McClean received death threats

Sunderland boss Martin O'Neill has confirmed winger James McClean has been the target of death threats.



The 23-year-old came in for criticism after opting not to sport a Remembrance Day poppy on his shirt during the Black Cats' 2-1 defeat at Everton last weekend.



"James will deal with it (the booing). I think it is to do with the issue last week, it's a free choice in this world," he said."James has lived with a lot of things - he's getting death threats too now so that doesn't help."



McClean was introduced by O'Neill as a second-half substitute in the 3-1 win at Fulham and received a mixed response from the travelling Sunderland supporters.



It is understood that police are investigating the threats which were directed towards McClean on Twitter, although the player no longer uses the social networking site.

O'Neill warns McClean over conduct

Sunderland manager Martin O'Neill has warned James McClean over his behaviour following the Twitter rant that landed the winger in hot water with his international manager.



McClean, 23, received a dressing down from Giovanni Trapattoni after expressing his frustration via the social networking site at not making it off the bench in Republic of Ireland's 2-1 win over Kazakhstan on Friday.



The former Derry City man was quick to delete the tweet before having to apologise to Trapattoni and the rest of the Ireland squad for the incident. Now his club boss O'Neill has made it known how he feels about his player's behaviour.



"James has been acting rather strangely," he said. "It's good when the player not only wants to play but he also wants to manage the team as well. James is rather young for that at the moment. I think Mr Trapattoni has got a couple of years on him and a couple of titles too in front of James, so I think he's entitled to pick the team.



"He has even admitted himself he has been rather foolish. He has taken himself off Twitter, apparently, then he might have a situation with Facebook as well and about 14 other accounts that he has. He has a bit of a problem and we will have to rectify it. We can have a bit of a joke about it and laugh about it and think: 'Well, that's okay'."



The Sunderland manager made clear McClean's behaviour did not fall in line with the club's policy while also expressing his dislike of the player's language - McClean labelled Trapattoni's decision a "f****n* joke".



"He does know the rules - they were read to him, they were given to him, he was there that day - and, not only that, some of his language was pretty poor and we will have to deal with that. Genuinely, we can have a laugh about it first of all, but now it's getting a bit ridiculous."

McClean stays in Republic squad

Giovanni Trapattoni has decided against kicking James McClean out of the Republic of Ireland squad, despite the winger's foul-mouthed tweet.



Sunderland winger McClean was furious that Trapattoni did not bring him off the bench on Friday night as the Republic struggled to a 2-1 win over eastern European minnows Kazakhstan.



In an apparent broadside at Trapattoni's refusal to call on his services, the Sunderland winger tweeted: "Delighted as a fan we got the the win.. Personal level fuming #f****njoke #embarrassing."



Trapattoni spoke to McClean about the tweet, which the midfielder quickly deleted, and the player issued a full apology on the micro-blogging website this afternoon.



He wrote: 'i apologise for my tweet last night, it was stupid, disrespectful and i let my frustration get the better of me which still aint an excuse."



Trapattoni then also spoke to McClean in front of the whole squad before the player apologised to his team-mates in the room.



Trapattoni had considered dropping McClean from his squad for the outburst, but the former Derry City man's apology means he has been retained for the Emerald Isle's international friendly against Oman at Craven Cottage on Tuesday.



The tweet once again raises questions about Trapattoni's relationship with some of his players. Having seen Damien Duff and Shay Given retire from international football this summer, the Italian was then disappointed by the actions of Darron Gibson, who refused a call up for these two games.



And last month Wolves utility man Kevin Foley turned down the chance to play for his country in their friendly against Serbia and vowed never to play for Trapattoni again because he felt the Italian "betrayed" him by excluding him from his European Championship squad.



Kevin Doyle on Saturday tried to play down talk of unrest and insisted the whole Republic squad are behind Trapattoni, whose position would have been under intense pressure had Doyle and Robbie Keane not scored two late goals to snatch all three points last night in the former Soviet republic.



"Everyone is together," Doyle said. "Everyone respects the manager 100% and there is no other scenario.



"Honestly, it's the same as any squad I have been involved in with Ireland. Everyone is entitled to their opinion and feeling but as far as I can see everyone is right behind the manager and hopefully that win will ease the pressure on us."



Having travelled halfway across the planet to make yesterday's qualifier in Astana, Robbie Keane and Darren O'Dea have been allowed to miss the friendly against Oman.



Sunderland's John O'Shea, and Stoke duo Jon Walters and Glenn Whelan have also returned to their clubs.



Reading defender Alex Pearce has been called in to the squad along with 20-year-old Manchester United winger Robbie Brady.



Trapattoni rang Under-21 manager Noel King after the Ireland-Kazakhstan game and requested Brady be excused Monday's UEFA Under-21 Championship game against Italy in order to link-up with the full squad.



King said: "Robbie has deserved his call-up. He's been sensational for us - as the people of Sligo will testify after his previous performances in the campaign.



"He sets the place alive and some of his play has been outrageous."

McClean apologises for the tweet

James McClean has apologised for his tweet made immediately after Ireland’s 2-1 win over Kazakhstan on Friday night.



Ireland manager Giovanni Trapattoni left the Sunderland midfielder on the bench as Kazakhstan, ranked 142nd in the world, led until the 89th minute in Astana having taken lead nine minutes before half-time through Kairat Nurdauletov.



Ireland then came back to score two goals in a minute from Robbie Keane and Kevin Doyle to snatch an unlikely victory.



Trapattoni brought Doyle and Shane Long off the bench but did not call upon McClean.



Tweeting from his official account @JMcC_23, the winger said: “Delighted as a fan we got the the win.. Personal level #fuming #f*****joke #embarrassing.” The tweet was later deleted.



However, the 23-year-old apologised for the tweet on Saturday morning, admitting that it was “stupid, disrespectful and I let my frustration get the better of me.”



The tweet came a week after Darron Gibson withdrew from the squad because of his disappointment at not getting game time during the European Championships.



However, Ireland striker Doyle insists that there is no disharmony in the squad.



“Everyone respects the manager and there is no other scenario,” he said.



“The atmosphere is the same here as it has been in any Ireland squad I’ve been involved in. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but as far as I can see everyone is right behind the manager and hopefully that win will help ease the pressure on us.”