Stephen Ireland

Stephen Ireland looks to me like he could turn out to be one of the greatest Irish players I ever saw. I would love to have him back and think "granny gate" should be forgotten about. In addition, the likes of Stephen Hunt should keep their mouth shut about him(I rem an article he wrote stating Ireland should be a man and ignore the slagging etc - Hunt not fit to lace SI's boots in my opinion).

That said, granny gate does seem to have died down and the management have said they'd welcome him back so i cannot understand why at this stage he won't return - unless he's just not interested

Presumably if he doesn't appear in the squad for Bulgaria/Italy that's it for this campaign. Doesn't seem likely at this stage. But then wtf do I know?

I'd much rather have someone like Kilbane who possesses little natural ability but is 100% dedicated to the cause than an immature, childish idiot like Ireland back in the squad. Do we really need a partially committed Ireland prancing around the midfield when our backs are to the wall in Bari next month while we are desperately trying to hang on for a point?

If anyone thinks he has matured considerably over the past 18 months then they need to take a look at the photo of his new Audi.

It would demean our jersey, team and country if he was allowed to waltz right back into the squad when he decided it suited him to do so at the expense of another player who has consistently made himself available for selection. I personally couldn't care less how talented he is, Manchester City haven't pulled up any trees in the Premiership irrespective of how many goals or assists he provides and for now we seem to be doing fine without him so I'm happy enough to let bygones be bygones and leave him be. He's not going to be the difference between us winning the World Cup or not. To be honest I have my doubts that he'd even make any noticeable difference to our qualification prospects (for the record I don't see us qualifying with or without Stephen Ireland).

Hopefully when his career is over he'll look back over his years as a professional footballer and deeply regret he never took the opportunity to play the game at the highest level in an International tournament. Then maybe just maybe he will realise how much of a tit he is before deciding to hang himself from an old pair of blue superman underpants.

P.S. Shouldn't this thread be moved into World Football or alternatively Rubbish?

YoungIrish, you don't think we'll qualify but you say were doing fine??? This isn't an argument for or against the bald prodigal, btw.

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Originally Posted by Den Perry

Stephen Ireland looks to me like he could turn out to be one of the greatest Irish players I ever saw. I would love to have him back and think "granny gate" should be forgotten about. In addition, the likes of Stephen Hunt should keep their mouth shut about him(I rem an article he wrote stating Ireland should be a man and ignore the slagging etc - Hunt not fit to lace SI's boots in my opinion).

That said, granny gate does seem to have died down and the management have said they'd welcome him back so i cannot understand why at this stage he won't return - unless he's just not interested

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agree with all this.

Its probably too late for this campaign and if we do qualify for the world cup Stephen Ireland can hardly say "I bags a place on the plane to South Africa"

We should just forget about him until european qualification comes around the next time.

Yeah, I dunno, if he turns around and wants to play in the Euro qualifiers should we just pick him? Qualifiers will start around August/September 2010, I think that's over two and a half years since he walked. Can you let players opt out of entire qualification campaigns for no good reason and then come back? What if he decides that he wants to wait till the next world cup qualifiers? And if he comes back are we not just going to be waiting for him to walk away again at some point, thus devaluing the green jersey further. Playing for his country obviously doesn't mean as much to him as it should.

I think Trap is right. Time is running out fast for him to declare a hand in this campaign - despite the treacherous Irish media (or sub editors') take "Trap Bans Ireland From World Cup". What happens after that is all negotiable. A young world class but fcuked up / thick Irish player should never be discounted. I'd say on purely moral grounds though that Trap is right - he can't just decide he fancies a WC Cup Finals if we manage to get there without him.

The cut off point surely has to be the two games at the end of the month? I thought the Georgia game was an ideal time for him to come back but it wasn't to be. I'd like to see him back in the mix but if he doesn't sign up to the cause over the next couple of weeks then he should not be asked back for the rest of the campaign (which hopefully has an appearance at the WC Finals next year). It's really up to him. I'm sure the management team are busy behind the scenes trying to accomodate him so it's now down to the player. Under no circumstances should they beg him back.

If he does come back I'm sure he'd expect a starting place. I cannot see the Trap ditching his system and wouldn't imagine our brilliant manager risking him in the centre of midfield so it would have to be at the expense of one of our wingers. Tad harsh on McGeady/Duff.

if he is not involved for the qualifiers at the end of the month, then reckon he'll not be involved at all in the SA 2010 qualifications at all.
if he did come back, i reckon it'll be at the expense of duff.
I persoanlly would find it hard to accept that.

The point is, in my opinion, if he does NOT want to play he should just SAY that. Im starting to think he is just a Paris Hilton, looking for attention. The only reason we all keep talking about it is, we assume he might come back.
It would all end very simply if he would just say he is out. Although I suppose we will know in the next 3 weeks.
It's just funny how, professional athletes get more lee-way than children. He's an adult. Why can't he just decide if he is in or out? It's ridiculous. How do you not know if you want to play in the World Cup? I mean it's comical. And although Trap is in a tough spot b/c he wants the lad to play, to a certain extent he is feeding the monster here. I mean they already gave him a "deadline." Now its the same stuff. If he is just going to be a weirdo and not play than lets agree on it and move on, no?
Sorry, this is the most common conversation here in NYC between Irish Soccer fans these days. Frankly, I am sick of having it. I want to spend my time talking about guys who WANT to be here.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/foo...ange-that.html

very good interview with him here, although it still looks like he is as far as ever away from a return to international football:(

'I read in the press that (Giovanni) Trapattoni and Liam Brady have said they have contacted me. Well, they haven’t. That’s all I can say. Never say never, though.’

It seems to me that if Trap made the first move Ireland would come back but as Brady says, pride for your country is more important. And S.Ireland is always going to have to make first contact.

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Originally Posted by eirebhoy

'I read in the press that (Giovanni) Trapattoni and Liam Brady have said they have contacted me. Well, they haven’t. That’s all I can say. Never say never, though.’

It seems to me that if Trap made the first move Ireland would come back but as Brady says, pride for your country is more important. And S.Ireland is always going to have to make first contact.

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Whether they did contact him or not is not an issue. Trap tried to get Ireland back when he initially took over, Ireland declined but the door was left open.......It is SI's choice if he wants to return clearly he doesnt. He is consistently vague in his interviews......
"That’s all I can say. Never say never, though"
like what exactly does this mean???

The one thing that i think we can draw from these comments is that SI will not be a factor in the 2010 WC campaign. Pity, but give me a player with the attitude of Kilbane who treasures playing for his country in our starting XI over Ireland anyday.

Go **** yourself Mr Manchester!

Living in Cobh as I do, I sense the locals are very proud of Stephen, but at the same time frustrated by the attitude to the Green jersey.My son is seven, and to play for Ireland would be the ultimate dream.Ireland claims to be patriotic,but is happy to see his National team field an eleven, that is not their best.I would love my kids to experience the euphoria World Cup qualification brings, especially now.If we fail to qualify with our best team available, so be it, but if we miss out narrowly, with our best player in Manchester........

When you go on stephenIreland.com, and click on "news" he has it so the site just picks up links with the word "Ireland" which as one may expect usually does not have anything to do with him....
I think he might be a very strange man......

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Originally Posted by elroy

Whether they did contact him or not is not an issue

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I think it is an issue. Obviously Ireland finds it extremely hard to make the first move, and it is equally obvious that the whole Grannygate saga continues to dominate his thinking about a return to international football. I might agree with you that he is wrong to feel this way, and that he should be mature enough to simply get over it and declare himself available for international football, but alas he is not mature enough and seemingly cannot sort this out for himself. In these circumstances I think Trapp and Brady have a professional duty to go the extra mile, even if they dont have a moral one. We are not paying them for their principles, we are paying them to get results and the fact that they have done nothing to build bridges with Ireland is in my view unbelievable.

TP -they've said they want him back.
They asked him to come back and he wasn't ready.
They then said the door was always open for him and he just had to let them know he was available -they've restated this numerous times at numerous press conferences.

They've attempted to remove all and any obstacles in his path and he responds, indirectly and ususally through the media, with obfusticative smoke and mirrors.

What more can they reasonably be expected to do? Are they to telephone him in the run up to every squad selection to see is he ready to come back yet?

Even aside from any question of whether that's a reasonable expectation is there then not the real risk that diddums will say he's being harassed if they were to do so?

Look, I want to see a happy, well adjusted Stephen Ireland back in the Irish squad but it appears he either doesn't want it or doesn't want it enough.

If he can't or won't communicate his availability -however circuitously, in this day and age and through all the channels available to him, which includes having the two defacto captains of the Irish squad for team-mates ...then f**k him.
:ball:

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Originally Posted by Crosby87

When you go on stephenIreland.com, and click on "news" he has it so the site just picks up links with the word "Ireland" which as one may expect usually does not have anything to do with him....
I think he might be a very strange man......

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Are you sure that it is his official site or just some guy who bought the domain. Just checked it out there yeah it does say its official.