James McClean is divisive if nothing else. He's never been one to hide his beliefs and it doesn't look like he's about to start now. His supposed slight of God Save the Queen during West Brom's US tour was the spark for yet another controversy to brighten up the Derry man's career and quite a few people have had their say in the past couple of weeks.
However, it seems the people who matter are firmly on McClean's side. There was audible support for him from the West Brom fans during a friendly against Swindon last weekend and now his new captain, Darren Fletcher has come out firmly on his side.
He doesn’t want to cause upset, he has got his beliefs about a lot of things but he is not a troublemaker, he hasn’t done anything to cause trouble, he has not done any harm to anyone. I have got a bit of an insight into it because my mum is Irish and I have got family in Derry. It’s a real sensitive subject.
He’s got strong beliefs and it is great that he has those beliefs. After the incident, the rest of the media can have their opinion, that’s fine.
The rest of the football fans around the country can have their opinion but the most important thing I can do is relay to the fans how good a guy he has been.
The media landscape in England may not be overly kind to McClean but as long as he has that kind of support from inside the West Brom dressing room, you would imagine he won't be moving too far from his principles any time soon.
[Examiner]
