When James McClean arrived in the north-east of England in 2011, there was a reasonable sized Irish contingent at the club. Nevertheless, the young Derryman found it difficult to settle into life in Sunderland off the pitch. While on it, he slotted in nicely catching the eyes of the footballing world with a stellar performance against Blackburn Rovers when he was introduced as a substitute by Martin O'Neill.
Wherever James McClean goes, controversy seemingly followed. It's what makes him such a divisive character but Niall Quinn - who was chairman of the club at the time - was very wary of the winger's activity on social media.
The former Republic of Ireland international, spoke to the Independent.ie about McClean's early days on Wearside;
We used to be afraid of our lives every time he did an interview or what he was going to say next on Twitter
What was he going to say next? None of us knew and we just tried to do a quick-fire education for him, give him a bulletproof vest almost and send him out there and see what the real world was like. That was always going to be difficult.
I remember our club secretary telling him; ‘You can’t be saying this or that’, but he is way past that in terms of maturity.
He was always going to find himself a little bit left or right of the line when it comes to what is expected of our young players and the spotlight being on that. He had no education in that area.
James McClean would later serve a ban for his social media activities following a tweet before a Premier League game against West Brom in 2013. He would later return only to delete his account earlier this year for posting an image of himself standing next to Martin McGuinness with the words "Reignition of the flames of reunification #BorderPoll #UnitedIreland”.
That being said, Quinn wholeheartedly believes that his feisty nature on and off the pitch is more beneficial than detrimental in the long run;
He made some mistakes and that was always going to happen for a young kid coming to England and trying to adjust to a new environment, but look at the player we see now and it is a delight for all of us.
His club manager Tony Pulis and Martin O’Neill with Ireland know he is the kind of character who can lift a team. He might step over the mark at times on and off the pitch, but I have always loved his passion.
I’m delighted for him. So much happened so quickly for him and it was always going to take a bit of time for him to adjust, but it’s great to see the way he is playing now.
