for the intelligent and inspiring way in which he harnessed his ability and emotion after a buildup in which he had been given time off to attend the funeral of his friend and former Derry City team-mate Ryan McBride, and also to mourn the death of the former Sinn Féin politician Martin McGuinness, whom he regarded as a friend and hero.
McClean scored more goals for Ireland during this campaign than he has mustered in 74 Premier League appearances for West Brom. Maybe that is an indication of the lower quality of international football. Or maybe it is evidence that playing for his country brings the best out of McClean. Either way, he has become a player on whom O’Neill and Ireland can count.