Stephen Ireland Makes Himself Available Again

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Originally Posted by Bondvillain

You mean, of course, it won't be forgotten by you, nor elicit any sympathy from you.

Many people have other things going on in their lives, so "the strange case of the Immature 21 year old who made a terribly embarrassing mistake and subsequently publicly apologised for it, and is now quoted as looking forward to playing under his new manager" will hopefully soon be confined to the dustbin of history for the vast majority of Ireland fans. If he doesnt play for us again, It'll be disappointing, but not apocalyptic.

However, I consider him to be somewhat gifted, & I hope he plays for us again. I hope his personal & mental issues are all in the past, and that his talent goes to play some part in taking Ireland to South Africa.

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total bullsh**, he needs to apologise directly to the FAI and the fans and not though journalists who will write whatever sells papers without any reference to the truth. YES he may be sorry and want a fresh start but if so ring the FAI and tell them not some journalist, then we may just believe waht we are told. And club statements on websites are pretty pathetic aswell.

Is that Kevin Doyles Dad.

I think that there is a point beyond which the behaviour of a footballer will mean that we never want that footballer to be allowed to represent their country ever again.

I'm sure it is fair to say that every fan will have their own limit, and what is unacceptable to some will be acceptable to others. I'd also guess that to some extent, the limit of what fans consider acceptable will be related to the quality that the player in question brings to the team.

Ireland has made a couple of silly mistakes, and his lack of any apology hasn't impressed me. Neither has his attempt to get back in the national team squad by telling newspaper reporters he wants to play. An apology and a call to the FAI would improve his image a lot, in everybody's eyes.

That said, I'd be happy if he rejoined the team, as he seems to want to do. At least for me, he hasn't crossed any line.

Several articles have noted his apologies. Does he have to apologize to the FAI in front of a video camera FFS?

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Originally Posted by mypost

It won't be forgotten, nor win any sympathy.

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I'll remember that after Ireland scores for us again

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Originally Posted by mypost

When Stephen Ireland walked out, he was only thinking of himself.

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I'd imagine his girlfriend and the loss of his unborn child were also on his mind

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Originally Posted by Greenforever

Why didnt he play against Wales????

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Well, he wasn't called into the squad for starters

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Originally Posted by Greenforever

He manages the U21s and his job is to blood players and give them experience, U21 titles are worthless as are Brian Kerrs U16 and U18 trophys nice and all that they were they count for nothing in the senior game.

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Success at junior level leads to success at senior level. Let's not go through this argument. Again.

Just close the thread and let him get on with his career for club and country.

Oh wait, wait! I haven't declared my support for Mister Ireland as yet.

I just gave the episode a moments consideration and came up with an analogy; if my friend didn't come to my birthday party and gave some made-up excuse even though he had a justifiable one then yes I'd be a little peeved initially. But if he apologised for his actions and still wanted to be my friend then I wouldn't forget the good times we had together and would happily invite him along to my next party. We're still friends; one error of judgment wouldn't change that. :)

I don't get the whole principled argument that what he did was unforgivable and is worthy of everlasting indignant condemnation. A little sad in my opinion.

Onwards and upwards!

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Originally Posted by Greenforever

As for your eye witness account, Stan is not a heavy drinker and i've never heard any of that crap from one of his biggest critics who's son is on the team... and tha'ts first hand because I was with this chap in Bratislava Prague and Cardiff among a lot others.

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:D I say his eyewitness account is better than yours.

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Originally Posted by Greenforever

total bullsh**, he needs to apologise directly to the FAI and the fans and not though journalists who will write whatever sells papers without any reference to the truth. YES he may be sorry and want a fresh start but if so ring the FAI and tell them not some journalist, then we may just believe waht we are told. And club statements on websites are pretty pathetic aswell.

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You are, of course, correct. Total Bullsh**. I've just re-read the forum rules and I've noticed this

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Any opinion expressed that isn't identical to Greenforever's should be considered bovine excrement, and ignored

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My sincere apologies for the intrusion. I'll get back to baying like a loon over something I have no personal insight into.


Hang on....
He needs to apologise directly to the FAI & fans but interviews and press releases & web blogs are not quite good enough for you?

How are we to be aware of this apology to the FAI , should it occur? Would you like Sky or Setanta to cover the meeting, or are you angling to be the Fans official representative at the summit?

He needs to apologise directly to the fans?

Would that be a series of humble door-to-door visits across the country, or perhaps a heartfelt confessional in the Centre circle at croker with a microphone at Half time during the Serbia game?

Hey, we could get the Dublin gospel choir to sing "Sinner man" , "Amazing Grace" or "I saw the light" softly in the background while he's doing it. Jeremy Kyle could host it.

We dont need a Sisyphus, constantly forced to produce apology after apology, we need a compact and coherent unit of players. The sooner Ireland is given a chance to atone, the sooner we get on with qualifying.

As I bulshi*ted earlier, I hope his mental issues are behind him, and I hope his not inconsiderable talent plays some part in us qualifying for South Africa.

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Originally Posted by NeilMcD

Is that Kevin Doyles Dad.

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I'd take a stab at Andy reid's Dad.

http://www.examiner.ie/irishexaminer...933-qqqx=1.asp

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Originally Posted by tetsujin1979

I'd imagine his girlfriend and the loss of his unborn child were also on his mind

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Why does everyone take this as gospel coming from the man who claimed both of his grandmother's were dead before the truth came out to state otherwise. I wouldn't trust anything from Superman and that includes any statements he makes about Don Givens (even him yes) or wanting to rejoin the Ireland team.

I couldn't care personally if he never plays for us again as in the short time of his International and Youth International career he has caused more controversy than the majority of players do in their entire careers.

Pick the players who are committed and leave those who have shown otherwise back in England playing for their clubs. It should be that simple. His character indicates that he'll cause trouble again.

Saying that at a stretch I'd be willing to give him one last go but any sign of trouble or a lack of commitment and it would be better for Trap to wash his hands with him for good.

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Originally Posted by Bondvillain

He needs to apologise directly to the FAI & fans but interviews and press releases & web blogs are not quite good enough for you?

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An apology in the newspaper is hardly the same thing though is it.

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Originally Posted by Bondvillain

We dont need a Sisyphus, constantly forced to produce apology after apology

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If he handled the situation maturely and correctly, there would be no need for repeated apologies.

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Originally Posted by Bondvillain

The sooner Ireland is given a chance to atone, the sooner we get on with qualifying.

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Agreed.

I think Ireland knows he has screwed up, but hopes that the newspaper apologies and revelations about his desire to represent his country will put him back in the good books, as he doesn't fancy doing a bit of grovelling to the FAI/fans.

With Givens at least, it didn't work, but hopefully Trapattoni will get a different result.

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Originally Posted by youngirish

Why does everyone take this as gospel coming from the man who claimed both of his grandmother's was dead before the truth came out.

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... because it's the only humane thing to do.

Don't get me wrong -I agree with the thrust of your argument. It's not beyond the realm of possibility that he kept lying until he came up with a lie nobody would grill him about. If that's the case he is indeed a lowly creature and his wan is a psychobitch.

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Originally Posted by youngirish

Pick the players who are committed and leave those who have shown otherwise back in England playing for their clubs. It should be that simple. His character indicates that he'll cause trouble again.

Saying that at a stretch I'd be willing to give him one last go but any sign of trouble or a lack of commitment and it would be better for Trap to wash his hands with him for good.

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Yep. If we do qualify for South Africa you couldnt be 100% sure that he wouldnt spit out his dummy for whatever fictional reason and walk out on the team, like Keane did in Saipan, and we really dont need that sort of sh1te associated with the Irish team again.

I would probably be more forgiving if he was a player of the calibre of Keane, in that we couldnt do without him, but at present I dont think he is that important.

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Originally Posted by youngirish

Why does everyone take this as gospel coming from the man who claimed both of his grandmother's was dead before the truth came out to state otherwise.

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Yeah I certainly don't take it as gospel, if someone is capable of lying about the death of a living human being then they are certainly capable of lying about the death of a fictional one, I don't think you are the only one who doubts his story, most people are worried people will think they are a cnut if they doubt his story, as miscarriages are a touchy subject

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Originally Posted by Morbo

Yeah I certainly don't take it as gospel, if someone is capable of lying about the death of a living human being then they are certainly capable of lying about the death of a fictional one, I don't think you are the only one who doubts his story, most people are worried people will think they are a cnut if they doubt his story, as miscarriages are a touchy subject

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I do think that Ireland has been a lot of bother so far for someone who hasn't been that impressive in a green shirt and that he may be trouble in the future. Also IMO a lot more fans would have washed their hands of him if he didn't show so much potential and look like being an important player for us in future.

However, I think people are kind of overreacting to his lies about his grandmothers dying. A lot of people lie about someone in their family dying to get away with things, especially at that age. I did it so I personally can understand where he's coming from. Plus, a lot of people ignore the fact that, from what I've read about the situation, the lie was not started by him. TBH though, he has had more than one indiscretion, so I really do think this is his last chance. Any more nonsense and he should be out for good.

In regards to an apology to the fans via an FAI press conference, though it would be nice, I would personally be more than happy for him to show 100% commitment in the shirt and hopefully help to get us goals and bring us to the next world cup. That would be the most sincere apology for me.

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Originally Posted by jmurphyc

However, I think people are kind of overreacting to his lies about his grandmothers dying. A lot of people lie about someone in their family dying to get away with things, especially at that age. I did it so I personally can understand where he's coming from.

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What type of sociopaths do we attract on this site?

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Originally Posted by jmurphyc

TBH though, he has had more than one indiscretion, so I really do think this is his last chance. Any more nonsense and he should be out for good.

In regards to an apology to the fans via an FAI press conference, though it would be nice, I would personally be more than happy for him to show 100% commitment in the shirt and hopefully help to get us goals and bring us to the next world cup. That would be the most sincere apology for me.

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But I 100% agree with all the above and I'm fairly sure it won't be the last problem we have with young Ireland.

I dont know if this has already been posted

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/liv...79&ito=newsnow

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Originally Posted by Deckydee

I dont know if this has already been posted

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/liv...79&ito=newsnow

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Strange. Judging from his own manager's comments it doesn't appear that Sven believes that Ireland is dying to get back to play for us. Anything of the sort if Sven's comments are to be believed. Looks more like he wants to be begged to come back. More lies in the media from Ireland regarding his desire to return it appears.

Dunne called it right a few weeks ago I reckon. Ireland is more trouble that he's ever going to be worth.