The Ginger Beast. His story follows a similar path to Dossena. It's a tale of a promising start, followed swiftly by a downfall of mammoth proportions. He was tasked with marking David Trezeguet as Juventus rolled into Sunderland for a pre-season friendly. Pavel Nedved and Vincenzo Iaquinta were also on show. None of the trio could breach the McShane-led rearguard. Left-back Cristiano Molinaro nicked a goal at the death to make it 1-1, but that didn't take the shine off an impressive McShane display. To cap off the Irishman's performance, he forced a world-class save from Gianluigi Buffon. That actually happened. The full season got underway with a 1-0 win and clean sheet against Spurs, but that was the beginning of the end. McShane suddenly descended into parody. He was about as bad as you can get with his darkest hour coming in a 7-1 defeat at Goodison Park. After re-watching the highlights, it became clear that three of the goals were direct mistakes from McShane, three were indirectly/partially his fault, and one where he wasn't even on the screen as the Everton player ploughed through on goal. His body was there, but his brain was always left at home.
What Culture contributor. NCTJ accredited Sports Journalist. Regret-filled Sunderland AFC season ticket holder. Optimism-filled NFL fan. Lover of all things Game Of Thrones, Breaking Bad, Walking Dead & more.
