Personally I think the qualification rules for which country are far to lax, I would restrict it to parents country of birth or the country of birth of the player. I would allow exceptions, overseen by a panel of legal experts, who could make judgements on special cases. An example being if you were born in the country of your parents birth but moved away and lived in another country from a very young age.
Having said that I really cannot understand the opinions being expressed in regard to McCarthy, he has done nothing wrong, he has a legitimate right to declare for Ireland and that is what he has done. I don't think that makes him any less of a person, I'm not even sure it says much about his opinions on Scotland. Having been born in Northern Ireland I qualify for both Irish and British passports, I am deemed both British and Irish. If it had not been for the slight technicality, I was not good enough at football, I could have played for both Northern Ireland and Ireland. When faced with the choice I would have preferred one over the other but that wouldn't make me a traitor, it would just have been a preference.
I don't consider Eoin Morgan to be any less Irish because he captains England. I don't consider Mo Farrah to be a lesser person because he chose to wrap the Union Flag around himself after running in the World Championships. The Arsenal flag may be a different matter.
Having said that, I would look to sell him on, nothing to do with Scottish/Irish or even him playing for Ireland against club advice but because
(a) he is too injury prone to be playing in such a competitive roll; and
((b) given the cover we now have in midfield I would prefer us to gave a younger player coming through who we could develop for the future.
Final point, I think some of us should take a wee look at ourselves for castigating a footballer over a choice he has made. This type of vitriol should be reserved for those who fall well below a certain standard, fall from a lofty height. The regard I have for footballers and the choices they make isn't that great, I really cannot be bothered about attaching a great deal of weight on a footballer' s decision making outside the field, it is not a yardstick I would chose to judge by.
Having said that I really cannot understand the opinions being expressed in regard to McCarthy, he has done nothing wrong, he has a legitimate right to declare for Ireland and that is what he has done. I don't think that makes him any less of a person, I'm not even sure it says much about his opinions on Scotland. Having been born in Northern Ireland I qualify for both Irish and British passports, I am deemed both British and Irish. If it had not been for the slight technicality, I was not good enough at football, I could have played for both Northern Ireland and Ireland. When faced with the choice I would have preferred one over the other but that wouldn't make me a traitor, it would just have been a preference.
I don't consider Eoin Morgan to be any less Irish because he captains England. I don't consider Mo Farrah to be a lesser person because he chose to wrap the Union Flag around himself after running in the World Championships. The Arsenal flag may be a different matter.
Having said that, I would look to sell him on, nothing to do with Scottish/Irish or even him playing for Ireland against club advice but because
(a) he is too injury prone to be playing in such a competitive roll; and
((b) given the cover we now have in midfield I would prefer us to gave a younger player coming through who we could develop for the future.
Final point, I think some of us should take a wee look at ourselves for castigating a footballer over a choice he has made. This type of vitriol should be reserved for those who fall well below a certain standard, fall from a lofty height. The regard I have for footballers and the choices they make isn't that great, I really cannot be bothered about attaching a great deal of weight on a footballer' s decision making outside the field, it is not a yardstick I would chose to judge by.
