Paper Talk: Owen Coyle Targeting James McClean

If you haven't heard of Alan Nixon there are a few things you need to know. First off he works for the Mirror; I know what your thinking. Second in the past he tends to get allot of his 'rumors' wrong; this summer though there has been a lot of change from dear Mr Nixon.

In the past you could take much of what he has said with a pinch of salt, however this summer with his connections to our current boss something amazing has happened; he is getting his stories right. Usually he hints on his twitter at a possible deal and then follows up with an article with the close timing of 24 hours before a deal goes through.

Want an example? Okay well how about our signing of James Perch. The Mirror man hinted the club where closing in on a bargain deal for a Premier League right back and utility defender. Come July 2nd this article appeared from none other than Nixon, the following day we signed James Perch for an undisclosed fee.

He was also spot on the money for the signing of Juan Carlos Garcia, saying we were in the process of signing a foreign left/center back and the deal could be delayed for some time while paper work was sorted out.

So with his credibility growing, are we going to make a swoop for Sunderland exile James McClean?

Well the club have missed out on Albert Adomah. The deal is completely dead in the water after Bristol City twice increased their asking price after we said we would match the first. Instead the winger will be joining Tony Mowbray's Middlesbrough side over the course of the next few days.

Owen Coyle has now turned his attention to the Republic of Ireland international and Sunderland player James McClean. If the story that Nixon has put together is true and we can sign the player for £1.5 million then that is an absolute bargain. The young Irishman is a talented player and would add a brilliant player to our arsenal for the long hard season we are verging on.

On the flip side James isn't without his controversy. He refused to wear a poppy during remembrance day weekend, which sparked a huge out cry from sections of the public, however both club and some high character players supported James choice as it was for personal reasons.

This was in the same year (2012) when the player used twitter to criticized his manager and international team mates following a 2-1 victory over Kazakhstan. The player was an unused substitute.

So what do we think? Worth the hassle for a talented player? Or something we shouldn't be touching with a barge pole?