Stephen Ireland Makes Himself Available Again

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Originally Posted by tetsujin1979

Fair enough, but I meant the allegations mypost is raising against Stephen Ireland's claims that his girlfriend had a miscarriage. He'd really want some proof to back that up.

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I would agree with you to a point, but when you are caught out telling one lie after another you lose respect and people are unlikely to believe you. Not one of his Interantional colleagues has come out to defend him. (to the best of my knowledge) IF you had a similar tradegy you would probably confide in a close friend who would in turn defend you.

After geting caught out twice it looks like he needed an excuse that could not be challenged, and while I like most other people had sympathy for him at the time, his actions since them have made me feel like he was telling more lies.

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Originally Posted by Greenforever

what of my comments are untrue, come on or is this a Cork thing, I mean we've had Roy Keane, Stephen Ireland, the Cork Football and Hurling teams, is it that there should be one rule for Cork sportspeople and another for the rest ;)

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My line of thought exactly. Not called the Rebels for nothing.

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Originally Posted by Greenforever

what of my comments are untrue

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The one i quoted, the one is which you said was impossible!!

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Originally Posted by Superhoops

My line of thought exactly. Not called the Rebels for nothing.

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Indeed:D

I'm delighted he's back full stop. We need a player of his quality

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Originally Posted by Seagull-4-life

I'm delighted he's back full stop. We need a player of his quality

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Exactly.

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Originally Posted by bellavistaman

The one i quoted, the one is which you said was impossible!!


Indeed:D

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You have me lost, there is nothing that I have posted that is not 100%true, you on the other had post conjecture and opinions.

Please print the quote that I have that is incorrect, thanks.

ah i quoting the wrong person, deepest apologies greenforever!!

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Originally Posted by bellavistaman

ah i quoting the wrong person, deepest apologies greenforever!!

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Apologies accepted, now we konw all I said about SI not passionate about playing for his country is 100% true. And what we need is a team of committed and passionate players.

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Originally Posted by Greenforever

Apologies accepted, now we konw all I said about SI not passionate about playing for his country is 100% true. And what we need is a team of committed and passionate players.

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Exactly...

What we dont need is excuses, pink landrovers or fake hair.

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Originally Posted by RivaldoBabb

Exactly...

What we dont need is excuses, pink landrovers or fake hair.

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Possibly, but what we do need is his talent, doesnt matter what car he has when he wearing the green of ireland.

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Originally Posted by bellavistaman

Possibly, but what we do need is his talent, doesnt matter what car he has when he wearing the green of ireland.

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but it matters that he is 100% committed, which he isn't, because it rubs off on the rest of the squad. Why should they give 100% when someone else can pick and choose when to play or not?

From your posts im beginning to wonder do you drive a pink car :rolleyes: have you had a hair transplant or is that your brother :rolleyes:

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Originally Posted by Greenforever

but it matters that he is 100% committed, which he isn't, because it rubs off on the rest of the squad. Why should they give 100% when someone else can pick and choose when to play or not?

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In a perfect world, you would be correct. But as I've said before, the amount of leeway allowed a player tends to correspond to the talent that player possesses. There is a line that players shouldn't cross, but that line isn't in the same place for everybody. If a player is no more than a squad player, who rarely gets a runout at all, then any indiscretion on the player's part might be a fatal blow to his international career.

If somebody with the talent of Maradona is less than 100% committed, do you just say he can't play anymore? Of course you don't. You do whatever you can to get him back in the squad.

Of course, I'm not saying that Ireland is equal to Maradona in terms of skill, but what I am saying is that the amount of crap we put up with from a player will depend on how much that player offers us when he decides to play. Once any player goes over that line, and starts to cause more trouble than he's worth, then he's out of the picture.

I don't think Steven Ireland has crossed that line yet. Not for me, anyway. He still offers enough in terms of ability for me to want him in the squad.

Maradona was a bit of an arse when he was a player, but managers dealt with him.

Trap has masses of experience when it comes to dealing with all sorts of personalities/players, hopefully he'll know what to do with Stephen Ireland.

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Originally Posted by Greenforever

Why should they give 100% when someone else can pick and choose when to play or not?

From your posts im beginning to wonder do you drive a pink car :rolleyes: have you had a hair transplant or is that your brother :rolleyes:

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They havent given 100% under staunton for whatever reason either, when/if ireland comes back he will be the hungriest player on the pitch, the lad has a major point to prove..

Quite the opposite my man, hate these pink wearers and gay haircuts, but thats for another day. :D

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Originally Posted by brine3

Maradona was a bit of an arse when he was a player, but managers dealt with him.

Trap has masses of experience when it comes to dealing with all sorts of personalities/players, hopefully he'll know what to do with Stephen Ireland.

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Agreed, and his friendship with sven goran should favour us too.

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Originally Posted by osarusan

In a perfect world, you would be correct. But as I've said before, the amount of leeway allowed a player tends to correspond to the talent that player possesses. There is a line that players shouldn't cross, but that line isn't in the same place for everybody. If a player is no more than a squad player, who rarely gets a runout at all, then any indiscretion on the player's part might be a fatal blow to his international career.

If somebody with the talent of Maradona is less than 100% committed, do you just say he can't play anymore? Of course you don't. You do whatever you can to get him back in the squad.

Of course, I'm not saying that Ireland is equal to Maradona in terms of skill, but what I am saying is that the amount of crap we put up with from a player will depend on how much that player offers us when he decides to play. Once any player goes over that line, and starts to cause more trouble than he's worth, then he's out of the picture.

I don't think Steven Ireland has crossed that line yet. Not for me, anyway. He still offers enough in terms of ability for me to want him in the squad.

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Good post, I agree the talent of a player is proportional to the amount of crap he is allowed to get away with but I'm not sure SI hasn't already crossed the line, he has talent but I think he is overrated and we may have to play 5 in midfield to accomidate him and if he hasn't already crossed the line then he is dancing on it and I think one more lame excuse from him and he should discarded

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Originally Posted by Morbo

Good post, I agree the talent of a player is proportional to the amount of crap he is allowed to get away with but I'm not sure SI hasn't already crossed the line, he has talent but I think he is overrated and we may have to play 5 in midfield to accomidate him and if he hasn't already crossed the line then he is dancing on it and I think one more lame excuse from him and he should discarded

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100% agree with you..

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Originally Posted by BigmanCas

100% agree with you..

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not exactly a direct comparsion but when McGrath was missing games through drunkeness related AWOLs we all welcomed him back into the squad afterwards on account of his talent.

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Originally Posted by osarusan

I don't think Steven Ireland has crossed that line yet. Not for me, anyway. He still offers enough in terms of ability for me to want him in the squad.

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So how many managers has he to refuse to play for before he has crossed the line

We have 3 (some may say 2)

Kerr - no one disputes this
Staunton - no one disputes this
Givens - now given that SI has a history of telling untruths and DG doesnt I would tend to believe DG

While I would never rule out a return I would not be running after him because unless he is genuinely committed we're better off without him or anyone else for that matter. We have generally punched above our weight due to having a team 100% committed.

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Originally Posted by frankbrett

not exactly a direct comparsion but when McGrath was missing games through drunkeness related AWOLs we all welcomed him back into the squad afterwards on account of his talent.

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And completely different Paul was and is a gentleman with a major drink problem and he never tried to blame anyone else for his shortcomings. If SI didnt blame everyone else, he would be far more respected.

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Originally Posted by Greenforever

Kerr - no one disputes this
Staunton - no one disputes this
Givens - now given that SI has a history of telling untruths and DG doesnt I would tend to believe DG

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The thing that ****ed me off more than anything was that he didn't inform Staunton that he wasn't ready to come back before the Germany and Cyprus squad was announced. However, saying he refused to play for Givens is a bit wide of the mark IMO. Givens said in a press conference that he hadn't spoken to Ireland and it was his job to get in contact, so it's not as if Ireland downright refused to play. Anyway, I'm not sure Givens would have picked him even had Ireland asked to come back.

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Originally Posted by Greenforever

If SI didnt blame everyone else, he would be far more respected.

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There's no doubt that Ireland hasn't handled things as well as he could have, but he hasn't 'blamed' anyone else since the Slovakia game. He may have continued the lie about his grandmothers, but he didn't blame anyone else for this. All we have is newspaper reports to go by, I have yet to hear a word uttered from Ireland's mouth about the situation.

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Originally Posted by jmurphyc

There's no doubt that Ireland hasn't handled things as well as he could have, but he hasn't 'blamed' anyone else since the Slovakia game. He may have continued the lie about his grandmothers, but he didn't blame anyone else for this. All we have is newspaper reports to go by, I have yet to hear a word uttered from Ireland's mouth about the situation.

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He still has refused to play for 2 managers - that is not in dispute and I still say 3 managers

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Originally Posted by Greenforever

He still has refused to play for 2 managers - that is not in dispute and I still say 3 managers

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I'm not really sure how much we can trust him, but I personally will give him a chance if he comes back. He's quite young, and a lot of young players make mistakes. It's just unfortunate that his were quite public. I do agree with the earlier posting that it depends on a player's ability whether we will give them a chance again. If Stephen Ireland was playing for a mid-table championship club then a lot more people (myself included) would be saying good riddance. It's just unfortunate that Ireland probably is worth the extra hassle.

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Originally Posted by jmurphyc

I'm not really sure how much we can trust him, but I personally will give him a chance if he comes back. He's quite young, and a lot of young players make mistakes. It's just unfortunate that his were quite public. I do agree with the earlier posting that it depends on a player's ability whether we will give them a chance again. If Stephen Ireland was playing for a mid-table championship club then a lot more people (myself included) would be saying good riddance. It's just unfortunate that Ireland probably is worth the extra hassle.

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I hate to say he wont be worth the trouble, which is a pity because he has great potential, but a desire to play for your country is something you either have or dont have.

It's no different from people who support English clubs and dont care how Ireland do, there are also EL supporters like that and also very passionate Irish supporters who also are supporters of English clubs etc.

The reality is that SI does not have the desire to play for his country and even if he returns he will walk out at any time regardless of the consequences for his team mates. I HOPE that I am proved wrong in time but I doubt it.

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Originally Posted by Seagull-4-life

I'm delighted he's back full stop. We need a player of his quality

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But he's not back, atm.

Let's consider the next matches:

v Serbia, Columbia: May games, 2 weeks after end of league season = on siesta with pinky. "Ireland games, wtf are they?" :rolleyes:

v Norway: August friendly away = withdraws from squad for "not in right frame of mind"

v Georgia, Montenegro: Away double headers, pinky would feel too lonely, so that's a no :rolleyes:

v Cyprus: Wouldn't play last time, fearful of a hiss and boo from crowd this time, so that's a no. :rolleyes:

End of year: Trappattoni makes his judgement on him as a result.

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Originally Posted by Greenforever

The reality is that SI does not have the desire to play for his country and even if he returns he will walk out at any time regardless of the consequences for his team mates. I HOPE that I am proved wrong in time but I doubt it.

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Thats the danger with Stephen Ireland, if things dont go his way and he is dropped from the starting team (as he should be not only for not showing commitment but also because our first choice midfield should be Duff, A Reid, S Reid & everyones favourite scotsman McGeady) then he is quite likely to walk out on the team and come up with an excuse almost as ridiculous as his hair.

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Originally Posted by RivaldoBabb

our first choice midfield should be Duff, A Reid, S Reid & everyones favourite scotsman McGeady

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That's a fairly lightweight midfield, Stephen Reid would be the only one in that who can make a decent tackle, and would be doing a lot of the defensive work by himself.

His performances lately have been very inconsistent. Against Man U his was magnificient but since then his performances have been very average. Not convinced that he is a player to build a team around.

He has said he wants to be picked by the new manager. Now its up to the manager to decide is he worth his place in the squad which I am sure is what Trap is going to do. End of story really.

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Originally Posted by NeilMcD

He has said he wants to be picked by the new manager. Now its up to the manager to decide is he worth his place in the squad which I am sure is what Trap is going to do. End of story really.

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Thank f**k for that!

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Originally Posted by tetsujin1979

That's a fairly lightweight midfield, Stephen Reid would be the only one in that who can make a decent tackle, and would be doing a lot of the defensive work by himself.

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Stephen Ireland wouldnt add anything defensive to this midfield, he is too light and gets pushed off the ball in nearly every tackle.

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Originally Posted by RivaldoBabb

Stephen Ireland wouldnt add anything defensive to this midfield, he is too light and gets pushed off the ball in nearly every tackle.

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I never said he would add anything from a defensive point of view, his tackling is brutal. But by including him, it increases the number of players in midfield. That allows a creative passer of the ball (say Andy Reid) to play a lot deeper, giving a dig out for defenders as someone else to make a simple pass to, and a defensive midfielder would not be running back and forth all game, allowing him to concentrate on winning the ball, not creating attacks.
Of course, this means playing with one up front, with Ireland behind him and I'm still not sure that's a good thing.

Tardelli and Brady to check out Ireland against Reading tomorrow: http://www.independent.ie/sport/socc...d-1308853.html

But I am supporting Trapattoni there, but you cannot force people to play if they do not want to,' Eriksson concluded

That is the problem, he seems to want to be begged to play. better off without him

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Originally Posted by tetsujin1979

Tardelli and Brady to check out Ireland against Reading tomorrow: http://www.independent.ie/sport/socc...d-1308853.html

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Well as he spent the entire game on the bench I wonder what conclusions they drew?

Granted Man City lost 2:0, so he probably looked quite impressive.

strange one alright, could see this happening the second johnson arrived back, being english and all.

bellavistaman, this is what i was on about earlier. they will change the team to have johnson back. The city fans rate him very highly. I hope though yer man was wrong and that ireland does get more chances...

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Originally Posted by paul_oshea

bellavistaman, this is what i was on about earlier. they will change the team to have johnson back. The city fans rate him very highly. I hope though yer man was wrong and that ireland does get more chances...

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i agree with you, cant see why though, theres no way hes leagues apart from ireland, richards said ireland is the best product from the youth acadamy, but to be fair we all show bias to local talent.Me with ireland.

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Originally Posted by bellavistaman

strange one alright, could see this happening the second johnson arrived back, being english and all.

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Nothing to do with Johnson being English but everything to do with him being a far better player and less of a plonker.

only opinion i suppose. Cant see ho w being a plonker should affect first team status the way i see things 9/10s of professional footballers are the biggest plonkers ever.