Stephen Ireland [Archive] - Page 49

SuperDub

30/08/2009, 9:38 PM

I don't think S Ireland is coming out with these statement as such. If he does an interview he will be asked. If he does one interview then that will be used as fodder for desperate hacks in a hundred papers looking to fill a few lines.

As SI has not said "never", I assume Eirebhoy will cling to that technicality to keep the thread here. :)

Ok they are not statements but these interviews always seem to be published on the eve of a big International which in turn will have all the irish hacks in a spin instead of us all concentrating on the build up to next saturday.

Jicked

30/08/2009, 10:58 PM

I remember in Sofia a new song starting to take off, "Oooh Stephen England, used to be Irish, he's a rent boy now"...wonder will it get another airing in the pubs around Nicosia

Deckydee

31/08/2009, 10:36 AM

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/aug/29/stephen-ireland-manchester-city-interview

Scram

31/08/2009, 11:11 AM

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/aug/29/stephen-ireland-manchester-city-interview

Superman Stephen Ireland aims to be Manchester City's Roy Keane

� Midfielder practises kick boxing for "explosiveness"
� Has no plans to resume playing for Ireland

The only bad news is that Ireland the player has no plans to resume playing for Ireland the country. "Nothing has changed on that front," he says. "Retiring still feels like the best decision I ever made. It gives me eight more days at Glossop for a start. I've already made plans to spend the international break training."

He's well on Track to be Ireland's next Roy Keane. :mad:

With all that training where's he going to get quality time to spend with his girlfriend and share the photos with his family OR to attend all those Granny funerals :confused: F*uk!n' Cork Hillbilly!!

Wishing all the worst on CityBank for the season (shame now that Given is there!)

shakermaker1982

31/08/2009, 12:41 PM

It's strange that he doesn't want to play for his country but it is his decision at the end of the day. I'm not going to wish him harm, he's still Irish and I hope he goes on to enjoy a good career.

It's a pity he doesn't want anything to do with us because he is a quality player and he could have added so much to the team but alas it isn't to be. We will need Whelan, Andrew's and Gibson to step up to the plate and make sure we forget about superman.

Paulie

31/08/2009, 1:11 PM

He has mentioned a number of times how he wants to be remembered as one of the greats of the game, yet he precludes himself from playing in the World's biggest tournament. I'm obviously not trying to imply that he's ever going to come close to the standard of Maradona or Pele, but I would ask if either of those players would be remembered as the true greats of the game that they were, if they had not been such stars of the World Cup. If you want to be remembered as one of the greats, then you have to play in the great tournaments.

As an aside, I know some people will say that the Champion's League is bigger. To me though, that is simply not true. I'll take a World Cup or a European Championship any day of the week. Anyway, that's an argument for another thread.

Girl in Green

31/08/2009, 2:25 PM

It's a bloody shame.....the chap is so talented but he's made his mind up and we all need to move on now....were stuck with Whelan :( he'd better step up to the plate.
Can't help but think dat Ireland will regret this decision down the road.....

Colbert Report

31/08/2009, 3:46 PM

That's it then. I don't think he's coming back in time for the WC next year.

elroy

31/08/2009, 4:26 PM

That's it then. I don't think he's coming back in time for the WC next year.

It no longer should be a case of if hes coming back, even if he were he should not be allowed back now, no way. The earliest he should be allowed return now is the start of the next campaign. If we do actually qualify it will be interesting to see if his stance changes then.

Yesterday was the first time ive seen SI play where I havent had a real interest in his performance.

Cant wait for Hull against City, Hunty will sort him for us.

All the best Stevie, in the long run its your loss.

Manblue

31/08/2009, 4:41 PM

tricky_colour

31/08/2009, 4:45 PM

He seems to be back to making passes to imaginary players, anyway he was hauled off halfway through. Must have suffered a blow to the head in Glossop. ;)

Jicked

31/08/2009, 4:48 PM

I actually cant believe this is such a hot topic on the forum at the moment, we all knew he wasnt coming back for the cyprus game and he hasnt said anything that he hasnt said before i dont see what the big deal and all the major interest is this time round to be honest??

two things I'd imagine. He used the word 'retired', suggesting he knew all along that he has decided never to play for his country again. Yet in every interview, whenever asked about this he is coy, hinting at a return, disrupting our preparations for big games and no doubt unsettling players in the squad (particularly central midfielders).
This time he's also had the gall to say that it's "the best decision he has ever made". Not that he's agonising over it. Not that its in his best interests for now but one day he'd love to play in a WC. Not that he loved pulling on the green jersey. Not that he'd like to do something for his country one day. Even Stephen Ireland has never been so flippant about it before.

Personally I think he likes the attention and I think he likes winding up the Irish fans and perhaps even players in the squad or people in the FAI he feels wronged by, hence his refusal to come out and say he wont ever play again, knowing this will be a thorn in the side of the Irish time all the while. He's a good player, but an absolute embarassment of a man. It's been two years since Slovakia and he's still acting like a 7 year old. I would absolutely love for us to get to the WC using guys of limited ability like Whelan, Andrews and Gibson and be in a position to tell that fruit-cake his services won't be required in South Africa if he does offer to return. Which he wont. The mentalist.

Manblue

31/08/2009, 5:17 PM

Jicked

31/08/2009, 5:20 PM

Given hes a soccer player i dont think hes spent to much time choosing his words carefully, theres a list as long as i dont know what of ppl that have come out of retirement.

Also I would be guessing he means for his own personal development its the best decision he ever made,,

All im saying is that considering hes said so little i think its been blown out of proportion in comparison with other times
The circumstances of Ireland's retirement, and his laughably young age at doing so suggest this isn't a standard retirement which will follow the 'rules' of players coming out on International retirement.

Also, as a Premier League player, particularly one at a club which needs to be as PR savvy as Manchester City, Ireland would be well versed in how to deal with the press. Players nowadays take lessons in how to deal with such things. He knows exactly what he's saying.

Greenbod

31/08/2009, 5:28 PM

If he retires from international football I think there'll be no choice but to throw him out of this forum but he hasn't and I'm certain he'll be playing for us again.

Stephen Ireland quote "Retiring still feels like the best decision I ever made"

Eirebhoy, will you be sticking to your word? Do we have to continue to see this idiot talked about in a forum about the national team?

Manblue

31/08/2009, 5:28 PM

This is true the players do receive alot of media training ect but I wudnt think his IQ is that high to begin with,

If Ireland fell out of favour at city i wouldnt be surprised if he came back knocking at the door to try and get game time and prove himself again , he is still young as you pointed out and lots of things change

weldoninhio

31/08/2009, 6:22 PM

Is there any limit on squad sizes?? I know some teams name 23 man squads and others 25 man squads. I only ask because i'd love to see some hard-nosed/stubborn manager come in and say "you might not wanna play for us, but i'm gonna stick you in every squad and force you to turn up for every game, home and away, and if you refuse you'll be banned from playing in domestic games!!"

Like Domenech did with Makalele, causing Mourinhio to say they were treating him like a slave.

If there is no limit on squad size you could just tack him on at the bottom of the list.

Jicked

31/08/2009, 6:28 PM

As far as I know we could call him up for Ireland, if he refused to play/stay 'retired' he would be unable to play for Man City until at least 4 days afterwards. Something like that anyway. Would be fantastic to see :D

irishfan86

31/08/2009, 7:34 PM

What's the point though? Trap is a gentleman and doesn't screw around.

Calling up Stephen Ireland is a waste of time and effort if he doesn't want to play, and if he decided to come and just make a joke of the situation it would be even worse.

Makalele is a different situation, because the French knew about his character- he loves his country enough that he played to his best when he was called up, even though he wanted to be left out; Makalele retired from France after winning everything he could with them, and simply wanted to prolong his club career (nothing wrong with this in my view).

The Ireland situation is completely different.

Den Perry

31/08/2009, 9:28 PM

It no longer should be a case of if hes coming back, even if he were he should not be allowed back now, no way. The earliest he should be allowed return now is the start of the next campaign. If we do actually qualify it will be interesting to see if his stance changes then.

Yesterday was the first time ive seen SI play where I havent had a real interest in his performance.

Cant wait for Hull against City, Hunty will sort him for us.

All the best Stevie, in the long run its your loss.

"Hunty will sort him out for us" ...what a ridiculous thing to say. If Stephen Hunt were to deliberately injure SI would be scandalous.I know Hunt is an idiot but I don't think he would be that stupid

That said , I have defended Ireland all along but am now starting to run out of patience with him.I don't think that our qualification would make a differance to him either - he just won't play

Manblue

31/08/2009, 9:54 PM

Saying hunt could injure someone on purpose is stupid alright, for one he doesnt have the inteligence too, it would have to be an accident. Qualified or not it clearly doesnt make a difference to Ireland he simply doesnt want to play. Its hilarious how ye keep asking for it too be locked and moved and by keeping posting in it it stays at the top of the threads

eirebhoy

31/08/2009, 9:58 PM

People want to talk about S.Ireland, as you can see from this thread. If this thread was closed the talk would be continuing in other threads, no doubt. If you don't want to talk on here about him you just have to avoid this thread (for the most part). Simple.

elroy

31/08/2009, 10:20 PM

"Hunty will sort him out for us" ...what a ridiculous thing to say. If Stephen Hunt were to deliberately injure SI would be scandalous.I know Hunt is an idiot but I don't think he would be that stupid

That said , I have defended Ireland all along but am now starting to run out of patience with him.I don't think that our qualification would make a differance to him either - he just won't play

Chill out in fairness, it was tongue in cheek. If anything calling Hunt an idiot is more ridiculous in my book. Theres only one idiot here and its not Hunt.

On the other hand i agree with you on the patience point. The words he used in the latest interview are the strongest yet and not indicative of an individual who you would ever want representing us again.

Also i liked the little comment made by Duff in his interview with newstalk this evening........when asked about SI's kickboxing etc, basically along the lines of fair enough if hes into that but id much prefer be in cyprus with Ireland.

Den Perry

01/09/2009, 9:07 AM

Chill out in fairness, it was tongue in cheek. If anything calling Hunt an idiot is more ridiculous in my book. Theres only one idiot here and its not Hunt.

On the other hand i agree with you on the patience point. The words he used in the latest interview are the strongest yet and not indicative of an individual who you would ever want representing us again.

Also i liked the little comment made by Duff in his interview with newstalk this evening........when asked about SI's kickboxing etc, basically along the lines of fair enough if hes into that but id much prefer be in cyprus with Ireland.

Yes heard Duff last night and thought his remark about being in Cyprus was clever - he made his point, without looking like an idiot like Hunt does when he comments on SI

I still think you're original comment was more ridiculous than mine though....:p

back of the net

01/09/2009, 9:29 AM

would it be fair to say that this thread is now becoming a bit pointless. Stephen Ireland has re-iterated that he has no intention to come back anytime soon. He will not be in the world cup if we qualify cos due to his comments he wont be available for selection for the coming games and if we qualify and he doesnt play in the qualifiers then trap aint gonna pick him for the WC squad.

Everyone differs on the issue....i am someone who thought he would come back and wanted him back....but after the latest comments , well i think they speak volumes on his intentions.

Realistically if he comes back it wont be till the euro 2012 quals...Its sad the way the whole issue has turned out but unfortuantely that is what he has chosen and we must get on with it...WE have a world cup to qualify for with a current squad that want to wear the green.

Yard of Pace

01/09/2009, 10:50 AM

I firmly believe he'll change his mind when he's older and more mature. If we qualify for SA he'll have one helluva lonely pre-season next summer anyway.
I also don't agree that this latest comment is the final story for the moment. Sure he's been saying contradictory things about once a month up until now.

Crosby87

01/09/2009, 11:22 AM

back of the net

01/09/2009, 11:51 AM

Yes there is always a story here. I mean lets say he suffered a long term injury or something... I would definitely want to be updated and stuff on here...
Why do people play internet police though? Just simply dont read something if you dont want to. Could not be more simple. I never understood that.

i would agree with u on ur internet police comment crosby and have always felt that way myself......but......the stephen ireland debate is becoming pointless. He has said he doesnt want play for ireland anytime soon and until that changes (earliest being post world cup), so what more is there to say!!!

in a way im glad he has come out with his latest comments...cos at least in some way it has put it to bed until after the world cup, and now trap, the players and the fans can and should concentrate on the ones that want to help get Ireland to the WC finals.

For the moment he does not want to play for ireland and until after the world cup i dont think he warrants further discussion WC. I think he is an excellent player and would love him back for the W.C quals but after his comments , its becoming obvious that he wont be there.

It has become a case of just accepting reality and getting on with it....i.e Stephen Ireland not wanting to be involved with ireland for the world cup quals

geysir

01/09/2009, 1:31 PM

I can only deduce that Manblue is not Irish.

I am not that bothered now with SI exile.
In time, his self inflicted absence will be seen as a blessing.
His presence would attempt to dilute and conflict the ethos of the team.
We have had many great players play for us down through the years.
Players like Giles who, without a hint of patronising, emphatically state that the most proud moment of his entire career (littered with achievements) was lining out for his first cap for Ireland against Sweden. Later on, great players like Stapleton and Brady were the first to insist and succeed in having international release clauses inserted into their club contracts. Even down to the host of players honoured from the more humble LOI, who treasure their few caps.
These days, the ethos of pride and honour in playing for your country is being upheld by the senior backbone of the team, Given, Dunne, Duff, Keane and Kilbane.

It is no loss to that team not to have Stephen Ireland in there.

tricky_colour

01/09/2009, 4:49 PM

Come on now tricky if it doesnt bother you you wouldnt comment on most of his games/goals.

Don't bother me at all I'd rather have Stephen Hunt in the team Ireland is only interested in self promotion, he's not a team player at all. Plus he misses open goals and makes passes to players who don't exist other then inside his own head.

Stuttgart88

01/09/2009, 9:22 PM

Keith Andrews' take on things

http://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2009/0901/ireland_andrewsk.html

Hopefully the media will agree

Pauro 76

01/09/2009, 9:31 PM

Really was prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt. But no more. He's not coming back, and it's a disappointing decision. Don't think Trap can do any more about it. Your loss Stephen, your loss.

geysir

01/09/2009, 9:45 PM

Keith Andrews' take on things

http://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2009/0901/ireland_andrewsk.html

Hopefully the media will agree
I think a good deal of that is up to Trap, if and when asked any Q about SI he can simply say it's closed, ferm�.

dahamsta

02/09/2009, 7:30 PM

40-odd posts of twaddle moved to Rubbish. The mods wants the thread kept open so it's being kept open; they have my permission to infraction the crap out of the next person that whines about it. If you don't like the thread, don't click on it. Dummies.

adam

The Legend

04/09/2009, 2:21 AM

Jesus Adam, over 50,000 posts? did u fudge the numbers? lol

dahamsta

04/09/2009, 11:09 AM

Jesus Adam, over 50,000 posts? did u fudge the numbers? lolEverything that gets posted automatically in Feeds (http://foot.ie/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=90) is attributed to me.

Crosby87

04/09/2009, 11:17 AM

Gareth Maher tackles the issue on Soccernet.Com today, nothing special about the article but some of the comments left are pretty funny.

NeilMcD

19/09/2009, 2:05 PM

http://www.herald.ie/sport/soccer/ireland-closes-door-on-trap-1891504.html

DubJohn

19/09/2009, 2:45 PM

http://www.herald.ie/sport/soccer/ireland-closes-door-on-trap-1891504.html

If this is true and these quotes are accurate, they add credence to what I have always suspected that the granny excuse and his subsequent one are equally untrue.

SkStu

19/09/2009, 2:51 PM

well good luck to him. Absolute tosser.

to think this thread is still open.

Jicked

19/09/2009, 3:12 PM

Go **** yourself Stephen, delighted that he'll never play for us again. The way he's come out and timed his comments consistently to try to undermine our campaign I think the FAI could come out and say he will no longer be considered for selection again to hammer another nail in this fantasit's coffin.

BTW, has anyone got the link to Stephen's comments about how "no-one from the Ireland camp has ever spoken to me"...which he appears to have just admitted was (yet another) lie in his latest interview?
Like I said, he's living in a fantasy world, a complete lier and fantasist.

richieos

19/09/2009, 3:28 PM

Completely ridiculous for ireland to accuse trapattoni of arrogance. At least he has achieved things in the game. It's always somebody elses fault with this lad.

Stuttgart88

19/09/2009, 3:42 PM

My in-laws live near Glossop where that bald cnut does his own fitness training. Next time I go up to stay there I'm going to ambush him with a baseball bat and then we'll see who's arrogant. Jeez I hate that git.

mint sauce

19/09/2009, 3:58 PM

was prepared to give him a chance if he togged out or atleast was named in the squad for the itailan game, but if this article is true, good ridence to him

:mad:

Jicked

19/09/2009, 3:59 PM

Completely ridiculous for ireland to accuse trapattoni of arrogance. At least he has achieved things in the game. It's always somebody elses fault with this lad.

Indeed, one thing that's clear about Trap from his tenure thus far is that he's far from arrogant, and is quite down to earth, has a laugh but crucially knows his football inside out after 50 or so years as a professional. Of course before the play-offs we can all except Stephen to come out with another interview saying how "it was...erm, Liam Brady, yes, that'll do, who was arrogant to me......but never say never like, maybe one day in the future...."

*****.

Scooby Doo

19/09/2009, 4:11 PM

I hate to add yet another post to the little tw@ts thread but i hope that this will confirm at last that he does not want and should not be allowed to come back. up until recently i'd held out the hope that he would return purely because our midfield is so bad without s. reid. but now i hope that in 5 or 6 six years time when the little sh!t gains some maturity or is in the doldrums with his beloved Man City and fancies a World Cup, that the manager, who ever that is, tells him to p!ss off. what a horrible, spiteful person the lad must be. i hope he's shafted by the Arabs when they buy more galacticos. :mad: