People have said many things about James McClean in recent years, but they have never said he wasn’t willing.
In the springtime four years ago, McClean made his debut for Ireland in a pre-tournament friendly against the Czech Republic. Nobody had got carried away or anything, but when Giovanni Trapattoni talked about the reception McClean received from the Aviva crowd, he said he wondered if he was sending on “Messi or Maradona”.
Things hadn’t become that demented, but there was a lot of expectation around the player, even if it was probably a bit more hysterical as a reaction to Trapattoni’s resistance to change.
McClean was never going to match the hype that preceded his international debut, and there have been some underwhelming displays, but his performance here on Tuesday night was a reminder of how useful he has become to Martin O’Neill.
McClean has become a familiar sight as a replacement for Ireland, redefining the term impact sub as he clatters into whoever is unlucky enough to be standing next to him shortly after he appears on the field.
O’Neill had suggested before the game against Slovakia that McClean would play upfront, but when the team was announced it looked as if he would be in a more familiar role on the left. Beforehand it was confirmed that he would be playing alongside Shane Long.
O’Neill said he had seen McClean in that position for Wigan and he had done well when explaining his choice. It may not have been totally unfamiliar to McClean but he is a player who will make the most of every opportunity, as his club career demonstrates.
James McClean makes it 2-1 from the spot #IRLSLO pic.twitter.com/J6N69QLF1I
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) March 29, 2016
McClean was Wigan Athletic’s player of the year in 2015, but his club were relegated to League One and last summer, it looked like he was on the way to the MLS, which would have meant a very different career. But then Tony Pulis and West Brom came along and gave him another chance at the Premier League.
Of the outfield players selected on Tuesday night, only Glenn Whelan and John O’Shea have played more minutes in the Premier League this season than McClean. He has repaid the faith Pulis showed in him and Pulis has managed the other stuff that accompanies McClean, the abuse from fans over his stance on the poppy, as well as his own tendency to seek out trouble when it isn’t always necessary.
They are a funny pair. Pulis is one of the few managers in the Premier League with the necessary cussedness to enjoy what McClean brings which, of course, often is cussedness.
O’Neill enjoys his contributions too and it could be seen as an example of his faith in the player that he selected him in a forward role when others were trying to impress in a team which didn’t know each other very well.
When McClean failed to control a Eunan O’Kane pass early on, it raised some questions about the whole experiment.
It may have been useful as an experiment but what happened to those who were worked on in the lab? O’Kane had an opportunity when he was selected from the start as part of 10 changes from Friday’s game, but with an experimental forward ahead of him in an experimental line up, would there be the opportunity for him to thrive?
Happily it turned out to be one of those nights when chaos allows players to express themselves.
McClean’s force of personality ensured he would be part of it. When he took a pass from Shane Long early on, a more conventional second striker might have looked to play Long in again.
Instead McClean ran with the ball, reached the edge of the box and hit a powerful shot which Mats Kozacik saved.
The chaos began a couple of minutes later when Paul McShane charged for a ball on the halfway line, missed it and, a couple of seconds later, Slovakia led and Rob Elliot was being carried off with a serious injury.
Ireland enjoyed the challenge of having to chase the game. It liberated the players. The experiment was not jeopardising those in the lab. O’Kane grew into the match, looking for the ball all over the field, while McClean kept running.
Wes Hoolahan might have been the man providing most of the creativity but there was nothing new in that.
Ireland might have been lucky with the first penalty and, in a way, they were lucky to have Martin Skrtel among the Slovakian team as he presented Ireland with another two minutes later.
McClean took the second penalty to put Ireland ahead, hitting it purposefully as you would expect.
McShane was enduring the kind of night that almost required a bit of compassion, especially after he guided the Slovakian equaliser past Darren Randolph, but there was more to be excited about elsewhere than there had been against Switzerland on Good Friday.
If Hoolahan was the great presence and the man of the match, McClean was relentless in support. This wasn’t a cameo performance, but a role of some substance, but still there was time for the comedy turns that we have grown to love.
He squared up to Skrtel, who was having enough problems, after Skrtel trod on his back. Then he picked up a yellow card for a late tackle, a booking which seemed to surprise him, as they always do.
McClean played the 90 minutes, as willing in the last as in the first. It may have been a different role but, as always, he took to it with a determination to make things work which could be of great benefit to Ireland in the summer.
