Cometh the boy

THEY’VE been mad about the boy for a long time now and, in Scotland, some have even been mad at the boy, but at Arsenal’s cold and wet training ground, James McCarthy is attracting nothing but warm welcomes as he finally moves amongst us as a senior member of the Republic of Ireland squad.

It seems to have been a long time coming but then McCarthy was scoring for Hamilton when he’d barely turned 16 so, at just 19, he personifies the paradox of a rookie with something of the veteran about him.

A boy amongst men, perhaps, but already the Wigan tyro is well-used to the sometimes harsh realities of the pro game, as evidenced by Liam Ridgewell’s tackle on him on Saturday, a wild lunge which, by way of collateral and frankly comical damage, also took out the linesman.