He was never that bad, people were just trained to think that way by Pearson and Pearson.
He's proving 'em wrong day in day out.
In the same way that your hatred of the Pearsons is unwavering, so is my opinion that McShane is not good enough. It has nothing at all to do with what the Pearsons thought of him, but what I saw with my own eyes.
He was hopeless for Sunderland (ask any of their fans) and Eire fans think he is rubbish too. He was shocking for us in the EPL and, in the games he played for us when we came down too.
People say he had a great game last pre-season against Liverpool. He didn't. People must be basing that on his decent run mid-way through the first half (I think) and his last gasp tackle on Ngog. The fact is that he only had to make that tackle because he was ball watching, lost his man (Ngog) and let him get goal side.
That is the criticism that I have constantly levelled at McShane - he has no positional sense and gets caught ball watching far too often which result in his "headless chicken" routine as he tries to rectify his error.
He appears to have improved this season (I haven't seen enough of him to judge but views on here seem unanimous in that). Maybe playing as part of a back 3 helps as there are always 2 other CB's to attone for his lack of position?
The fact of the matter is, he wasn't good enough in the EPL for Sunderland, he wasn't good enough for us. I doubt that he's improved sufficiently to cope with the likes of RVP etc. Being the most improved player does not make him good enough.
Classic case of City fans needing a boo-boy no matter how much they give to the team. Alex Bruce all the way next season....
It's not a case of me needing a boo-boy. I would be very happy if McShane proves me wrong. I dont believe that he will.