Quotei wouldnt be so sure although id be lying if i said i didnt think a comitted and well behaved SI would add a lot to our teamOriginally Posted by backtowalsall
I think this will be a turning point for the lad. Trap seemed a lot more open to him coming back this evening. I'm going to stick my arm out and say I think we will be seeing him back in an Ireland shirt before the end of the season.
Bring Back Belfast Celtic F.C.
i wouldnt be so sure although id be lying if i said i didnt think a comitted and well behaved SI would add a lot to our team
Careful now - sharks in transit.
I would hope so. We badly need more quality players in the team/squad.
"We lost because we didn't win"- Ronaldo
Did he get his £2,000,000?
Lend us a tenner Steve!
Also:-
Stephen Ireland deal pleases Villa boss Kevin MacDonald
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/foot...la/8925046.stm
Last edited by tricky_colour; 18/08/2010 at 4:05 PM.
I agree in general, but Ozil was free to walk at the end of this season. Length remaining in a player's contract is a key factor in transfer value.
Yea if Milner is worth £24 million I'm worth £10 million
I misread you there for a minute and thought you said he should be committed. I'd agree with that.
Last thing we need at the minute is a disruptive influence with precious little first team football under his belt. If he decides he's interested again, I'd name him in a few training squads to see how he fits in and wouldn't let him near the team until the 2011 games.
But then again, I'd be equally as happy if he wasn't let near Lansdowne Road for the rest of his life.....
Spectacular piece of bridge-burning by Stevie. Not sure where the pot gets off calling the kettle black, but it's an interesting interview nonetheless.
"I don't think loyalty is much in anyone's mind at Manchester City," he said. "I felt like I would be next [to leave]. A lot of players felt like that as well – the homegrown guys.""I've really landed on my feet here. I think it's a family club and one that will get the best out of me. I am actually shocked at how good it is. I've settled in so well, so fast. Even the young lads are so polite. I'm actually quite shocked with that. At City they're not like that. They're coming in with £10,000 watches on their wrists and walking around as if they have played 200 Premier League games."http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2...tephen-ireland"I guess James Milner must think the grass is greener on the other side. He's going to get a shock soon because it's definitely not that way."
Maybe a lot of truth in what he says about Man City, however it remains to be seen if
he is as good as he thinks he is, obviously Stephen has not been in favour recently at Man City,
I expect the guys with the £10,000 watches thinks its a lot better than Stephen does.
It will be interesting to see he gets on on Sunday.
I wonder how much Stephen's watch is worth?
Anyone know who is the guy with his back to camera?
http://www.birminghammail.net/birmin...7319-27083537/
That's David Silva if I'm not mistaken.
D Silva
Anyone know who is the guy with his back to camera?
http://www.birminghammail.net/birmin...7319-27083537/
Its his Grandmother actually, her friends always mistake her for Silva in the bingo parlor.
She lives in B'Ham so they are going to be staying with her while he sorts out getting a new pink house with a million dollar fish tank where his bowling balls will swim.
Also todays article in the Independent, at least online, says "Ireland hints at return." But when you actually read it, despite him saying he would have a conversation with the FAI, it is basically him hinting that he WILL NOT return, i.e "I havent missed it. I only played 6 games for the national team so there is not much to miss." and "My club is the priority."
I will believe he is coming back when a paper says "Ireland never coming back."
Last edited by Crosby87; 21/08/2010 at 12:49 PM.
No Somos muchos pero estamos locos.
Its just not the same anymore Stephen. Not a bit like "back in the day"
If only we could return to the good old days when the clubs and the players had not lost the run of themselves.
Luckily Stephen never did anything daft when he was young and less wise than he is today !
The guardian.
Stephen Ireland last night lifted the lid on life at Manchester City with an astonishing attack on his former club. Ireland, who joined Aston Villa this week as part of the deal that took James Milner in the opposite direction, tore into everyone, from the manager Roberto Mancini to the club's "money-obsessed" young players, as he revealed the full extent of his anger at the way he has been treated.
The Irishman was prevented from discussing the details of the financial pay-off he received from City because of a confidentiality agreement he has signed – he is believed to have picked up a little more than half the £2m he was demanding – but every other subject was considered fair game as he reeled off a list of complaints that painted a bleak picture of his final 12 months at City. Ireland's tirade included:
• Warning James Milner he will get a shock if he thinks the grass is greener at City
• Claiming Mancini has no relationship with any of the players
• Insisting he is as good as if not better than any of the new signings
• Accusing City's young players of wearing £10,000 watches and believing they are Premier League stars
• Describing City as a club where loyalty is no longer recognised
• Branding Mancini's criticism of his attitude unfair because he was the "best player in training"
It was a remarkable assault on City and will make for uncomfortable reading when the club's officials, players and supporters wade though Ireland's diatribe. The midfielder, who is expected to make his Villa debut at Newcastle on Sunday on his 24th birthday, spoke about City as if they were a club he could not wait to leave. "I think Aston Villa got a really good deal," he said. "I guess James Milner must think the grass is greener on the other side. He's going to get a shock soon because it's definitely not that way.
"I've really landed on my feet here. I think it's a family club and one that will get the best out of me. I am actually shocked at how good it is. I've settled in so well, so fast. Even the young lads are so polite. I'm actually quite shocked with that. At City they're not like that. They're coming in with £10,000 watches on their wrists and walking around as if they have played 200 Premier League games."
Ireland, who has a reputation for spending his own money quite lavishly, came through City's youth system and spent nine years at the club, but he felt as though the service he gave them counted for nothing in the end.
"I don't think loyalty is much in anyone's mind at Manchester City," he said. "I felt like I would be next [to leave]. A lot of players felt like that as well – the homegrown guys."
The former City trainee said he had not spoken a word to Mancini before he left although he suggested there is little communication between the manager and his former team-mates full stop. "He doesn't really build relationships with players," said Ireland. "He brought Patrick Vieira in and when I spoke to him about his relationship [with Mancini], he said he doesn't really have one, and he's worked for him for years. I think that's the way he is."
Ireland won the player of the year award at City in 2009 but he was a peripheral figure last season, in particular after Mancini replaced Mark Hughes in December. When asked about Ireland's lack of action last season, the Italian implied the midfielder had an attitude problem, when he claimed he needed to "change his head". Ireland remains deeply upset with those comments.
"I think that was really unfair, all the players know I was the first player into training and the last to leave," he said. "I worked the hardest. With all the heart-rate monitors and tests, I was always No1, far ahead of everyone. You see the performance in training and I was practically always the best player in training. If [Mancini's] standing there watching that, I don't know how he doesn't see that."
Another wave of big names have arrived at Eastlands this summer but Ireland claimed he is as good as any of them. "I'm not really a highly-self-confident person," he said, with no hint of what was to come. "But I can honestly say Manchester City have tried to replace me for the last three or four seasons and it's never happened. I can easily say I've got, if not more ability, as much ability as any player they have signed this year."
Ireland described the way his time with City ended as "heartbreaking" but he is adamant he is heading in the right direction. "I can understand why James Milner has gone there but I can tell him that I'm very happy to leave there and come here," he said. "Some people have used the phrase that I've been forced out. I couldn't be more happy to be forced to come here, to a club like Aston Villa."
I love it - those kids with their 10 grand watches. Pot calling the kettle black?
now burnt bridges with city fans who are far from impressed by his comments
You've got to hand it to Stephen Ireland. He's such a modest, unassuming and genuine character.
probably going to be slaughtered for this but to be fair, Ireland didn't start showing off his cash until he got a massive pay rise, and started spending it. He's talking about 18/19 year olds blowing their entire wage packet on a watch/car/whatever to the detriment of their football.
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