Published Monday, 10 September 2012
James McClean has been told off by Republic boss Giovanni Trapattoni. (© Getty)
Giovanni Trapattoni hauled McClean in front of his teammates for an apology over the incident and told him any manager of a bigger side would have sent him packing after showing such disrespect.
"Another manager, English or German, would have said take your bag and go home - but I might need him in the game (against Oman on Tuesday) to score a goal," Trap admitted.
McClean, 23, wasn't brought off the bench in Friday night's World Cup qualifier against Kazakstan.
He later took to Twitter to blast the decision as a "f***ing joke" and "embarrassing".
But it seems the embarrassment was nothing compared to being pulled in front of the squad to explain his response.
"He was mortified," Trapattoni said.
The manager added: "I said to everyone this is not about respect for the manager, this is about respect for everyone. I said the players are your colleagues.
"If I don't play him, I can play others. There was Stephen Kelly and Kevin Doyle on the bench. They have many caps."
If he could have, he would have eaten his words. He was very apologetic.
Giovanni Trapattoni
But the matter is now done and dusted and McClean has been retained with the squad ahead of Tuesday's friendly against Oman - although he will start on the bench again.
"The matter is closed now. With the young we need to have patience. Sometimes they say things they regret," Trap said.
The Sunderland player's international teammates seem to have been equally understanding.
Left-back Stephen Ward insisted that there wasn't a problem with McClean and that everyone had accepted his apology.
"We don't tend to dwell on these things," he said.
"He was frustrated not to play and, 20 minutes after the game, he calmed down and was just happy we got the result. On the plane home, he sort of regretted it.
"He apologised to the lads and we have moved on from it."
McClean appears to have deleted the Twitter account he used to post the comments, having previously deleted the message itself and replaced it with an apology.