Quoteif he doesnt care about playing for us, why should we care about him? Until he's ready to come back, apology or not, we shouldnt even talk about him.
Bentley is still booed by the England fans for refusing to play in the U-21 championships two seasons ago.Originally Posted by youngirish
Gary McAllister refused to play for Scotland again after being booed by the fans.
if he doesnt care about playing for us, why should we care about him? Until he's ready to come back, apology or not, we shouldnt even talk about him.
Saw the interview and he seems like a decent bright lad but is obviously psychologically frail. The more ill-feeling there is to him the more the fact that he won't play for Ireland is a self-fulfilling prophecy. The prospect of 80,000 countryman booing and resenting you would be a difficult task to conquer for the bravest of men which will only get worse with time.
I, like many of you, cannot understand not playing for your country, however we do not know what has gone on and equally cannot understand the pressures of being in the public eye and hounded by your national media. Nothing will be achieved by booing and hating him as much as we can't understand him, especially in light of the most important thing - he is a top quality player who would improve the team.
At this point the only way I can see him being welcomed back is if we lose some key matches and nothing is going right for us.
If he returns when everything is going well, he will be attacked. If things are failing miserably, people will give him a chance to redeem himself.
Saw the Observer's interview with him today over here, was very much coming around to the thinking that his performances were making it just about impossible to not want him in the squad.
How wrong I was. Doesn't miss it, doesn't seem to care about it, nothing. Says he wants more time with his family; first of all, footballers have more free time than people in just about any profession. Second, countless other internationals - including his club captain - maintain family life whilst still representing their country.
Was preparing to chip in my two cents yesterday about how we can't turn down a player of his talents, but I'm finished with him now. Don't want him back, good luck to him in his club career. He'll always be Stephen Manchester to me now!
In Trap we trust
If he's psychologically capable of playing well for Man City then that rules his mental state out as an excuse for not playing for Ireland. To me, it seems he couldn't be bothered.
A real shame as he's playing great this season but the guy has minimal to zero interest in playing for his country. Full stop. Time to forget about him and move on with players that do.
Trap and Tardelli at the Wigan v City game!
From the BBC:
1612: Giovanni Trapattoni is sitting in the stands with England boss Fabio Capello's right-hand man Franco Baldini. Trapattoni will have to do some work to get Stephen Ireland back in his squad - the Man City midfielder told various Sunday papers he doesn't miss international football.
In Trap we trust
Now that its in black and white,is it time to close the thread to free up space for people and players who actually care about their country?Being a Cobh resident, I find this mans behaviour embarassing and shameful.
I think it'll only hit home for him when he's watching us at the WC on his telly in Manchester, and he'll know he could've been a part of it.
Besides wouldn't he just fall into the same category as Andy Reid as far as Trapp was concerned? I can't see him play for Ireland except in a 5 man midfield. And he is less adept at playing wide than Reid. All in all given his behavioral/mental issues and problems of accomadating him iin the team I would say we are better off without him.
"I wouldn't say that I hated playing for Ireland. I just feel I'm better off away from it." from the interview today.
Sounds pretty clear to me that we should plan without him.
I am just waiting for the post that says, that the people who posted on www.foot.ie were to blame for him not wanting to come back.
In Trap we trust
Playing for ireland is the last thing that he's thinking about. Now that money bags are backing the club he'll start publicly demanding a contract renegotiation so he's among the highest earners at City. He won't sit idly by as Robinho earns £160,000 a week.
didn't take him long the last time.
http://archives.tcm.ie/irishexaminer...story29370.asp
What he has said over the last couple of days is at odds with his comments last year on MOTD (for me any way), but at least there's some level of closure now on the issue. It's disappointing but I'm not as bothered as I would have thought. I honestly believe there'll be a stage where he'll need us more than we'll need him.
Things are flying now, we'll see now when City reach the standard they profess to target and S Ireland hits the inevitable blip in form. Has he got the head for dealing with fans and media at the Big Club when things aren't going well. Look at what happens Rooney when he's not scoring???? Even Scholes got it for a time some years ago. I don't think so. He's talented, yes, but I'm not sure he's the full package.
International football has been an outlet for Irish players in the past who have had a poor time at club level and they usually return from International duty better off. He's just removed that option.
I wouldn't want him back unless he was fully commited. Anything less would have been counter productive to the progress we've seen in the set up. He's an adult and we should accept it.
Hope someone has told him the parrable of Micheal Laudrup though....
What's the parable of Michael Laudrup?
Looks like you will have to do it because you are the only one who knows it.
You do know we have unlimited space for such speculation, dont you?
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