Stephen Ireland

[ken foree]

That was Shay Given who said that about war by the way.

yea i know neil i said that in my post.

[Wolfie]

If Ireland's good form continues, particularly with Man City being so high profile at the moment, I'd imagine it will be inevitable that his non-appearance for the National Team will rear its head from time to time.

I'd imagine the debate in relation to S.Ireland will be inversely proportional to how well we do without him in the short to medium term.

[passinginterest]

I'd imagine the debate in relation to S.Ireland will be inversely proportional to how well we do without him in the short to medium term.

Thank you Pythagoras :p

[kingdomkerry]

Hopefully he breaks a leg and does his cruciate in his next game and we wont have to discuss the little trollip any longer.

Edit Hmmm I only half mean it.

[Reality Bites]

I think most 22 years lads are still quiet immature - compound that by the fact that the lad lives in the fake reality that is the lot of a premiership footballer! his decision making would it seems have quiet some way to go!

[Brendan 82]

Dunne's comments were pretty strong. Doesn't like being asked about Ireland and said we have players in his position who are just as good. That may or may not be the case but the tone of his comments was quite telling.

[Torn-Ado]

Hopefully he breaks a leg and does his cruciate in his next game and we wont have to discuss the little trollip any longer.

Edit Hmmm I only half mean it.

so you only hope he breaks his leg.

[Brendan 82]

so you only hope he breaks his leg.

No, his other leg

[NeilMcD]

Dunne's comments were pretty strong. Doesn't like being asked about Ireland and said we have players in his position who are just as good. That may or may not be the case but the tone of his comments was quite telling.


He has been saying stuff on this topic in that tone for a while. I said this earlier on in the thread

[Metrostars]

So what are SI's reasons for not playing for Ireland?

The slagging by teamates about this hair?

His embaressment of the whole grandmother shenanigans which was brought on all by himself?

His supposed mistreatment by former managers? e.g. (Brian Kerr for not playing in that game in Cork all those years ago)

any others?

[Manblue]

Dunne's comments were pretty strong. Doesn't like being asked about Ireland and said we have players in his position who are just as good. That may or may not be the case but the tone of his comments was quite telling.

In my opinion dunnie has to say this about other players to build up confidence but anyone who could compare reid or whelan to Ireland on recent performances is deluded, and mcgeady is yet to prove himself in top flight football, ignoring his mediocre performances in the champions league.

But i can see his point it must be very frustrating being questioned about him all the time, but as captain of both club and country what does he expect?

[Razors left peg]

I think Dunnes comments have said all we needed to hear, time to move on

[Royal rover]

i think at the moment we can do without him - he's playing well becuase he knows it's only a matter of time until city go down the Chelsea route, he's not an outstanding player by any means and dunne was right in his asumption that we have the talent in Mcgeady - as far as i'm concerned the matter should be closed, he's only still very young at the moment living on cloud nine, if he's ever back for us , i wonder would he get the same reception as keane, people callling him a traitor etc , he hasn't done enough in an international jersey to warrant a public outcry, and for that reason he should be left alone, in terms of the stick he has taken in house from the players that's part of growing up - so what.

[czarner]

No it does not. No more than a man with a broken leg can make a cup of tea but can't run a marathon. Marcus Trescothick was able to carry on playing County Cricket during his depressive illness but could not handle the stress of playing for England. It is pretty obvious that Ireland's decision is not motivated by some idle whim or any lack of patriotoc fervour, but is rooted in personal circumstances and experiences. As much as I would love to see him playing for us, he doesn't actually owe me or anybody else on this site anything, and we therefore have no right to abuse and criticise him as a person.

Have spent an hour drunkenly browsing this forum when I should be sleeping, and just have to say that this is this probably the most intelligent post I've read tonight. The Stephen in question is a (admittedly mentally distressed) human being, and as such, should have the freedom to decide when and where he wants to ply his craft - just because he's good at his craft doesn't mean he is obligated to use his talents in the service of an organisation he obviously doesn't feel much affection or sense of duty towards. Why this lack of interest on his part exists is his own business and to suggest otherwise is rather fascistic, in my opinion. I think that the posters here who opine that it is a grevious sin for him to neglect his 'duty' as an Irish citizen to utilise his skills for the greater glory of the nation need to take a long hard look at the mental proceses that have led them to that conclusion. More pragmatically, if he doesn't feel comfortable being part of the RoI squad (for WHATEVER reason), then he wouldn't be much use to it anyway.

And, as plenty of previous posters have pointed out, this is the 'Ireland International' sub-forum, NOT the 'Current Ireland International' forum. He has played for Ireland, so this is the appropriate place to talk about him. All this 'close this thread'-type nonsense is frankly infantile - if you don't want to read about Stephen Ireland then why are you even browsing this thread, let alone posting on it?

(Just to clarify, I think Stephen Ireland is a ****, and that Grannygate and that pic of him in his pink'n'black jeep are up there with McAteer's appearance on Podge and Rodge as the funniest things I've ever seen an Ireland international involved with, but that doesn't invalidate any of the above.)

[SUB of the day]

He may have no respect or duty towards the FAI, but this much maligned body, behaved impeccably during grannygate 1 and the sequel.The private jet and subsequent silence on the whole affair from the governing body, reflected well on them,while at the same time spotlighting the self proclaimed "Daddy Dick".The man is clearly unwell,and I feel he would benefit most, if all discussion in relation to him ceased.I have gone from being embarassed and disappointed, to feeling sorry for him.

[dr_peepee]

No it does not. No more than a man with a broken leg can make a cup of tea but can't run a marathon. Marcus Trescothick was able to carry on playing County Cricket during his depressive illness but could not handle the stress of playing for England. It is pretty obvious that Ireland's decision is not motivated by some idle whim or any lack of patriotoc fervour, but is rooted in personal circumstances and experiences. As much as I would love to see him playing for us, he doesn't actually owe me or anybody else on this site anything, and we therefore have no right to abuse and criticise him as a person.


Dude, his decision to stay away is his own business but you can't equate Steven Irelands actions as anything like a depressive illness. He's jouvenile, self indulgent and an exhibitionist. That cannot be argued with given his actions and profile, so he hasn't got some crippling mental disorder.

I know he'll need Ireland more than Ireland will need him.

[SkStu]

Dude, his decision to stay away is his own business but you can't equate Steven Irelands actions as anything like a depressive illness. He's jouvenile, self indulgent and an exhibitionist. That cannot be argued with given his actions and profile, so he hasn't got some crippling mental disorder.

I know he'll need Ireland more than Ireland will need him.

far closer to the truth in my opinion. While its disappointing to lose such a talent for no obvious reason its time to quit talking about the boy and move on. Im (perversely enough) looking forward to him apologising in the future when he needs us and most of the country having no sympathy for him.

Lets focus on the players who are proud to wear the green.

[Wolfie]

Thank you Pythagoras :p

I've invented a theorem!!!

Well played, Sir. :D

[amaccann]

So a thousand posts in we have had as much confirmation as we're likely to get that Stephen Ireland won't ever play for his country any time in the near future; should this thread really be kept open? It's only going to persist as a circular argument about playing for your country.

[Curtains]

Can we please lock this thread. The guy does not want to play for us and thats it. Its boring the hell out of me and the fact I see this thread about a guy who hasnt a notion of playing for ireland again really annoys me. Lets talk about future talent or the players with the balls and pride to play for ireland. Move the fools thread to some english football thread. :mad:

[as_i_say]

Would tend to agree now at this stage the thread should be locked. I voted in the poll that I would have him back no prejudice but he really doesnt give a sh!t about Ireland that is now clear. I no longer check man city forums or sites to see fan remarks. He really is a little putz.

[gustavo]

I don't think it should be locked , You've a thread going about a player that played for us over 50 years ago ,a player that played for us 20 years a player that has yet to play for us at senior level and all manner of threads about players that are playing in England who just happen to be Irish all on the front page so this forum isnt just about the Senior international squad members

[amaccann]

How about closing this thread, opening another with a new poll with the same options to see if people's opinions have changed. I know mine have :D

[ken foree]

How about closing this thread, opening another with a new poll with the same options to see if people's opinions have changed. I know mine have :D

THAT is a good idea. i doubt he'd enjoy the 70-odd percent Yes/Yes After Apology he does anymore. i've certainly soured on him and my frustration increases in direct correlation with his current excellent form. I don't know what option i'd pick anymore but still our midfield is crying out for a talent like his.

[Stuttgart88]

Can we have a "yes, after being tarred and feathered" option?

[bwagner]

Lads this is over now so why dont we all talk about a real prospect ...Kevin Nolan :P

[Thebolg]

can we have a no and tarred and feathered option?

[Brendan 82]

How about a "Yes, but only if he puts his wig back on"

[Scram]

Lads this is over now so why dont we all talk about a real prospect ...Kevin Nolan :P

Yes, how is his England career going? :D

At this stage both he and Stiffing Ireland can kiss my Blarney stones.

The only ones I can see talking sense to Ireland is someone like Robhihno....can't see any footballer from Brazil turning a chance down to play for their country or understanding that mentality.

[tetsujin1979]

Yes, how is his England career going? :D

At this stage both he and Stiffing Ireland can kiss my Blarney stones.

The only ones I can see talking sense to Ireland is someone like Robhihno....can't see any footballer from Brazil turning a chance down to play for their country or understanding that mentality.
you mean like Deco? Or Kevin Kuriyani (born in Brazil)? Or those 2 players that took Quatar passports for a truckload of money?

[michaelguineys]

Stephen The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland more like! Ghoul

[Drumcondra 69er]

Good piece by James Lawton in the indo today.

http://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/redemption-realistic-for-exiled-ireland-but-only-on-traps-terms-1494917.html

Redemption realistic for exiled Ireland, but only on Trap's terms

By James Lawton


Friday October 10 2008

They are not exactly the Three Tenors -- not one of them has yet displayed the extrovert panache of the late Pavarotti when he invaded the football stages of Rome and Los Angeles -- but rarely can a trio of World Cup performers have sung so coherently and consistently from the same sheet of music.

Giovanni Trapattoni for Ireland, Fabio Capello for England and Italy's returning conqueror Marcello Lippi, have all, and in almost identical fashion, hammered home the same imperative.

It is the making a team, a unifying of purpose that already has shifted the balance between the requirement of special talent and the importance of accepting that one rule applies to all who care to wear the shirt of their country.

Stephen Ireland's reluctance to do this is no doubt a source of some sadness to Trapattoni, but then we don't need clairvoyance to imagine his reaction when reading the file of the talented 22-year-old from Cork.

It would have been roughly the same as his compatriot Capello when he first encountered an English dressing room inhabited by a group of superstars who had been pampered quite relentlessly in the years of Sven-Goran Eriksson and his hapless successor, Steve McClaren.

Superstar

This isn't to say Ireland is a superstar; merely the owner of talent which, if properly marshalled and motivated, might be of considerable service to a team not overburdened with blazing virtuosity.

Capello cleared out the agents and the bad habits, the sloppy discipline, the casual dress, the rarely idle mobile phones, and he told players like David Beckham and Michael Owen that playing for England was no longer a right but a privilege granted to those who might still have something viable to offer. Trapattoni's approach to Ireland may have been less abrasive, but the point can hardly have been missed by Ireland -- or anyone else harbouring doubts about his commitment to the cause.

If the player did have second thoughts, if he displayed some inclination to climb out of the appalling hole he dug for himself when his brief international career ended so ignominiously, well, redemption might be available. But on Trapattoni's terms; there would be no beseeching, nothing beyond the informal inquiry of his assistant Liam Brady.

With his point, made gently enough, that a team's tactics, and instincts, can be more easily controlled than its personnel, Trapattoni is merely underlining the classic point of so many who have led teams to success on the international stage. Before he returned to lead the Azzurri he guided, without notable help from blazing individual talent, to the World Cup crown two years ago, Lippi said, "So many make the mistake of believing that the big job is to assemble all the best players, but when you do this you often pay too high a price. The best players, of course, don't always make the best team."

If he saw it, the Lippi quote would have resonated in the mind of no-one more powerfully than Jack Charlton, the man who so relentlessly purged the cult of personality in Ireland's most successful spell in international football. Once he asked England's only World Cup-winning manager, Alf Ramsey, why it was he had chosen to place him among such silky talents as his brother Bobby and Bobby Moore. "It is, Jack, because I don't necessarily pick the best players. I pick the best team."

In the affair of Stephen Ireland, Trapattoni found a superb spokesman in Richard Dunne this week.

With fine economy, the Manchester City man spoke of the weariness he felt at constantly being asked about the possible return of a player who had, for his own reasons, quit the colours. Dunne didn't further muddy the water, he didn't speak of any disgust at the manner of Ireland's abdication, the lies that accompanied it, but he did raise the most pertinent point of all. What if Ireland built on their promising start in qualifying, what if they marched on South Africa 2010, what, quite, would the re-appearance of Stephen Ireland say to the foot soldiers who had made it happen?

It would declare that you could treat the whole process with contempt, you could luxuriate in the rewards and the celebrity of the Premiership without irksome diversions in places like Georgia and Cyprus, and then, if the mood took you, if a little career-enhancing glory might just be involved, you might just change your mind.

That Dunne should even touch on the possibility is maybe no small aria to the psychological change that Trapattoni may already have worked.

At the very least it suggests a change of emphasis, a certain fancying of possibilities under a man who, it appears, has laid down values that will not waver with every new gust of circumstance.

Stephen Ireland lied his way out of the Irish shirt. Whether or not he ever confronts the truth expressed this week by Dunne will, we have to believe, remain some way down Trapattoni's list of priorities. How could it be otherwise in any football man who knows how to make a team?

- James Lawton

[aidz1]

A wee number for mr. manchester...

to the tune of "lord of the dance"

He said his granny was dead
But he had a hair transplant instead
He's not fit to wear the green
He can f4ck back off to his wig machine

[Serb]

Lads this is over now so why dont we all talk about a real prospect ...Kevin Nolan :P

I know you were taking the **** there bwagner but in fairness to Nolan, he was asked to represent Ireland, he took it into consideration, but ultimately decided his heart wasn't in it and chose to pursue an International career with a country he actually feels afilliated to, regardless of how unlikely it would be for him to make the squad, never mind the team.

You have to respect that decision, he didn't take the easy option.

I'll tell you who we really need to talk about: Frank "Almost Irish" Queuedrue.

[Duggie]

fck stephen ireland thats all i say.

[Ordinary Fan]

Close the thread it's just repetition

[NeilMcD]

Close the thread it's just repetition:)

[Sligo Hornet]

Close the thread it's just repeition:)

Obviously not;)

[theworm2345]

Don't close the thread, move it to World Football

[geysir]

Worm, you are just repeating what I said 500 posts ago.

[theworm2345]

Worm, you are just repeating what I said 500 posts ago.
Forgive me if I didn't read 500 posts

[drinkfeckarse]

you mean like Deco? Or Kevin Kuriyani (born in Brazil)?

They didn't actually turn down the chance to play for their country though did they, which is what he actually said?? I don't recall either of them being called into a Brazilian squad, was more a case of them nailing their colours to their respective masts in the belief that they were unlikely to receive a call up to the Brazilian squad.

[tetsujin1979]

Fair enough, but my point was that not all Brazilians can consider it such an honour to play for their country, if there are so many playing for other countries
As well as those mentioned, there's Aurelio for Turkey, Pepe for Portugal, Guerreiro for Poland and Senna for Spain

[Dodge]

Anyone who wants to close the thread, jsut stop posting in it, or reading it.

[weldoninhio]

He's certainly not Claude Makelele, so he's out in that Steven Reid/ Glenn Whelan role in front of the centre backs we've been playing with so far. If Duff can't play then stick Ireland on the left wing instead of Hunt, or even the right wing instead of McGeady and let McGeady play left wing. Failing that, I would prefer him as a striker sub for Doyle or Keane over the likes of Shane Long or Noel Hunt. He's an amazing player, currently our best consistent performer in the Premiership where almost all of our players play, and we can't justify leaving him out because he "doesn't fit into a 4-2-2-2 formation.


That said, we have to convince him to come back into the squad in order for this to have anything to do with anything.

He could be like Makalele. He retired from playing for France until Domenech called him up and he was made to join up with the squad saying that while he was a registered footballer he was available for selection.

And he was threatened with a club ban if he didn't turn up.

Trap should just pick Ireland and to hell with it, get him banned from playing for City if he refuses

[irishfan86]

Trap should just pick Ireland and to hell with it, get him banned from playing for City if he refuses

Not really a fan of this- we seem to have a good team atmosphere in the camp, and calling up a guy who clearly isn't interested in playing for us will do two things:

1) **** off the players he is replacing who have been turning up and given their all, whether in training or in matches (to good effect so far).

2) We have a player on the field who doesn't want to play for us, which could hinder our chances of doing well.

If Ireland really wants to return on his own accord, then you can look at it and see if it's worth it, but when things are going well you don't make things more dramatic by bringing a figure like him into the picture.

[seanfhear]

I do not think that Trap would play Stephen Ireland maybe thats why he has not come back

[bellavistaman]

I do not think that Trap would play Stephen Ireland maybe thats why he has not come back

Yes because gibson and whelan are such proven midfieldersd who are scoring and creating vital goals for their club in the premier league week in week out, oh and were tipped for player of the month last month, oh wait, thats stephen ireland im talking about is it,

i respect and agree with posters views on here about not having him play for loyalty reasons but that comment is just sheer stupidity IMO.

[Razors left peg]

Yes because gibson and whelan are such proven midfieldersd who are scoring and creating vital goals for their club in the premier league week in week out, oh and were tipped for player of the month last month, oh wait, thats stephen ireland im talking about is it,

i respect and agree with posters views on here about not having him play for loyalty reasons but that comment is just sheer stupidity IMO.

I think his point is that Trap has already stated that he wants 2 defensive midfielders and that Ireland however good he is doesnt fit into the system much like Andy Reid

[bellavistaman]

I think his point is that Trap has already stated that he wants 2 defensive midfielders and that Ireland however good he is doesnt fit into the system much like Andy Reid

Ah apologies!!