Stephen Ireland

[tricky_colour]

I just heard Stephen on the radio this morning (5 live), he was talking when he first came over to England.
I am not sure I quite caught the gist of it but for one reason or another his wife/girlfriend? left him and went back to
Ireland and he had to look after the two? children himself while he was on YTS (low wages same as dole I think).
First time I had heard of that, I am not too sure about the context in which it came up but they were talking about
him returning to Man City today and it got mentioned.
Some of the programs are a available to listen to again as pod-casts but I am not sure that one will what it was called,
I think it was just general 5 live sport.

[SkStu]

He's playing very well today. Very smart footballer. Also noticing a defensive element to his game that I haven't had reason to notice before. He had a super tackle on Yaya Toure and has broken up things a couple of times since.

[Lionel Ritchie]

"Yes, I would meet them half way." he reportedly says.

5 years later and he STILL just doesn't get it.

[liamoo11]

ah please would someone like maybe Tardelli who seems to do nothing anyway give him a call say we would like you to come back and compete for a place and let us add to our quality and if they fancied making that call to andy reid as well and stokes when he is fit that would be great

[johnnyc]

Get onto Stephen Reid too!

There's more chance of me getting a game than Trap including Ireland and Hoolahan in the same squad though.

[elroy]

Hes not a bloody child - if he wants to play for Ireland all he has to say is that and he is available for selection. End of.

Dont think Trap would like him in any case as he is often caught lacking defensively, as he was a number of times yday.

[SwanVsDalton]

I really couldn't give a france about Stephen. It's not personal - he's got quality but he's still the kind of player who has to deign when he bothers to turn it on or off. Infuriating player. Add in his take it-or-leave it attitude to playing for Ireland, and the disrespect it would show to people who are actually committed, and it becomes a waste of time.

Let him declare his intention to fight for a place in the squad (which should be the minimum asked of anybody) and then let him play consistently well for more than two weeks, and I'll think again.

[IsMiseSean]

Someone has to get the ball rolling.
Didn't Levein contact Steven Fletcher a few weeks ago to get him back after Fletcher said he'd welcome a return on the twitter machine? (I could be wrong)

[SwanVsDalton]

Someone has to get the ball rolling.
Didn't Levein contact Steven Fletcher a few weeks ago to get him back after Fletcher said he'd welcome a return on the twitter machine? (I could be wrong)

Fletcher told Phil Bardsley he'd want back in (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/scotland/9581241/Steven-Fletcher-ends-Scotland-exile-and-targets-World-Cup-qualifiers.html) before it was taken to Levein, and then spoke at length about his regret at missing two years of his international career. Moreover Fletcher has been playing well and scoring consistently. Ireland doesn't measure up to either criteria.

I'm open to being corrected on this but Ireland's talk about coming back so far has all come across as weak, weak sauce.

[DannyInvincible]

Agreed. He was told by Brady and Trap to pick up the phone and get in touch whenever he felt ready to return. The ball is in his court and always has been since they went to the bother of arranging a fruitless meeting with him in Manchester, but he's either got a bad memory or isn't all that bothered about international football.

[theworm2345]

Agreed. He was told by Brady and Trap to pick up the phone and get in touch whenever he felt ready to return. The ball is in his court and always has been since they went to the bother of arranging a fruitless meeting with him in Manchester, but he's either got a bad memory or isn't all that bothered about international football.
...or he's a narcissistic **** who wants to be pandered to.

[mark12345]

[QUOTE=elroy;1644595]Hes not a bloody child - if he wants to play for Ireland all he has to say is that and he is available for selection. End of. QUOTE]

I think he just did. He said he would meet Trap half way. In many minds, including mine, that's one way of saying come and get me. It's time to stop splitting hairs with Stephen Ireland - he has said it two or three times now that he would like to come back.

If Trap can't see it then someone around him should. Bury the hatchet and bring back Ireland and Andy Reid and also bring on board, Wes Hoolahan. We might have some constructive football to watch then.

[Lionel Ritchie]

I think he just did. He said he would meet Trap half way. In many minds, including mine, that's one way of saying come and get me. It's time to stop splitting hairs with Stephen Ireland - he has said it two or three times now that he would like to come back.. Well Mark if my interpretation is glib then yours is overtly generous. 'Meet me half way' to me means he wants to to negotiate HIS terms for a return to a manager who's already gone and met him at least once.

Simplest way to test his mettle is name him in a squad, or better again on a standby list, and see what he does next. There's his half-way for him.

[ArdeeBhoy]

Pick him and be done with it.

He should also apologise for being a dick previously.

The end.

[geysir]

I suppose Mark has a point if SI was sincere about meeting half way. Possibly SI has grown out of that 'emotional phase' that Trap alluded to. In that case, Trap could ask somebody to contact him and see if he was willing to answer a call-up to the squad, no conditions.
It's just that probably most of us doubt that he is sincere and proposing to meet half-way just does not cut it.
SI could initiate the contact himself with the FAI through Richard Dunne.

Imagine the reaction if Andy Reid had said he'd meet Trap half-way instead of saying he'd swim across the shark infested Irish sea to be in the squad.

[Supreme feet]

The wording of 'meeting half way' is curious, to say the least. It suggests that there's an obligation on the FAI or Trap's part to break with policy, or to make a certain compromise, in order to accommodate Stephen Ireland. When Roy Keane came back into the fold under Brian Kerr, he did so under no 'conditions', compromises, or special treatment from the management. Why should Stephen Ireland expect any kind of preferential treatment? On his 2008/9 form, he would be an indispensable asset. On current form? Nothing of the sort. He hasn't been fully focused on his game, or in any consistent form, for about three years now. His general demeanour and lack of endeavour since joining Villa seems to suggest that he never wanted to move there in the first place, and that he views the club as being 'beneath' him. The France Football interview was probably closer to the truth, and less of a hack-job, than SI and his PR people want us to believe.

If he really wants to play for us, he should publicly declare his immediate, unconditional availability for international selection, something which would be very easy to do via a press release. I seriously doubt that it will happen. While we do need mobile, technical central midfielders, it would be folly to build the team around someone who is so frustratingly unreliable, inconsistent, uncommitted, and possibly a negative influence on the squad.

[geysir]

When Roy Keane came back into the fold under Brian Kerr, he did so under no 'conditions', compromises, or special treatment from the management. Why should Stephen Ireland expect any kind of preferential treatment?
Yeah, but I assume Kerr did make the first contact to Keane and initiated more contact later.

This SI 'meeting half-way' request could imply that the FAI have culpability in the matter of his exile.

[Lionel Ritchie]

Yeah, but I assume Kerr did make the first contact to Keane and initiated more contact later.

This SI 'meeting half-way' request could imply that the FAI have culpability in the matter of his exile.

Geysir, with respect, two managers have gone to meet him on at least one occasion each to try and convince him to play for his country. I'm sure he believes the FAI do HAVE culpability. I don't doubt it or a second. But it's in much the same way that 16 year old Steven believed Brian Kerr had culpability for not picking him for an underage game when his mam and dad had turned up to see him in.

[geysir]

I understand those points well enough. There's only a small chance he has changed. In Roy Keane's case, he was in exile, he felt he was sinned against. Kerr had to ask him a few times if he would return. It's not unprecedented that a player who has fallen foul, has been asked to return.
Similar 'rights' should apply to all players.
Even if SI is bluffing, I'd have no objection if someone from the FAI phoned him up and called his bluff.

[Lionel Ritchie]

Well then we agree his bluff needs to be called. I admit I've no great desire to see him back in the Ireland setup. The level of skill he'd undoubtedly bring (though would probably not be favoured by the current managment) is, I fear, more than offset by a capacity to go overboard at an inopportune moment due to some percieved slight -imagined or real.

When it's Ian Holloway calling you 'mad as a sack of monkeys' it's time to sit up and acknowledge the very real chance you just may be as mentally unstable as the aforementioned hessian shrouded primates.

[DannyInvincible]

When it's Ian Holloway calling you 'mad as a sack of monkeys' it's time to sit up and acknowledge the very real chance you just may be as mentally unstable as the aforementioned hessian shrouded primates.

Bloody hell; that's revealing. What was that in relation to?

[Lionel Ritchie]

Bloody hell; that's revealing. What was that in relation to?

This isn't even the comment (http://www.whoateallthepies.tv/miscellaneous/4072/hollowatch_ian_.html) I'm thinking of.

I remember Holloway being interviewed pitchside at Bloomfield Rd, probably on FF, where he was mentioned press speculation about players coming to Blackpool on loan. SIs name had popped up to Holloways incredulity. Said he wouldn't touch him with a bargepole.

[Stuttgart88]

Ireland tells the Examiner he's quite nice really (http://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/soccer/ireland-rails-against-flash-harry-image-214867.html)

Ireland rails against Flash Harry image
By Robin Edwards

Friday, November 23, 2012

Former Republic of Ireland international Stephen Ireland has revealed he is still struggling to shrug off the tag of a big-spending Premier League star.

Ireland’s lavish lifestyle has received more than its fair share of column inches over the years. But not everything is as it seems.

"My finance Jessica and I were in Toys ‘R’ Us loading toys into the back of the car," he said. "We got papped and got slated — ‘rich footballer buying thousands of pounds of presents for his kids at Christmas when families are struggling in the recession’.

"It wasn’t that at all. I raise money for the Francis House Children’s Charity in Manchester and the presents were for the hospice. But that’s not the story they want is it? I don’t bother with it. I don’t do charity work for the press or the ‘look at me’. It’s a false impression of me but it’s completely irrelevant.

"If you asked the average person what they thought of Stephen Ireland they wouldn’t come up with a lot of positives. But I don’t bother about that. My friends, family. They know what I’m like."

Ireland is at least a favourite with the Villa fans and he added: "Getting a good response from the fans helps me as a person.

"I wanted to show that I did care and that I wanted to play. I am critical of myself and I want high standards.

"It is nice to come in every day not stressing because someone has decided not to play you.

"It’s a nice achievement for me to still be here and playing. I’ve worked hard.

"People, fans and press would think that I didn’t care. But I take my job seriously.

"I look after my career, my body, my fitness. I don’t go out partying. I don’t live that lifestyle."

[paul_oshea]

Refreshing enough read from him. Doesn't mean he still isnt an eejit. Maybe he has matured though and was just a little naive earlier.

[geysir]

That Examiner article is credited to Robin Edwards, but it's just an abbreviated rip off from another article last week by John Wragg in the English paper, the Express. That's one way to beat the deadline, when possibly the temptation of pub duty was just too much to handle.

It sure has been a struggle for Stephen to try and overcome the ridiculous chav image he helped foster himself and in total naivety/greed, inflicted upon the world.

[DeLorean]

I raise money for the Francis House Children’s Charity in Manchester and the presents were for the hospice. But that’s not the story they want is it? I don’t bother with it. I don’t do charity work for the press or the ‘look at me’.

The very reason he is saying this is for the 'look at me'.

[Strongbow10]

That Examiner article is credited to Robin Edwards, but it's just an abbreviated rip off from another article last week by John Wragg in the English paper, the Express. That's one way to beat the deadline, when possibly the temptation of pub duty was just too much to handle.

It sure has been a struggle for Stephen to try and overcome the ridiculous chav image he helped foster himself and in total naivety/greed, inflicted upon the world.

John Wragg, a journalist for the Express

What an apt name for a journalist of an English paper

[Manblue]

The very reason he is saying this is for the 'look at me'.

Because he was wronged and defended himself he is saying look at me. Good one. People will have a dig of anything. He shouldn't even have to defend himself. Even if he wants to spend his money on his kids who gives a sh*t.

[DannyInvincible]

He can spend his money on whatever he wants and live as lavish a lifestyle as he wishes. It's of nobody else's concern what he's splashing his money out on just because he happens to be better off than most.

[geysir]

Next time I see somebody driving an expensive car with pink wheels and a superman logo, I will flagellate myself should I feel a desire to have a little snigger at the absurdity. :rolleyes:

[DannyInvincible]

Next time I see somebody driving an expensive car with pink wheels and a superman logo, I will flagellate myself should I feel a desire to have a little snigger at the absurdity. :rolleyes:

Ha, to be more precise, I was strictly referring to those who seek to beat him with the "how dare he spend so lavishly whilst the rest of us struggle through economic hardship" stick. That's just simple begrudgery against someone who's earned his money and can spend it however he likes. The logic behind the above criticism is that he somehow owes the public something, which is simply nonsense.

[tetsujin1979]

Next time I see somebody driving an expensive car with pink wheels and a superman logo, I will flagellate myself should I feel a desire to have a little snigger at the absurdity. :rolleyes:
what will you do when the same person auctions the car for breast cancer research?

[gastric]

what will you do when the same person auctions the car for breast cancer research?

I personally would avoid buying it if it was pink!:D

[Crosby87]

Self flagellation? Geysir has entered the world of S&M...... The plot thickens.

[geysir]

what will you do when the same person auctions the car for breast cancer research?

I have already (sorta) answered with my thoughts on that one, Tets.
"It sure has been a struggle for Stephen to try and overcome the ridiculous chav image he helped foster himself and in total naivety/greed, inflicted upon the world."


​

[DeLorean]

Because he was wronged and defended himself he is saying look at me. Good one. People will have a dig of anything.

I mean the whole reason he said it was probably to mention that he does things for charity. If he really didn't care what people thought, as he claims, he wouldn't have bothered defending himself. If it was anybody else that was quoted, I'd feel the same way.


He shouldn't even have to defend himself. Even if he wants to spend his money on his kids who gives a sh*t.

Couldn't agree more.

[Murfinator]

I mean the whole reason he said it was probably to mention that he does things for charity. If he really didn't care what people thought, as he claims, he wouldn't have bothered defending himself. If it was anybody else that was quoted, I'd feel the same way.


He was directly asked about his flash spending image and if the media impression of him was accurate, he claimed it wasn't and gave the example with toys to illustrate how things can be mis-portrayed. It's called doing an interview and answering the question.

[DeLorean]

Yeah okay, fair enough. That probably is how it went down in fairness.

[DeLorean]

Does anybody else reckon this guy is based on Stephen Ireland? .....

http://i1.cdnds.net/13/01/618x401/soaps-fair-city-170113-1.jpghttp://i1.cdnds.net/13/01/618x400/soaps-fair-city-080113-3.jpg

This may not have been worth bumping the thread up five pages :o

[dr_peepee]

Aaaahahaha! I dont think you're far wrong man!!

[Junior]

Never mind that, I didnt realise Cillian Sheridan was moonlighting at the moment....

[Charlie Darwin]

And that's Stephen Ward in the pink body warmer.

[tetsujin1979]

Stephen Ireland forced to train with the U21s at Villa: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/aston-villa/9863551/Aston-Villa-midfielder-Stephen-Ireland-frozen-out-by-manager-Paul-Lambert.html

[Grafter]

Stephen Ireland forced to train with the U21s at Villa: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/aston-villa/9863551/Aston-Villa-midfielder-Stephen-Ireland-frozen-out-by-manager-Paul-Lambert.html

Imagine going back in time a mere 4 years to Feb 2009.... Man City's Stephen Ireland and Michael Johnson were arguably the most coveted young players in the British game!

Mad how things can pan out (though mainly self-inflicted)... wonder if the sight of the pink convertible irritates Stevo now on a cold February morning in 2013?

[IsMiseSean]

I wonder what's in store for 'our' Stephen in the summer?

[DannyInvincible]

wonder if the sight of the pink convertible irritates Stevo now on a cold February morning in 2013?

I believe that was for charity/breast cancer awareness: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1110725/You-drive-crazy-Sportsmail-reveals-Premier-League-star-range-car.html#axzz2KcA11Ub5

[Yard of Pace]

I believe that was for charity/breast cancer awareness: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1110725/You-drive-crazy-Sportsmail-reveals-Premier-League-star-range-car.html#axzz2KcA11Ub5

I suppose going around the place looking like a complete tit is a decent way of achieving that.

Can we re-start the above poll, btw??

[ArdeeBhoy]

Why?

75% are in favour (With an apology!!)...
:rolleyes:

[tetsujin1979]

I suppose going around the place looking like a complete tit is a decent way of achieving that.

Can we re-start the above poll, btw??
it was sold and the proceeds donating to charity.

[Yard of Pace]

it was sold and the proceeds donating to charity.

tit.....breast.....oh, never mind.

I guess cancer is rarely quip material, tbf.