He was by far the worst player on the pitch when we played Slovakia away, depsite the fact that he scored a goal. I have only seen him play a couple of times since he last played for us, but in his games for us he showed no defensive awareness whatsover and was a total liability. Carsley was having to do the job of two players because Ireland was so poor.
If Ireland were to come back, it could not be in a 2 man central midfield. He would either have to play in a 3 man central midfield or in the hole just behind the striker, or possibly as a wide player although I don't really like him on the wing. Anything else would compromise our ability to get results and we'd have very little chance of qualifying for South Africa IMO.