Stephen Ireland

[Scram]

...the Leprechaun stated: "To be honest, it wasn't Hammy the Hamster who died but Horney, my favourite pet Hornet". The old man was really confused now and said "Mama mia. It's a only a hornet. Whasa matter with you, whya you looka so sad" to which the Leprechaun replied "Ah, get out of my face!"

"Senda me the faxa if you wanta to talk" replied the old man and closed the door behind him. The Leprechaun smirked and threw his green top in the bin. "Won't be needing that again for a while" he thought as he put on a sky blue pullover and readied himself for a night out on the town. "I really don't have any interest in this Irish Leprechaun thing" he mused as the chauffeur driven car arrived at his plush mansion with his two grannies waving at him from the back. :D

..............................................it wasn't long before the little bald Leprechaun settled again, in his hobbit-hole in Middle England. There, he felt at home, and at peace, without the bullying taunts of the Eire-Orcs, his crooked teeth, diminutive stature, unkempt eyebrows, red skin and patchy hair a common sight in Mankychester.

Yet the Leprechaun still dreamt of cosmetic surgery, cosmetic enhancement and weekly beauty treatments. He was sure that he would not be ridiculed in Mankychester if he spent his pot o'gold on cosmetic treatments, especially when his boss forked out £32 million for a brazilian!

So the little Leprechaun said goodbye to his girlfriend Patty Rainbow and his four grandmothers and set off to Harley St. Market in London with his pot o'gold.

As the Leprechaun proceeded to the market he met a stranger who offered to trade five "magic beans" for the little pot o' gold, "would ye go and fu(!< yerself, I'm from fu(!<in' Cawrk too ye know, d'ye really tink I'm dat stupid?"............."sorry sir, sorry sir" said the stranger..."but can I interest ye in these Superman shorts? Just put them on, spin three times around and all your wishes will come true...oh, and you'll have superhuman strength too..and stuff like."

The Leprechaun accepted the trade and returned back home togged out in nothing but his magic Superman shorts. The Leprechaun's girlfriend Patty Rainbow and his four grandmothers were very angered that he had not used his little pot o' gold to enhance his appearance and stripped the Leprechaun shouting "Ye tick feckin eejit, what de fu(!< were ye tinking?" and throwing his magic shorts out of the window. "Ye call dat a first touch do ye?" shouted the angry Leprechaun as he sped out of the hobbit-hole to save his magic shorts......."yez know nothin' about magic and f*(< all about superhuman powers"...."stick it up yer bo!!ocks, ye're a sh!t girlfriend, ye're sh!t grannies and I wish ye grannies were dead..the six of ye!" Off the little Leprechaun pottered to Carrington for training, in his pink Barbie four-wheeler, pondering his new self-inflicted position of Hobbit-Hole exile.................and wondering if he should send a fax to the old Wizard of Cusano?........................"Oh well", he thought "at least I still have Hammy" when....

[Flexy]

I think he deserves alot worse and I know many of my work collegues and friends have a lot worse to say about him.
hes a baldy little liar and our country doesnt need him, good luck to the boys tomorrow hope he sticks to his lying ugly bird in manchy land

[Irish_Praha]

I'm not sure if this has been posted on here already but it's funny to look at it again after everthing that has happened in the last year and a half. His comments about the cars made me laugh. It's a video inteview BTW:

http://uk.truveo.com/Stephen-Ireland-Interview/id/288230387753307588

[Lionel Ritchie]

Yet the Leprechaun still dreamt of cosmetic surgery, cosmetic enhancement and weekly beauty treatments. He was sure that he would not be ridiculed in Mankychester if he spent his pot o'gold on cosmetic treatments, especially when his boss forked out £32 million for a brazilian! ....

:D Fantastic!

Why on Earth is there so much ****e like celebrity bannisters and the all-Ireland talent show on our boxes when this paragraph alone shows this wee country has people who can actually write.

taking the ball and running with it....


Off the little Leprechaun pottered to Carrington for training, in his pink Barbie four-wheeler, pondering his new self-inflicted position of Hobbit-Hole exile.................and wondering if he should send a fax to the old Wizard of Cusano?........................"Oh well", he thought "at least I still have Hammy" when....

...Hammy himself, confused by the mixed signals emanating from the little leprechaun, expired under the giant pink wheels of the leprechauns tosser wagon.

Though not the first time this season he'd been halted in his tracks by someone even smaller than him, the leprechaun was none the less inconsolable. He pussed and he pussed and he pussed some more, in a manner to which all have become accustomed. "Who will I take for a pint on a Saturday night now?", he pussed. "...at least Roy could take his medals ...but I play for Man City! Man City dammit! ...it even sounds like a nightclub!"

Leprechaun continues to puss blaming the whole world but himself. Lights fade to dark.

End of scene 1.

[Manblue]

Ye have way to much time on yer hands if yer writing crap stories like that,, maybe ireland isnt as stupid as ye think and knows trap has no interest in him or any footballing midfielder cause they dont work in his "system". Some system,

[cestlavie]

Stephen Ireland even if he did come back would not be allowed to express himself under the current regime. It would probably destroy him!

[The Fly]

Stephen Ireland even if he did come back would not be allowed to express himself under the current regime. It would probably destroy him!

Do you really want Hunt, Whelan, McShane and to a lesser extent Andrews, to be given the freedom to 'express' themselves.
Express what exactly?

[cestlavie]

This would be my team at the moment if available. A team to build upon for the future.
Keeper: Given
RB Foley or O'Brien
CB Dunne O'Shea
LB O Dea
CM S Reid S Ireland (at the moment I would play Andrews and Gibson)
LM Duff
RM Mc Geady or A Reid
ST Doyle Keano
Subs
Long, Murphy, Hunt, Fahey, Mooney, Hoolahan, O'Dea, Keogh, Coleman, Jay O'Shea, K Treacy, Kilbane, Whelan, Bruce

[tetsujin1979]

Getting away from the "why, in the name of all that is holy in heaven and earth, aren't the management doing more to get Stephen Ireland into the squad" debates for a moment.

I was listening to Brian Kerr talking about the squad on the radio on friday night. As usual when he starts talking lately, I eventually tuned him out, but when he mentioned Stephen Ireland, a thought occurred to me.
Stephen Ireland (let's not call him Stephen Manchester, some of us have left primary school and name calling behind us. Besides, my dad's bigger than his dad) originally left the Ireland setup because of a falling out with Brian Kerr in the U-18 ranks when he was 16. This occurred shortly before Kerr took over the senior side, and SI swore he's never play for Ireland at any level while Kerr was involved.
So, for the better part of the following four years, SI had nothing to do with the Ireland underage sides, and only played with the Manchester City youth and reserve sides.
Given that he's 22, he should have come through with Paul McShane, Joey O'Brien, Aiden McGeady, Andy Keogh, Darren O'Dea, and Shane Supple, instead he played with Micah Richards, Michael Johnson and Nedum Onuoha.

Whatever about the honour of playing for his country, it's no great stretch of the imagination that he has a greater attachment to the same team and players that he played with while he was in the international wilderness than anyone in the Ireland setup.

Just a thought.

Anyway, back to the criticism and various unfounded wild implications about SI in between bouts of amateur Tolkienism

[Scram]

Looks like the Manc City fans are all offended.....aw bless :rolleyes: Get over yourselves. Ireland is a clown and you are welcome to him if he doesn't have the ba!!s to play for his country. You need to take a look at yourselves if you think that Stephen Ireland is worthy of any thoughtful debate!! LOL.

Totally laughable that anyone defending this idiot's throwing the toys out of the pram and "I'm not playing with them anymore" nonsense would refer to "childish name calling". When someone is a joke then making a laugh of them is quite appropriate.

[ken foree]

When someone is a joke then making a laugh of them is quite appropriate.

but he's no joke on the pitch, is he?

[gustavo]

Looks like the Manc City fans are all offended.....aw bless :rolleyes: Get over yourselves. Ireland is a clown and you are welcome to him if he doesn't have the ba!!s to play for his country. You need to take a look at yourselves if you think that Stephen Ireland is worthy of any thoughtful debate!! LOL.

Totally laughable that anyone defending this idiot's throwing the toys out of the pram and "I'm not playing with them anymore" nonsense would refer to "childish name calling". When someone is a joke then making a laugh of them is quite appropriate.

The very fact that you are expending energy on pointless insults on him suggests you do think he is worthy of debate

[Manblue]

I dont see how it takes balls to play for your country?

[tricky_colour]

I dont see how it takes balls to play for your country?

Well you usually need at least one.

[Scram]

but he's no joke on the pitch, is he?

Absolutely not. Hopefully he matures quickly and takes to the pitch.

[paul_oshea]

lads he is right about nandos and jim carey.

He appears very nervous in that interview, I know he is young but he does come across as quite introverted. Maybe its just cos he was so young then.

Funny about destroying the cars and then giving them to his mother. very decent :D

[centre mid]

Caught the start of the Joe Duffy show yesterday & some auld dear has been sending Stephen Ireland emails via his charity web site to try and get him to come back, Joe was going to start a campaign for her. Did anyone hear how this worked out?

[Brendan 82]

Another example of a journalist laying the blame for the situation at someone other than Stephen Ireland's door. This time it is Giles:

"I also know that if I was in Trapattoni's shoes, I would have taken steps to approach Stephen Ireland in private and on my own.
I would have gone that extra mile to see if a way could be found for the lad to sort out his issues with the international team.
But that didn't happen and a chance was perhaps lost."

:confused:

What does he expect the management team to do? Ireland said he is happy not playing. Why is everyone such a moron about this?

[Duggie]

why the hell would trap go begging stephen ireland to play. FFS he dosent give a **** about his country. let him stay away, id love to see reidy back though.

[Lionel Ritchie]

Anyway, back to the criticism and various unfounded wild implications about SI in between bouts of amateur Tolkienism
:eek:
No wait ...I've had worse reviews than that.:D

[third policeman]

Another example of a journalist laying the blame for the situation at someone other than Stephen Ireland's door. This time it is Giles:

"I also know that if I was in Trapattoni's shoes, I would have taken steps to approach Stephen Ireland in private and on my own.
I would have gone that extra mile to see if a way could be found for the lad to sort out his issues with the international team.
But that didn't happen and a chance was perhaps lost."

:confused:

What does he expect the management team to do? Ireland said he is happy not playing. Why is everyone such a moron about this?


I'm with Giles 100%. The fact is that Trapp has not made any one to one approaches to Ireland. Whatever you think of SI, it is surely a manager's responsibility to put the best team on the pitch to get the best results. It is surely also part of the person spec to be able to make players want to play for you. If Trapp had tried and failed fair enough, but the efforts by our management team have been minimal, like their approach to checking out players who were not part of the original inherited squad and happen to be playing outside the Premiership. There is a depressing complacency and fatalism about Trapp and co. I cannot see us qualifying and when he does leave, we will have missed a massive opportunity to develop and integrate our better younger players.

[Morbo]

Another example of a journalist laying the blame for the situation at someone other than Stephen Ireland's door. This time it is Giles:

"I also know that if I was in Trapattoni's shoes, I would have taken steps to approach Stephen Ireland in private and on my own.
I would have gone that extra mile to see if a way could be found for the lad to sort out his issues with the international team.
But that didn't happen and a chance was perhaps lost."

:confused:

What does he expect the management team to do? Ireland said he is happy not playing. Why is everyone such a moron about this?
Unbelieveable isn't it, I'm disapointed in Giles. People want to believe that Ireland may still want to play for us and are grasping at straws, if you step back and look at the evidence so far from a neutral point of view then its pretty obvious that he just couldn't be arsed with internationals. I bet if he was English and had walked out on England nobody here would be making excuses for him and believe that he could be coaxed back.

[jmurphyc]

I'm with Giles 100%. The fact is that Trapp has not made any one to one approaches to Ireland. Whatever you think of SI, it is surely a manager's responsibility to put the best team on the pitch to get the best results. It is surely also part of the person spec to be able to make players want to play for you. If Trapp had tried and failed fair enough, but the efforts by our management team have been minimal, like their approach to checking out players who were not part of the original inherited squad and happen to be playing outside the Premiership. There is a depressing complacency and fatalism about Trapp and co. I cannot see us qualifying and when he does leave, we will have missed a massive opportunity to develop and integrate our better younger players.

The management team contacted him on numerous occasions last year. He clearly doesn't want to come back. Maybe certain managers could persuade him to come back, but it's unlikely. There's no way the Trap should be made culpable for this. Ireland was offered the chance to come back and turned it down.

[weldoninhio]

The management team contacted him on numerous occasions last year. He clearly doesn't want to come back. Maybe certain managers could persuade him to come back, but it's unlikely. There's no way the Trap should be made culpable for this. Ireland was offered the chance to come back and turned it down.

Did it not recently come to light that they met him once, said the door was open and left it to the player after that??

[Manblue]

The management team contacted him on numerous occasions last year. He clearly doesn't want to come back. Maybe certain managers could persuade him to come back, but it's unlikely. There's no way the Trap should be made culpable for this. Ireland was offered the chance to come back and turned it down.

Numerous approaches?? He met with Trap and brady once, this wasnt to long after the incident and it was probably fresh in his mind. Ireland appears quite shy and introverted in every interview he does, they met once and said the door is open this is through, imho he is probably nervous about coming back and needs some sort of coaxing, trap is being as stubborn as he is, why go to alot of his games and not approaching him,its not as if he needs to see Dunne/Given play?

[Jicked]

It was about nine months from when Ireland left and when Ireland played their first game under Trap, hardly a case of it being precisely after the event. When your national team's greatest ever player, and one of the most succesful coaches in the history of the game fly to your home to ask you to return to the country you walked out on and embarassed hugely, and say their door is always open to your return, I think you could hardly say Ireland had no reason to consider coming back.

And has it been numerous times? Well it's definitely been once, although Stephen Ireland still lied in the press the other week and said neither Brady nor Trap had contacted him.

[DmanDmythDledge]

Has Trap ever actually said to him out straight "I want you back in the squad" rather than the not overly-commital comment of get back to me if you want to be selected. That meeting was some time ago and from his comments in the media SI seems warm to possibly coming back soon. It seems to me that he is waiting to be asked back to the fold rather than be seen as the prodigal son who comes crawling back.

Don't get me wrong, there is nothing as such wrong with Trap's actions per se but he, like SI, is being stubborn, not wanting to be the one who will break his stance. So what if he has to make a bit more effort than he should have to but he should be making what the best decision would be for the team and squad as a whole, and not try to "save face".

There's two sides to everything- both parties have a part to blame imo- and somebody needs to lose the stubborness. But perhaps it should be the manager, as he is in the position of control.

[dr_peepee]

I don't blame Trapp or anyone in the set up whatsoever...

The strange thing is that after a very good goal scored at Eastlands when Ireland was interviewed after it on MOTD he said something like "It's a hi point in my career and I've had some very hi points in my career including playing for my country"... Didn't sound like someone who didn't want to play.

That said... He's a strange fish.... He's a good player and for me he's simply like any other good premiership player that's not available to us.

For all those attacking Trapp and Brady, at least they've clarified their stance on the issue. The Steven Ireland so readily defended by some has given nothing but vague non commital answers.

[jmurphyc]

Okay, so maybe not numerous times, but he's been asked once. The managers shouldn't have to beg him to come back. Once is enough. The ball was left in his court and so far he hasn't responded. I've yet to hear an interview directly from him in which he states that he'd like to rejoin the squad. Until that happens it's a non-story.

[The General]

If Stephen Ireland was to be brought back into the fold it would be interesting to see would trap actually play him considering the depressing defensive central midfield partnership he likes to employ. Decent players but wont create much which has been evident. Ireland is attack minded like Reid. Is that why trap isn't so pushed to bring him in?:ball:

Wat ye think?

[Stuttgart88]

If Stephen Ireland was to be brought back into the fold it would be interesting to see would trap actually play him considering the depressing defensive central midfield partnership he likes to employ. Decent players but wont create much which has been evident. Ireland is attack minded like Reid. Is that why trap isn't so pushed to bring him in?:ball:

Wat ye think?I've felt all along the even if he were available he wouldn't necessarily start, but with Duff & McGeady out you've got to think that Trap would find a way to accomodate him.

[The General]

Ya fair point Stuttgart

[John83]

Sweet Jebus, is this thread still going?

Every other post is a badly spelled and hyper-aggressive paraphrasing of, "He clearly doesn't want to play for us, so why beg him?"

The other half of the posts mostly consist of empty cries of "Why hasn't Trappatoni done more to get him back? He should. I'd play him in centre mid. It'd be great."

I swear, I only click on this thread because I pretty much automatically open threads with that icon beside them that says I have posted in them.

[highlight100]

Stphen Ireland should make all the approaches if he want's to return,after all it was him who killed off two Grannies and a un-born child rather than play for the Boys In Green.

[richieos]

im wondering why this thread hasnt been closed yet, i dont see any other threads for players who no longer play for us

[Deckydee]

im wondering why this thread hasnt been closed yet, i dont see any other threads for players who no longer play for us

Dido!

[The Fly]

Dido!

............I thought she was a singer! :D

[bellavistaman]

If Stephen Ireland was to be brought back into the fold it would be interesting to see would trap actually play him considering the depressing defensive central midfield partnership he likes to employ. Decent players but wont create much which has been evident. Ireland is attack minded like Reid. Is that why trap isn't so pushed to bring him in?:ball:

Wat ye think?

Ya have to agree there General, dont think trap would play him, hes a world class manager, but in italian football, and i agree with dunphy and dolans columns in the star the past two weeks, enough hasnt been done to get this world class talent back, he's a delicate charachter and the way brady and trap speak about him its no wonder he doesnt want to come back. I think Trap is hoping he doesnt come back because he knows himself he wont play him and will only get twice the slack hes getting now for not playing reid. Its a fairly depressing time to be an irish supporter with the style of football traps employing but hopefully a result tonight will give us a taste of the good times that are hopefully to come.


Stphen Ireland should make all the approaches if he want's to return,after all it was him who killed off two Grannies and a un-born child rather than play for the Boys In Green.

An unborn child!! Your bang out of order there, what a load of bull**** to be putting on a national forum there, there is absolutely no evidence to say that Stpehens girlfriend didnt have a miscarraige, and that sort of sh!t your writing is sick. Is it any wonder he doesnt want to come back playing for us knowing there will clowns like you in the stand abusing him.

[DotTV]

I can't believe people think Trap hasn't done enough to get him back! The door is open for him. Does Dunphy, Dolan or anyone else not think of the potential disruption to the entire squad if the management team BEG one player to join up with the team. If he wants to play, he'll play.
Personally, I think Ireland should forget the "never say never" bull**** and either commit to this campaign or not.

[Scram]

Ya have to agree there General, dont think trap would play him, hes a world class manager, but in italian football, and i agree with dunphy and dolans columns in the star the past two weeks, enough hasnt been done to get this world class talent back, he's a delicate charachter and the way brady and trap speak about him its no wonder he doesnt want to come back. I think Trap is hoping he doesnt come back because he knows himself he wont play him and will only get twice the slack hes getting now for not playing reid. Its a fairly depressing time to be an irish supporter with the style of football traps employing but hopefully a result tonight will give us a taste of the good times that are hopefully to come.



An unborn child!! Your bang out of order there, what a load of bull**** to be putting on a national forum there, there is absolutely no evidence to say that Stpehens girlfriend didnt have a miscarraige, and that sort of sh!t your writing is sick. Is it any wonder he doesnt want to come back playing for us knowing there will clowns like you in the stand abusing him.

Whatever about mocking, that "unborn child" comment WAS way out of order, as you say.

[geysir]

Revisionism is possible when people chose point blank to ignore facts which were well publicised and in the public domain..

14/05/2008
Door remains open for Ireland (http://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2008/0514/irelands.html)

´New manager Trapattoni met the player, along with Liverpool defender Steve Finnan and Bolton's Andy O'Brien, last week in an effort to persuade all three to return to the fold´.
'The moment I left him, I told him, "I will wait for you", and he said to me, "okay".
"I spoke with him"

Is Andy O'B. feeing forgotten? ´no one has clamored to have me back':rolleyes:

[richieos]

You didn't look very far then on Page 3 there's a thread on Rory Delap and John Sheridan of all people. Plus in between they're threads on Marc Wilson, Keith Fahey and Seamus Coleman who are all far less likely to play for Ireland in the future.

im aware of these threads. rory delap isnt retired and is readily available to play for us should he be picked. the john sheridan thread is in relation to his managerial abilities and the fact that he could be a future ireland manager. in relation to wilson, fahey and coleman, as i said, they are all available to play for us and potential internationals, i said players who no longer play for us.

[tricky_colour]

im wondering why this thread hasnt been closed yet, i dont see any other threads for players who no longer play for us

We should keep it to players who are eligible to play for Ireland, Stephen is not eligible by choice.

[tricky_colour]

He may be eligible in the future

Pigs might fly.

[eirebhoy]

If I could get decent odds on S.Ireland playing for us again I'd lump on. Considering Beckham was 5/2 to play for England again at one point I'd love to see odds on Ireland playing for us.

[Manblue]

If I could get decent odds on S.Ireland playing for us again I'd lump on. Considering Beckham was 5/2 to play for England again at one point I'd love to see odds on Ireland playing for us.

I tried numerous bookies a couple of months ago and no one would gimme a price on it.

[Manblue]

Cant wait to see this thread tomorrow should we win tonight

[Deckydee]

So would ye accept it if he came back for the rest of the qualifiers? Would he be welcomed?

Will he ever be welcome?

[antrimgreen]

Yeah he is an amazing footballer, forget all the other balls when the whistle blows and he is on the pitch he is great. Just needs to be loved i think!! People management i don't think is too good in the new setup, but the group is looking healthy to be fair to big Trap.

[Manblue]

So would ye accept it if he came back for the rest of the qualifiers? Would he be welcomed?

Will he ever be welcome?

100% im sure if you asked all the older players in the squad who know him they would too, no matter when/if he came back ppl will be unhappy,

If we lost last night ppl would say he came back too late,
If we won ppl would say hes on the glory trail,
While drawing was a great result for us, i also think it is the best result for him in terms of coming back.

We badly needed someone who could pick a pass last night (FORWARD pass that is) hence why gibson came on,,, with the amt of space we got of there midfield him and reid would of been great options to spread the ball and stretch the italiens, dont get me wrong, i thought last night was one of whelans/andrews better performances but it was all heart and no skill/vision.

Sayin that i do think he should make the first move, but while he is being selfish now i think it may be a bit selfish if players didnt want him back just to hold on to a jersey.

While traps subs changed the game.
I still think our bench was horrible.