Stoke City manager Michael O'Neill has insisted that James McClean 'hasn't been difficult' to manage, despite his off-field controversies, and believes there's 'much more to come' from the Irishman.

McClean, 30, has been in and out of the headlines throughout the season. He's caused a lot of controversy over the past few seasons for his political stance on certain things - his not wearing a poppy on remembrance day being the standout.

But despite his views and off-field actions, O'Neill insists that McClean hasn't been a hindrance to his Stoke City tenure so far:

"For me, James hasn’t been a difficult player to manage at all," he told Stoke Sentinel. "We obviously come from the same part of the world and I knew James way back.

“I saw James develop as a youngster at Derry City when I was manager of Shamrock Rovers. I remember him coming into the team as a strong, powerful young boy and having a decent impact right away. I’ve followed his career with great interest and seen how well he’s done."

McClean got his move to England with Sunderland in 2011 and has been a Championship player or better since. A lot of his time in England has been spent in the Premier League, first with Sunderland and then throughout his three seasons with West Brom.

“James is such a willing, whole-hearted player, he just at times needs a little bit of guidance," admitted O'Neill.

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“James plays at almost full throttle the whole game and, for me, it’s about taking him away from that a little bit so he’s not always at that point in time.

“But for me, he’s been excellent when you look at the number of goals he assisted and the number he’s scored as well."

McClean has been one of Stoke's standout players this season. He's managed six goals and three assists and has become a really important player under O'Neill.

“So there’s a lot of positive things in his play," continued the Northern Ireland manager. "But he maybe needs a bit of help tactically and that’s something we continue to work on.

“He came into the game a bit late and from a non Academy-style background, so I still think there’s development in James even though he’s 30/31 and hopefully we can add just a little bit of subtlety to his game as well - there’s more to come from James.”

McClean has a reputable CV as a footballer. He's good experience with some good teams in both the Premier League and the Championship and he's once again proved to be one of Stoke's most influential players on his day.

O'Neill seems to be getting a lot more out of him than what Nathan Jones was, and those Irish roots may be the cause. He's a sprightly player for 30 and O'Neill may be right in claiming that there's yet more to come from the Ireland international.

The verdict

McClean is a bit of a hot head at times, and O'Neill is bang on when he says that he needs to control his emotions on the pitch at times.

All of the off-field controversy that McCkean has caused in past seasons doesn't help his image, but O'Neill seems to be the right mentor for him at this time.