McClean living dream in his shade of green

James McClean’s speed of light journey from the Airtricity League to the European Championship finals might well be the feelgood sports story of the year.

But it was the player’s decision to swap playing for Northern Ireland for playing for the Republic back in August which continues to generate headlines, even in the week when the 23-year-old realised his dream of making Giovanni Trapattoni’s squad for Poland.

On the back of death threats and abuse, and his own feisty response to provocation from some Northern Ireland supporters, the Sunderland man closed his Twitter account this week.