James McCarthy Again?!?

JamBur

Whats this crap? : LINK

Wigan boss Roberto Martinez has revealed talented midfielder James McCarthy is still undecided about his international future.

It was thought he had chosen to represent Republic of Ireland when he was called up for Giovanni Trapattoni's latest squad.

But Martinez has indicated the 20-year-old, who was born in Glasgow, has not yet ruled out playing for Scotland.

The decision remains in his hands after his only senior appearance for Ireland came in a non-competitive match against Brazil last year.

Trapattoni thought he had already secured McCarthy's allegiance but it appears the former Hamilton player is continuing to keep both countries guessing.

Decision

Martinez said: "It is very unfair to try to put him under this massive pressure - it has been growing day by day.

"He needs to have time and space to make the right decision as to who he wants to play for at international level.

"I don't expect a final decision unless James is ready for it.

"When he is ready to decide where to play his international football we will be supportive and happy for him.

"The nation that is going to get James McCarthy is going to be a very fortunate one."

I was under the impression that this was all resolved.

CiaranC

Who gives a toss about this gentleman, there are plenty of Irish people more than willing to play for Ireland, how about we pick one of them

Xavi6

CiaranC wrote: »

Who gives a toss about this twat, there are plenty of Irish people more than willing to play for Ireland, how about we pick one of them

Exactly. Anton for Ireland!

JamBur

I'd like to see him commit, he's good quality............. I somehow get the impression that there is a lot of voices in his ear trying to turn his head away from the Irish team.

Jax Teller

Martinez needs to shut his mouth . He's creating this confusion not James McCarthy

Paparazzo

No quote from mccarthy? Who cares what Martinez says? Mccarthy said he's picking Ireland and that's it.

gernon

Does McCarthy have a voice? Martinez seems to do all the talking for him when maybe he should stick to trying to keep his club from relegation.

Coillte_Bhoy

CiaranC wrote: »

Who gives a toss about this twat, there are plenty of Irish people more than willing to play for Ireland, how about we pick one of them

Why jump straight in in like that and insult the lad?? Where has he said anything to indicate he hasmt made his mind up?? It's martinez mouthing off for whatever reason. Lay off the lad.

Kess73

Was it not just a case of Martinez being asked in the press conference about comments made by Trap during the week on the subject?

Chucky the tree

lol. Yea I'm sure Martinez just started mouthing off without having any discussion with McCarthy because that's a great way to keep one of his best players happy. It's obvious McCarthy hasn't decided yet, and it's why he pulled out of the team for the last match. McCarthy knows if he comes out and says this he Irish fans won't be too happy.

barbarians

Mc Carthy needs to stand up to Martinez and tell him that he's playing for Ireland and that's it.

It's not up to Martinez anyway and he probably won't be managing Mc Carthy for much longer.

Pauleta

He's gonna be a fine player but he's not Irish. He shouldnt be allowed play for Ireland. Obviously the FAI will take advantage of the loophole but its time FIFA got up off their arses and closed this granny rule.

flahavaj

I'd imagine Martinez couldn't give two sh*ts about Ireland or whatever country McCarthy eventually plays for. He only has the best interests of Wigan at heart. He seems like decent bloke with a good philosophy and I'd trust him to have McCarthy's best long term interests at heart. He has put a lot of faith in him this season and has given him nothing but encouragement enytime I've heard him speak. If anything he's been a far better mentor to the lad than Trap has.

I think he was probably giving a neutral answer to a question he was asked rather than trying to stick his nose into Ireland's business like he will no doubt be accused of.

Bottom line, McCarthy is in the Ireland squad for the Macedonia game and hopefully will play so this tedious debate becomes a non-issue in the future.

tommyhaas

I think this story is a few days old, just that Sky reported it late

From the Herald

Friday March 18 2011

JAMES McCARTHY insists that there's no question of his commitment to Ireland for next week's Euro 2012 qualfier against Macedonia, despite what his club manager thinks, writes AIDAN FITZMAURICE.
And a club-v-country row is already brewing as Wigan boss Roberto Martinez has made it very clear that he does not want midfielder McCarthy - a key figure in Wigan's battle against relegation - to hook up with the Irish squad in Dublin on Monday.
Martinez was stirring up tensions again yesterday when he said that McCarthy has still not made his "choice" between Ireland and Scotland, with McCarthy, the FAI and Trapattoni all insisting that there was no issue whatsoever with McCarthy's allegiance. "He (McCarthy) needs to have time and space to make the right decision as he wants to play at international level," said Martinez.
"It's unfair to try to put him under this massive pressure. I don't expect a final decision unless James is ready for it."
But McCarthy is said to be bemused by Martinez's comments and plans to hook up with the squad in Dublin next week. "James contacted us today and he is 100 percent committed to playing for Ireland," said an FAI spokesman.
Scotland boss Craig Levein also caused a stir when he suggested that he hadn't given up on the idea of Glaswegian McCarthy playing for the Scots. "James isn't in this squad. At this minute he hasn't played a competitive match for Ireland," Levein said.

http://www.herald.ie/sport/soccer/mccarthy-committed-to-ireland-despite-martinezs-comments-2584626.html

yabadabado

Martinez should STFU.he ain't helping McCarthy by constantly mouthing off.hopefully this is finished with by this time next week.

Dean820

He's probably seeing if Ireland qualify for the Euros before making his mind up.

edit: Just saw the article above. Wish someone would confirm it.

JerryHandbag

If he get 5 mins against Macedonia then case is closed for once and for all. I wasnt aware of this rule about being able to switch nationality, but its bizarre that Liam Brady & FAI didnt seem to know about it either.

BeanFlicker

Its all becoming a mess at this stage, I read in the Independent two days ago that McCarthy was committed to the Irish squad.

We won't know untill the 26th so just may wait till then, unfortunately I can't see Trap starting him cos trap is a donkey but hopefully will get a subs appearance for 20-30 mins

Dean820

http://greenscene.me/2011/03/james-mccarthy-speaks-out-to-end-international-speculation/

Speaking to the Daily Record, McCarthy reaffirmed his commitment to the Republic of Ireland national football team, and finally put to bed any rumours (or managerial statements) that he may have switched to Scotland.

“I appreciate the interest from Scotland but I do not want to go back on my word,” McCarthy stated. “I am, and will remain, a Republic of Ireland player. I hope to play against Macedonia next weekend and that will put any talk of Scotland to bed once and for all. There can be no going back after that.”

Speaking about the renewed speculation, McCarthy said it was nothing new, but that it came from other people, and not from any desire on his behalf. “I’ve had to contend with this for a few years,” admitted the 20 year old. “But it has really all stemmed from other people wanting it to happen. It reached new levels, went too far really, when I withdrew from the Ireland squad to play Wales.

“It was all above board. I was not long back in the Wigan team after three months out with an ankle injury and I was still taking things slowly as I didn’t want to risk anything. But this became a huge story and all the talk of me playing for Scotland resurfaced.

“My phone never stopped ringing. I’ve never received so many text messages and listened to so many voicemails. My friends were in touch and the media wanted to know what was going on. It was mental really. I’ve never been so popular. Some people may have thought I was going to pledge myself to Scotland but that was never really on my mind, although a couple of people did speak to me about it. But I never spoke directly to Craig Levein about it.

“Trapattoni flew across to England to see me and we met at a hotel. He wanted to look me in the eye and ask if I was happy and committed to Ireland. I told him I was happy and wanted to play for him. It was a good meeting. We were both satisfied at the end of it.

“I want to help Ireland reach the Euro 2012 finals. I appreciate the interest from Scotland but don’t want to go back on my word.”

Hopefully this is the case.

darkman2

My international future lies with Ireland and not Scotland, says James McCarthy


Mar 20 2011 Mark Guidi, Sunday Mail

JAMES McCARTHY has finally ended speculation about a switch of allegiance to Scotland by pledging his future to the Republic of Ireland.

National coach Craig Levein has been desperate to get the Glasgow-born star to walk out on the Irish but the Wigan midfielder insists he won't have a change of heart.

McCarthy committed to the Republic at the age of just 15 as a mark of respect for his Irish grandfather and has represented them at youth and Under-21 level.

He was also capped in a friendly against Brazil last year but has yet to play a competitive game for them - keeping the door open for a switch to the Scots.

Ireland boss Giovanni Trapattoni was so worried about losing McCarthy that he held showdown talks with the 21-year-old.

That reassured the former Hamilton kid and he now looks set to feature in Saturday's Euro 2012 qualifier against Macedonia, officially ending any hope Levein had about getting McCarthy on board.

Speaking exclusively to MailSport, McCarthy broke his silence on the subject and said: "I appreciate the interest from Scotland but I do not want to go back on my word. I am, and will remain, a Republic of Ireland player.

"I hope to play against Macedonia next weekend and that will put any talk of Scotland to bed once and for all. There can be no going back after that."

McCarthy has been linked with a switch to the country of his birth for the past three years and that speculation intensified last month when he pulled out of the national squad for a friendly against Wales.

This prompted Trapattoni to question the player's commitment and gave Levein hope he was going to land the playmaker.

McCarthy and his family spoke about the pros and cons of walking out on Ireland for a place in the Scotland team but after much soul-searching he decided to stay put.

He added: "I've had to contend with this for a few years. But it has really all stemmed from other people wanting it to happen.

"It reached new levels, went too far really, when I withdrew from the Ireland squad to play Wales.

"It was all above board. I was not long back in the Wigan team after three months out with an ankle injury and I was still taking things slowly as I didn't want to risk anything. But this became a huge story and all the talk of me playing for Scotland resurfaced.

"My phone never stopped ringing. I've never received so many text messages and listened to so many voicemails. My friends were in touch and the media wanted to know what was going on. It was mental really. I've never been so popular!

"Some people may have thought I was going to pledge myself to Scotland but that was never really on my mind, although a couple of people did speak to me about it. But I never spoke directly to Craig Levein about it.

"Trapattoni flew across to England to see me and we met at a hotel. He wanted to look me in the eye and ask if I was happy and committed to Ireland.

"I told him I was happy and wanted to play for him. It was a good meeting. We were both satisfied at the end of it.

"I want to help Ireland reach the Euro 2012 finals. I appreciate the interest from Scotland but don't want to go back on my word."

McCarthy's decision will be a blow to Levein as the Wigan ace looks set to have a bright international future.

Since his £2million from Hamilton in summer 2009, he has developed into a player of Premiership class.

The youngster's impressive displays have caught the eye of bigger clubs and he was the subject of £6million interest from champions Chelsea in January.

But Wigan refused to think about selling as they are desperate to fight off relegation and stay in the top flight.

Roberto Martinez's men have been stuck near the foot of the table all season and need all their star men as they battle against demotion to the Championship.

McCarthy said: "We're not in a good position at the moment but we're confident we can get away from the bottom three and retain our Premiership status.

"It is jam-packed at the bottom of the league just now and some of the results have been strange. It's hard to predict which teams will go down but we're sure it won't be us.

"The manager is relaxed about our situation. That spreads throughout the dressing-room. He is great to play for.

"He has improved my game and I feel really good just now. The coaching staff are excellent and Roberto's No.2 Graeme Jones has also been really good with me. He takes time on the training ground every day to help me."

McCarthy wants to chip in with more goals this term and has scored a couple of crackers, including a contender for the goal of the season against Blackburn Rovers.

He said: "That was a nice goal - I really enjoyed that one. Goals get you recognition and that was as pleasing as any I've scored.

"I want to add goals to my all-round game this season and I've managed a handful. I just hope I have few more left in me.

"We have scorers in the side and flair players in Hugo Rodallega and Victor Moses. They are all up for the battle ahead so we can come through this."

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/football/2011/03/20/my-international-future-lies-with-ireland-and-not-scotland-says-james-mccarthy-86908-23003377/