Stephen Ireland

[Allstar]

Maybe he's holding out for his father's country?

What a ****.

PP

His father's irish and he has repsented ireland at underage levels so I dont know where you are getting that from???????

[Dodge]

Doubt it very much. Elano is a class or two above Ireland.

Yep, but he's ridiculously inconsistent. Ended up playing full back last year.

For the record I agree with PP. Time to move on

[geysir]

For the record I agree with PP. Time to move on

That just doesn't sound like PP's record.

[Dodge]

Sorry, should have read

For the record I agree with PP above.


Time to move on

[L37Ultra]

We have an extremely important World Cup qualifier game on Saturday. Ireland does not want to play with his country (for whatever reason?)

Lets concentrate on the game versus Georgia on Saturday. In my opinion Ireland wouldn't even start for us anyways. As above posts said, lets move on because i'm sure he is just loving the attention.

[on_me_head_son]

Reluctant as I am to resurrect this thread, as I know the the topic polarises opinion on these boards, I just feel I have to comment on S. Irelands fantastic performance against Portsmouth yesterday. His tenacity, movement and expansive passing was simply awesome. In my humble opinion this was the best performance from an Irish midfielder since Roy Keane in his pomp. It says it all that Sparky substituted him simply so he would get a standing ovation.

I understand that a lot of people on this forum don't want to see him in the Irish shirt again, but I for one am hoping that Hughs and Trap can persuade him to return to the fold. He can offer options no other Irish player can at the moment. Forgive and forget for the greater good I say.

[shakermaker1982]

He looked awesome yesterday......just a pity he doesn't want to play for us.

[Reality Bites]

Reluctant as I am to resurrect this thread, as I know the the topic polarises opinion on these boards, I just feel I have to comment on S. Irelands fantastic performance against Portsmouth yesterday. His tenacity, movement and expansive passing was simply awesome. In my humble opinion this was the best performance from an Irish midfielder since Roy Keane in his pomp. It says it all that Sparky substituted him simply so he would get a standing ovation.

I understand that a lot of people on this forum don't want to see him in the Irish shirt again, but I for one am hoping that Hughs and Trap can persuade him to return to the fold. He can offer options no other Irish player can at the moment. Forgive and forget for the greater good I say.

Yes I agree, I think its safe to say he is the best Irish Prospect since Roy Keane (unfortunately they have more than brillance in common) I think his range of passing is better than Keanes, his awareness yesterday was in a word awesome, we haven't seen an Irish player like this since Giles and Brady, to say he isn't welcome back or we don't need him is folly..Someone needs to get hold of this kid and get him back

[eirebhoy]

9/10 in the Times ratings:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/spo...cle4799360.ece

Hughes:
"Stephen Ireland was exceptional once again and has been for many weeks, He’s on a run of form that we hope he can sustain.”

[Reality Bites]

Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan picked the wrong day to inject realism into his £200m takeover of Manchester City. "We are building a structure for the future, not just a team of all-stars," said the Arab billionaire on completion of the due diligence process yesterday, having heeded the scorn that greeted the transfer wishlist divulged on deadline day. He may be too late, for Mark Hughes' team have already begun to indulge in fantasy.

In contrast to the new owner, City chose the perfect time to impress a gallery with global domination on the mind. Before Khaldoon Al Mubarak, who will become City's new chairman when Sheikh Mansour's takeover is formally concluded tomorrow, and Thaksin Shinawatra, the outgoing owner who will stay on as honorary president, Hughes' team excelled against Portsmouth to record their biggest Premier League win. The men from Abu Dhabi hope to establish a gulf between their new investment and the rest in years to come. But one was very evident here.

Whether it was City's magnificence or Portsmouth's appalling display that produced this mauling divided the respective managers as deeply as the goal count. "That was the best performance I've managed by a country mile," said Hughes. "We were poor. Our defensive play was abysmal," said a shell-shocked Harry Redknapp. The truth, as always, is somewhere in between and yet there was no mistaking the potent cocktail of City's Brazilian technique and home-grown strength and spirit. The result was unbridled joy for the City faithful as Robinho illuminated their afternoon with a performance of technique and no little effort, and Hughes substituted the British record signing, his compatriot Jo and the outstanding Stephen Ireland simply so all three could enjoy standing ovations.

"If ever there was a day to impress people this was the one," remarked the City manager. "We did that and more. From start to finish the desire and determination in our play, the ability to pick the right pass and to create chances was evident. It was a fantastic team performance, with some brilliant individual displays from Stephen Ireland, Robinho, Shaun Wright-Phillips and Vincent Kompany. We have set a high standard with this performance and the aim is to strive to even greater heights." Talk of Champions League qualification will not sound so fanciful if they do.

Portsmouth were 3-0 victors at Everton on their last away trip but were made to look a shambles as City comprehensively clicked for the first time since Abu Dhabi money transformed their bank balance and ambitions. Hughes's side were superior in every department, their defence immune to the errors that swiftly undermined Portsmouth's game plan, the midfield blessed with greater understanding and invention and, as befitted their billing, the Brazilian strike force of Jo and Robinho leading the visitors' rearguard on an irrepressible dance. For David James, Sol Campbell and Sylvain Distin this was 90 minutes on the rack.

Robinho instigated the rout with a delightful pass that released Jo behind the visiting defence, took him around James and saw him convert into an empty net. The England goalkeeper's afternoon plummeted thereafter. James's failure to deal with an Elano corner to his near post enabled Richard Dunne to bundle in a second and the game was effectively up after only 20 minutes. The first "Olés" were heard five minutes later. Portsmouth had their chances either side of the interval, Jermain Defoe squandering a glorious invitation seconds after the restart, but they did not get the run of the ball or display any resilience. City's movement and work ethic produced an exhibition.

Ireland's tenacity and then vision produced Robinho's second successive goal at home for his new club, via Jo, before the midfielder's measured pass enabled Wright-Phillips to beat James at his near post. A backheel from Wright-Phillips gave the young substitute Ched Evans his first goal for the club and the England winger was heavily involved in City's sixth when he challenged James for Javier Garrido's left-wing cross and Gelson Fernandes converted the loose ball. The only problem for Hughes is having to tell his new employers that not every day is like this at City, although Sheikh Mansour appears to be learning fast after announcing to the world that Cristiano Ronaldo et al would be on their way in January.

The sheikh added: "We are ambitious for the club, like you, but not unreasonably so and we understand it takes time to build a team capable of sustaining a presence in the top four of the Premier League and winning European honours." It is performances and victories such as this that bring clarity to such lofty ambitions.

Man of the match Stephen Ireland
City's stand-out summer signings, the Brazilian Robinho and Shaun Wright-Phillips, again impressed but it was the unsung Ireland who dictated the flow of the game with a committed and inventive display

Best moment The Republic of Ireland midfielder's threaded pass that enabled Wright-Phillips to score City's fourth goal

The Gaurdian

[cavan_fan]

IF he did come back, where do you think he would play. would he be competing for Whelan's place or on the right??

[NeilMcD]

Should this not be in world forum..

[Reality Bites]

Should this not be in world forum..

Neither Constructive or Helpful!

[ifk101]

Stephen Ireland has through his actions made it clear he does not want to play for Ireland.

I'd rather have 11 100% committed Leinster Senior League players playing for Ireland than that sploit brat.

[NeilMcD]

Neither Constructive or Helpful!

Sorry, nothing that is said in the Ireland forum is constructive or helpful, it is opinion and hot air. That is fine and it has a place but do not think that any of the opinons expressed here ( I include my own) are nothing other than hot air.

The only things that are constructive and helpful are some of the stuff in Fans Forum etc and a few other threads. Nothing on this particular thread has been constructive or helpful.

[OwlsFan]

Yep, every time there is a good performance by Ireland, he is mentioned here.

He doesn't want to play for us so whether he is the best player ever since Pele, it is irrelevant to Ireland (the country).

[Newryrep]

Stephen Ireland has through his actions made it clear he does not want to play for Ireland.

I'd rather have 11 100% committed Leinster Senior League players playing for Ireland than that sploit brat.

I would agree with the above, we are in danger of protituting ourselves by constantly begging/asking him to come back, have we no pride ?.

I would of had him back after Slovakia following an a apology and was happy to leave it to Trap to make the decision, but I think the time has now passed, does anybody seriously think he would still consider returning if we were beat in the first 2 games ?

[youngirish]

I would agree with the above, we are in danger of protituting ourselves by constantly begging/asking him to come back, have we no pride ?.

I would of had him back after Slovakia following an a apology and was happy to leave it to Trap to make the decision, but I think the time has now passed, does anybody seriously think he would still consider returning if we were beat in the first 2 games ?

I wonder what people would think if he decided to come back only after we qualified for the World Cup. If at that stage he had been outstanding for city for the previous two seasons would people be happy to have him back?

[ifk101]

I wonder what people would think if he decided to come back only after we qualified for the World Cup. If at that stage he had been outstanding for city for the previous two seasons would people be happy to have him back?

No. The decision would ultimately be Trapattoni's but Stephen Ireland has a history of walking out on Irish setups? Do we want another Saipon?

[ruben_sosa]

I wonder what people would think if he decided to come back only after we qualified for the World Cup. If at that stage he had been outstanding for city for the previous two seasons would people be happy to have him back?

He wouldn't get a look in, it would destroy the team morale - Trap isn't stupid. If we did qualify it would prove that we don't need him in the squad anyway. If he has shown no interest in playing world cup qualifiers, then he has no interest in playing in the world cup either. I think he'll come back sooner rather than later, perhaps when his club form takes a dip and he's on the bench and needs a convenient shop window like Finnan. It's only a matter of time before he gets on the wrong side of Hughes and is shown the door.