Stephen Ireland

[Superhoops]

rumours without anything to back it up. Micah Richards is his best mate so I dont see any big issue with him presenting Ireland the award

Yea, winners of big awards usually have the award presented by their best mate. You see it happening every week.

Maybe there was no one at all who had any connection with Irish football available to make an Irish football award to an Irish player who was based in far away Manchester, except for the guy's best mate?

Take you head out of the sand. No one in the Irish team or connected with the Irish team wants anything to do with him. I don't remember any of them lining up in his defence and pleading for him to be brought back.

[stojkovic]

he could have much more easily taken the Andy O Brien route and given the middle finger to the manager, ignored calls and tell nothing to the fans but declaring his international retirement.

Maybe Andy O'Brien has mental problems (and Finnan), hey Ciaran.

[Razors left peg]

Yea, winners of big awards usually have the award presented by their best mate. You see it happening every week.

Maybe there was no one at all who had any connection with Irish football available to make an Irish football award to an Irish player who was based in far away Manchester, except for the guy's best mate?

Take you head out of the sand. No one in the Irish team or connected with the Irish team wants anything to do with him. I don't remember any of them lining up in his defence and pleading for him to be brought back.

How many have being lining up to plead for O Brien, Finnan or Kiely to be brought back.Just because Steven Ireland mightnt be everybodies favorite person doesnt mean he wouldnt be welcomed back into the squad on a professional basis, players dont have to be best buddies to be able to play together on the same pitch.The majority of fans want him back in the squad because most people realise that he has something to offer the team and the players Im sure would react the same way. The same crap was put out after Siapan that none of the players would want Roy Keane back in the squad and it would lead to players refusing to turn up again while he was there etc..... did any of that happen then??? No and it wouldnt happen with Steven Ireland either.
The fella might be head case but if Trapattoni is willing to bring him into the squad and he says he is confident that he will return then thats good enough for me. Its a clean slate and if Steven Ireland scores the goal that qualifies us for the World Cup Im sure nobody will give a damn about what went on in the past

[galwayhoop]

sorry but I don't buy into this whole mental illness excuse. Call me old fashioned but I think that a lot of this mental illness is an excuse for those who are natural victims and the weak minded.

I read a great article recently (it was actually about politics but is very apt from a sporting viewpoint) where it said that we are far too conscious of social inclusion nowadays and therefore not creating leaders in all walks of life. Long gone are the days of 'bullum' and 'tiggum' when selecting teams for PE as the fear of hurting someones feelings is too great.

Leaders are no longer created by natural selection from a very young age. Competitiveness is frowned upon in favor of inclusion. Instead of the youth of today tearing lumps out of each other on the playground in order to win a game the overweight youngsters are happily rolling around in the mud in a non-competitive all inclusive game where there are no winners and losers and all that matters is part-taking.

As a society we are too accepting of excuses. Mental illness/stress/depression are rolled out so often it is a wonder anyone is still able to progress in their chosen field. Personally I think that in order to make it as a top pro you need to have ability, drive and a very strong mentality. How else can you progress further than all the other people who are attempting to reach the top of the game??

Stephen Ireland may or may not suffer from one of these (imo) weak minded conditions. If he does then he will never make it to the top anyhow. We need leaders playing for the national team not those who we are to pander to. We live in a capitalist world where supposedly the cream rises to the top, however we are social socialists where natural selection is rapidly being replaced by Political correctness and social inclusion. Sport up until now has bucked the trend on this but it looks like it may be changing, unfortunately.

[Emmet]

Galwayhoop - those are exactly the reasons why Stephen Ireland plays for Manchester City and not someone like Manchester United. He has the talent to be great but his mentality and attitude will prevent him from realising that.

[tetsujin1979]

Galwayhoop - those are exactly the reasons why Stephen Ireland plays for Manchester City and not someone like Manchester United. He has the talent to be great but his mentality and attitude will prevent him from realising that.

He joined City because he thought he'd have a better chance of playing for the first team there. He's on record as saying he was a United fan growing up.

[gustavo]

Galwayhoop - those are exactly the reasons why Stephen Ireland plays for Manchester City and not someone like Manchester United. He has the talent to be great but his mentality and attitude will prevent him from realising that.

You must worship that great talent John O'Shea so

[sanity]

Does pulling out of the international scene twice, driving a pink car, having a bebo page exposing your ass that you didnt think anyone would find, claiming both your grannies are dead when they aren't and pulling your pants down after scoring a goal. Does any of that sound like the doings of a rationally thinking guy?

i once done all that on a night out

[FarBeag]

i once done all that on a night out

Your in the right thread here with a Username like that.

[kingdom hoop]

The issue of wanting our team full of leadership was raised and got me thinking that we should know the first task of leaders is appreciating their own fallibility; they, I mean we , are not perfect. You realise that there are those out there that even if a little short in the leadership-skills ledger, can overall be a positive inclusion on the balance sheet because they have other attributes to offer that we value.

You don't sacrifice someone's inclusion from your team (especially in sport) because they're a bit enigmatic, have a car with pink alloys, depressed, etc. And you certainly don't exclude them because you view yourself as a self-anointed custodian of what exact characteristics it takes to be a part of the team. If the likelihood of a better result is increased then you accept them as an asset and try to harness their talent.

How many very talented people, across all walks of life, have been 'a little off' mentally? And yet we have cherished their contributions and belittled the bad things, gotten over our narrow-minded views and seen the bigger picture? Stephen Ireland might be the next, say, Mark Kennedy but as long as he's showing the form he has over the past 2/3 years then I and my fellow leaders will welcome his return at any stage simply as the squad is better with him in it, everything else is secondary for my and my country's well-being.

By the way congrats to Galwayhoop for the most bizarre post of the day!

[youngirish]

Does pulling out of the international scene twice, driving a pink car, having a bebo page exposing your ass that you didnt think anyone would find, claiming both your grannies are dead when they aren't and pulling your pants down after scoring a goal. Does any of that sound like the doings of a rationally thinking guy?

No but neither does it sound like the doings of someone with a mental illness. It does sound like the doings of an idiot though.

[zenokelly]

Stephen has decided not to made himself available for this set of fixtures and training camp, which I think should now mean that he has given up his last chance. A guy in the early stages of his career should not be deciding when and when not he has to turn up for games.

Finnan (surgery) and I think O Brien has a viable excuse too (correct me if I'm wrong) not to be in Portugal but Ireland doesn't.

He has relinquished his opportunity to come back and I hope Trap agrees with me. A decent player that could cause disharony in the camp.

If he had decided to come back he should be meeting up tonight with the other members of the squad and he hasn't so there we go - no effort made by the player.

We don't need him. I think we should put this to bed.

[Razors left peg]

Stephen has decided not to made himself available for this set of fixtures and training camp, which I think should now mean that he has given up his last chance. A guy in the early stages of his career should not be deciding when and when not he has to turn up for games.

Finnan (surgery) and I think O Brien has a viable excuse too (correct me if I'm wrong) not to be in Portugal but Ireland doesn't.

He has relinquished his opportunity to come back and I hope Trap agrees with me. A decent player that could cause disharony in the camp.

If he had decided to come back he should be meeting up tonight with the other members of the squad and he hasn't so there we go - no effort made by the player.

We don't need him. I think we should put this to bed.

The only excuse that I have seen from O Brien is that he wants to stay in Bolton to sort out a new contract.... there is a long summer ahead to sort out things like that. End of season get togethers are not and have never been popular with players rightly or wrongly, and I still think that all 3 "retired" players will be back in the autumn

[Emmet]

You must worship that great talent John O'Shea so

Good point

[Manblue]

Stephen has decided not to made himself available for this set of fixtures and training camp, which I think should now mean that he has given up his last chance. A guy in the early stages of his career should not be deciding when and when not he has to turn up for games.

Finnan (surgery) and I think O Brien has a viable excuse too (correct me if I'm wrong) not to be in Portugal but Ireland doesn't.

He has relinquished his opportunity to come back and I hope Trap agrees with me. A decent player that could cause disharony in the camp.

If he had decided to come back he should be meeting up tonight with the other members of the squad and he hasn't so there we go - no effort made by the player.

We don't need him. I think we should put this to bed.

Ha why do you think trap is so eager to bring him back he knows how much a talent he is,, trap has no alliagance to Ireland he only wants the best results that why he has and will continue to keep the door open for him,, he knows he needs him,,,
who said he was micahs best friend cause hes not,, and dunne has most definately not tried to talk to him about Ireland,

Its you lot who are mentally unstable for talking about him for so long,,
Im sure hell be back once things settle down.

[FarBeag]

Ha why do you think trap is so eager to bring him back he knows how much a talent he is,, trap has no alliagance to Ireland he only wants the best results that why he has and will continue to keep the door open for him,, he knows he needs him,,,
who said he was micahs best friend cause hes not,, and dunne has most definately not tried to talk to him about Ireland,

Its you lot who are mentally unstable for talking about him for so long,,
Im sure hell be back once things settle down.

Hi Steven. Glad you joined us here. Can you please put us all out of our misery and tell us if you are coming back or not? BTW get rid of that Syrup it doesnt suit you!

[Manblue]

Hi Steven. Glad you joined us here. Can you please put us all out of our misery and tell us if you are coming back or not? BTW get rid of that Syrup it doesnt suit you!

Stephen thanks

[Morbo]

Ha why do you think trap is so eager to bring him back he knows how much a talent he is,, trap has no alliagance to Ireland he only wants the best results

HA, do you think we don't want the best results? I'd take him back if I thought it would improve our chances of qualifying but I really think Ireland coming back would do more harm to team moral than his talent justifies

[livehead1]

Its you lot who are mentally unstable for talking about him for so long,,
Im sure hell be back once things settle down.

Things settle down? He's made a clown out of himself, and he's vastly overrated. He wouldn't get in the team at the minute, and I agree with you; we have spent too long talking about him. He's not worth a tenth of what's been written.

[Kingdom]

Hi Steven. Glad you joined us here. Can you please put us all out of our misery and tell us if you are coming back or not? BTW get rid of that Syrup it doesnt suit you!

For the first time ever I think we actually could have Mr Ireland in our midst. Welcome Stephen! I'm surprised it took you so long to join our little community seeing as how we know you have a grá for internet chat rooms and the like.
As farbeag asked, can you put us out of our misery, whats the deal like? Most of us here want to like you, want to see you play for the country and for the country to do well, but you see, your not giving us much ammuntion on that score. If you make an effort for us, we'll reciprocate, I promise.