McClean refuses to wear poppy

Vurnon San Benito · 10-11-2012 06:58PM #1

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McClean getting a lot of stick on my Twitter timeline for not wearing the poppy.
Personally I don't see anything wrong with what he did, but I'm sure it's not the last we'll hear of it.

Your thoughts folks?

Well in his rights IMO.

Red Crow · 10-11-2012 06:59PM

He's dead right too.

10-11-2012 07:01PM

The only issue I'd have with wearing one is the expectation to. It's amazing watching British TV this time of year to see the uniformity of opinion on the topic, everyone agrees with wearing one.

General Relativity · 10-11-2012 07:01PM

Lost respect for him after the twitter stuff, has gained it all back and then some after this.

ShooterSF · 10-11-2012 07:18PM

If people are forced to wear it then it no longer carries a message. You can't say someone supports something when you make them wear it. It's crazy enough that so many non-English players support the cause as is they should be delighted with the level of support.

G.K. · 10-11-2012 07:24PM

If he doesn't feel he should, then by all means he shouldn't. Almost all of you here are Irish, not British. You aren't an extension of us, you are your own people, so you shouldn't need to conform to our customs. It is sad to see but unsurprising to see the short shrift he gets from some quarters in the UK. I as a Brit proudly wear a poppy for the symbolism of rememberance but don't doubt that I understand why McClean wouldn't, when one considers everything that happened in Derry.

RasTa · 10-11-2012 07:25PM

Bank holiday over here in Canada for it, should be the same in Ireland(just for the day off work)

G.K. · 10-11-2012 07:26PM

Oh, also, be careful when posting in here. This exactly the type of thread that could inflame some people and cause an argument. Make sure your discussion falls within the charter.

Fight_Night · 10-11-2012 07:27PM

If he doesn't want to then more power to him, the expectation is very unfair.

Madam · 10-11-2012 07:37PM

It does show a strength of character though - the pressure to wear one in England especially is immense.

niallo27 · 10-11-2012 07:43PM

Part of me feels he is only doing it for the attention, he seems to love it, I may be wrong though.

Oat23 · 10-11-2012 07:46PM

Coillte_Bhoy · 10-11-2012 07:47PM

niallo27 wrote: »

Part of me feels he is only doing it for the attention, he seems to love it, I may be wrong though.

What exactly informs this 'feeling'? Give the lad some credit.

ShooterSF · 10-11-2012 07:49PM

niallo27 wrote: »

Part of me feels he is only doing it for the attention, he seems to love it, I may be wrong though.

I don't think so given his birth place but if it is then I think it might also be a good thing. It might show up the point that people shouldn't be under pressure to how support for a cause they don't support. Freedom of thought and expression and all that.

Turtyturd · 10-11-2012 07:49PM

Coillte_Bhoy wrote: »

What exactly informs this 'feeling'? Give the lad some credit.

Have you been living under a rock?

Rascasse · 10-11-2012 07:51PM

ShooterSF wrote: »

I don't think so given his birth place but if it is then I think it might also be a good thing. It might show up the point that people shouldn't be under pressure to how support for a cause they don't support. Freedom of thought and expression and all that.

He's not under any pressure to support the cause. The poppys are on the jerseys as the Premier League support the cause and have done for years. Can't imagine its a big deal asking the kit man for one without.

Mr.Nice Guy · 10-11-2012 07:51PM

I will say that I share the sentiments of annoyance over the expectation that people should uniformly wear it as a mark of respect. After all, one doesn't need to wear the flower to show respect to the war dead. You can clearly see organisations like BBC and ITV are extremely keen on guests wearing them because they don't want some crank at home to make a complaint about not seeing one on a presenter or interviewee (always been baffled that there are people like this out there)

I don't wear the poppy (not even sure if they sell them over here?) but I DO take the time to remember the dead of the two world wars and don't need to prove myself by wearing something.

Having said all that though, these poppies are actually sewn on the shirts themselves so it seems to me rather an extreme move to actually make it clear you do not wish to wear one. It's a rather strong statement and a quite confrontational stance. I just hope he's thought this one through and had a word with O'Neill before he made this call.

Coillte_Bhoy · 10-11-2012 07:53PM

Turtyturd wrote: »

Have you been living under a rock?

from the Creggan for god's sake. it would be perfectly understandable why he would not wear one.

Pj! · 10-11-2012 07:55PM

I can see this thread running and running which is quite a shame.

Turtyturd · 10-11-2012 07:55PM

Coillte_Bhoy wrote: »

from the Creggan for god's sake. it would be perfectly understandable why he would not wear one.

It is understandable, I agree with the choice, but it's perfectly understandable for someone else to think there could be an attempt by him to garner some attention out of this given his history.

Wonder if he will wear an easter lily in a couple of months.:pac:

Coillte_Bhoy · 10-11-2012 07:58PM

Turtyturd wrote: »

It is understandable, I agree with the choice, but it's perfectly understandable for someone else to think there could be an attempt by him to garner some attention out of this given his history.

Wonder if he will wear an easter lily in a couple of months.:pac:

Re his history i dont really think he's been all that attention seeking tbh, more innocent and gullible than anything.

ShooterSF · 10-11-2012 08:00PM

Rascasse wrote: »

He's not under any pressure to support the cause. The poppys are on the jerseys as the Premier League support the cause and have done for years. Can't imagine its a big deal asking the kit man for one without.

If there was no expectation on him to wear it then there'd be no reaction to him not wearing one. People have acted as if it were an insult because he doesn't share their cause. I think in a perfect world no one would care if he chose to not wear one. I'm sure there's Irish people out there giving out about Irish players choosing to wear one btw and those people are just as bad.

CSF · 10-11-2012 08:00PM

Ah I think he should have the choice. He might have saved himself that bit of trouble by just going along with it though.

Vurnon San Benito · 10-11-2012 08:01PM

CSF wrote: »

Ah I think he should have the choice. He might have saved himself that bit of trouble by just going along with it though.

Not back in Derry he wouldn't!

Turtyturd · 10-11-2012 08:02PM

CSF wrote: »

Ah I think he should have the choice. He might have saved himself that bit of trouble by just going along with it though.

I agree, Black people would have saved themselves a bit of trouble by going along with slavery too.:rolleyes:

Rascasse · 10-11-2012 08:05PM

ShooterSF wrote: »

If there was no expectation on him to wear it then there'd be no reaction to him not wearing one. People have acted as if it were an insult because he doesn't share their cause. I think in a perfect world no one would care if he chose to not wear one. I'm sure there's Irish people out there giving out about Irish players choosing to wear one btw and those people are just as bad.

Some people are morons and football has more than its fair share, especially on twitter.

Will be interesting to see if the shirt still gets auctioned. Not that it would make much anyway.

CSF · 10-11-2012 08:07PM

Turtyturd wrote: »

I agree, Black people would have saved themselves a bit of trouble by going along with slavery too.:rolleyes:

Not an accurate comparison and fairly stupid to boot.

A more accurate comparison would be asking the ancestors of slaves to commemorate some event which killed lots of white soldiers, some of whose ancestors may have had slaves.

ShooterSF · 10-11-2012 08:11PM

Rascasse wrote: »

Some people are morons and football has more than its fair share, especially on twitter.

Indeed and if we lay the blame on people that attack someone for their choice then that's perfect. As it should be. It's the he should have just played along camp I take issue with. Neither the supporters or non of a cause should see that as a positive as it just dilutes the actions of those that truly support it.

markesmith · 10-11-2012 08:20PM

Oatesy23 wrote: »

I see enough f*cks to hunt down this pic and then post it on the thread

Coillte_Bhoy · 10-11-2012 08:20PM

ShooterSF wrote: »

If there was no expectation on him to wear it then there'd be no reaction to him not wearing one. People have acted as if it were an insult because he doesn't share their cause. I think in a perfect world no one would care if he chose to not wear one. I'm sure there's Irish people out there giving out about Irish players choosing to wear one btw and those people are just as bad.

Agreed.

greendom · 10-11-2012 08:37PM

Madam wrote: »

It does show a strength of character though - the pressure to wear one in England especially is immense.

Absolutely - Dara O'Briain proudly announced that he wouldn't be wearing one when it coincided with a run of "You've Been Fired". When the episode was shown in rememberence week,, guess what was attached to his lapel. No, not a shamrock !
'

McClean refuses to wear poppy

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