So....Stephen Ireland......

LuckyLloyd

zAbbo wrote: »

Trappers will be able to sort him out, as there'll be none of this stubborn thick Irishman routine with the last 3 managers (Kerr/Givens/Stan)

How much do you know about Trapatonni?

Pigman II

Yeah Xavi6, that does smack of doublestandards.

Personally I think if wiggy begs to come back then his reinsertion should be considered. I felt the same way about The Traitor after he walked out on us in 2002. We shouldn't be running cap-in-hand to these superstars looking for a dig out. It sends out the wrong message ie that the players are more important than the team.

No wonder we've got these current problems. Players have bad attitude and lack dicipline and the reason is they think they can do whatever they like and still be assured their position in the pecking order.

David O'Leary didn't take a meaningless tournament in Iceland seriously back in 86 and he got booted out of the team for 3 years. Was there a reoccurance of that kind of attitude from others in the squad after that? Not a bit of it.

Basically we need a readopt an attitude of "make it a serious priority or p.ss off". If we do then I can see us being serious challengers for qualification for the next world cup.

Xavi6

Pigman II wrote: »

Yeah Xavi6, that does smack of doublestandards.

Personally I think if wiggy begs to come back then his reinsertion should be considered. I felt the same way about The Traitor after he walked out on us in 2002. We shouldn't be running cap-in-hand to these superstars looking for a dig out. It sends out the wrong message ie that the players are more important than the team.

No wonder we've got these current problems. Players have bad attitude and lack dicipline and the reason is they think they can do whatever they like and still be assured their position in the pecking order.

David O'Leary didn't take a meaningless tournament in Iceland seriously back in 86 and he got booted out of the team for 3 years. Was there a reoccurance of that kind of attitude from others in the squad after that? Not a bit of it.

Basically we need a readopt an attitude of "make it a serious priority or p.ss off". If we do then I can see us being serious challengers for qualification for the next world cup.

Ever think that these bad vibes come form the top though and players have had just cause to walk away from set ups? Maybe if we got a proper hierachy in charge the players would respect it.

After all, no one walked out on Big Jack.

OhNoYouDidn't

~Rebel~ wrote: »

He seems to have no problem with Man City, not a disruption, bar wearing superman boxers.

Dont quite see what needs to be seriously sorted out.

He had his issues, he took his time out, if he's willing to come back and put it behind him, thats the end of it for me.

If he was willing to fabricate the deaths of two grannies and a miscarraige in order to get out of the Irish squad, then there is a substantive issue about miserable he was.

If its about bullying, thats one thing. If its about a lonely young man who doesnt want to be away from home and has no real desire to be there anyway, well he is finished in international football.

PHB

If he doesn't come back, we will have to wait another generation for a top class central midfielder.

missingtime

What I've noticed about this is:

1. Don Givens is a jumped up johnny who thinks is more important to the set-up that anyone else.
2. Ireland made a mistake and it should have been rectified as soon as possible. If we had propper people in charge it would have been.
3. If Trappatoni and Brady do become part of the set-up, then I think Brady will have a word and sort the whole thing out.

Souness said it best "The situation needed managing" and there was no one in place, sorry no one capabale in place, to do this.

~Rebel~

OhNoYouDidn't wrote: »

If he was willing to fabricate the deaths of two grannies and a miscarraige in order to get out of the Irish squad, then there is a substantive issue about miserable he was.

Woooh, there has never been any even basic shred of evidence to back up the miscarriage being faked. Which by this stage probably means his poor girlfriend did in fact suffer a miscarriage.

Its unfair to take it any other way really, and taking it at face value, he's had his time out, he's got stuck into his club football and after a slump in form, has really picked himself back up now. He's not the brightest chap, but he doesn't seem like a bad guy either.

BaZmO*

~Rebel~ wrote: »

Woooh, there has never been any even basic shred of evidence to back up the miscarriage being faked. Which by this stage probably means his poor girlfriend did in fact suffer a miscarriage.

Its unfair to take it any other way really, and taking it at face value, he's had his time out, he's got stuck into his club football and after a slump in form, has really picked himself back up now. He's not the brightest chap, but he doesn't seem like a bad guy either.

What??? No evidence? Are ya mad? He lied twice about his Granny dying and then a week later, while playing for his club side, pulled down his shorts to reveal his Superman underpants after scoring a goal. The guy is very talented but he obviously has a screw loose.

Funny how it's a person from Cork and a Man City fan defending his actions.

OhNoYouDidn't

PHB wrote: »

If he doesn't come back, we will have to wait another generation for a top class central midfielder.

Top class? Hmmmm.

Well he is the one in self imposed exile, so ball is in his court. If he wants to come back, he can advise the new manager he is available for selection again.

Until then, this is a pointless debate.

LuckyLloyd

PHB wrote: »

If he doesn't come back, we will have to wait another generation for a top class central midfielder.

Yeah, but if he comes back without the right attitude then his affect on the squad will not be 'top class'.

At the end of the day, using a personal grudge with an individual (Brian Kerr) as an excuse not to play for your country is an indication that his motivations for playing would not be national pride or the passion of giving something back to the Irish team and it's supporters. Therefore, we don't need him.

OhNoYouDidn't

BaZmO* wrote: »

What??? No evidence? Are ya mad? He lied twice about his Granny dying and then a week later, while playing for his club side, pulled down his shorts to reveal his Superman underpants after scoring a goal. The guy is very talented but he obviously has a screw loose.

Funny how it's a person from Cork and a Man City fan defending his actions.

Exacly. We are suddenly supposed to start believeing a particular bit of the story.

If he pulled that stroke on away duty at Man City he would have been transfer listed immediatly.

masterK

I think Richards Dunnes comments about him after the awards sums him up. He said he wasn't too bothered about playing for Ireland and would rather have the few days off when Internationals are off.

Regardless of his ability surely we should have more pride in ourselves then begging somebody like that to play for his country.

darkman2

Daily Mail:

City boss assures his troubled star Ireland that old pal Giovanni will help himBy COLIN YOUNG AND PHILIP QUINN -

Last updated at 09:24am on 13th February 2008


Sven Goran Eriksson has again urged Stephen Ireland to reconsider his international future as his old friend Giovanni Trapattoni takes control of the national team.

The Manchester City manager and the new Ireland boss are old adversaries from their days in Serie A and on the international arena and Eriksson is convinced he is exactly the right coach to welcome Ireland back into the national squad after a six-month absence.

Eriksson is keen to see Ireland play for his country again and has spent several hours with the Cork-born midfielder trying to persuade him to change his mind about his self-imposed international exile.


News of Trapattoni's imminent appointment has prompted him to raise the subject again. The Swede believes the Italian's experience and knowledge will benefit former Cobh Rambler Ireland, who has a chequered past with virtually every Ireland team he has been involved with.

That will be a welcome boost for Trapattoni as FAI chief executive John Delaney prepares to formally announce his appointment today after several hours of negotiations were successfully concluded with Trapattoni's business advisor last night.



There are also questions about the role of Sports Entertainment and Media Group (SEM) in the deal, with suggestions that Jerome Anderson, the company's chairman and chief executive, was the link between the FAI and Trapattoni.

Are we already seeing the positive effects?

~Rebel~

BaZmO* wrote: »

What??? No evidence? Are ya mad? He lied twice about his Granny dying and then a week later, while playing for his club side, pulled down his shorts to reveal his Superman underpants after scoring a goal. The guy is very talented but he obviously has a screw loose.

Funny how it's a person from Cork and a Man City fan defending his actions.

yeah, thats not evidence that his girlfriend didn't have a miscarriage...in any way whatsoever...


On the cork thing, thats less then nought to do with it. Personally I don't like the guy, he seems pretty dim and immature, however what im saying is Thats not enough. He lied about the granny thing, stupid, yes. And it was immediately discovered. So on one hand we have him, his family, his girlfriend and her family all on tv and in papers being upset over it and we have tabloids who would have been all over this after GrannyGate searching for anything to hang him with. But they didn't find anything to disprove it. Thats enough for me, and i think its not cricket to start claiming they faked a miscarriage without any evidence to the contrary.

BaZmO*

What about pulling down his shorts then? Not really the behaviour of someone that has just gone through such a traumatising event is it?

PHB

OhNoYouDidn't wrote: »

Top class? Hmmmm.

Well he is the one in self imposed exile, so ball is in his court. If he wants to come back, he can advise the new manager he is available for selection again.

Until then, this is a pointless debate.

No, we can ask him to come back.

LuckyLloyd wrote: »

Yeah, but if he comes back without the right attitude then his affect on the squad will not be 'top class'.

At the end of the day, using a personal grudge with an individual (Brian Kerr) as an excuse not to play for your country is an indication that his motivations for playing would not be national pride or the passion of giving something back to the Irish team and it's supporters. Therefore, we don't need him.

He is doing pretty well for City. He looks like he will be a top class midfielder. I don't give a **** what his reasons are for playing for Ireland, I couldn't care less. Once he plays to his fullest abilities for us I'm fine with that, even if its only to get more international exposure.

We desperately need him. We have no magic men in our team anymore. Duffers seems to have lost it. Keane needs people to work with him. Ireland is the only other player who really has that extra level that you need to qualify for major tournaments. We desperately need him.

Pigman II

My own theory on the shorts incident is as follows. It came so soon after he was in the press for wearing a wig that it was as a deliberate stunt on his part to deflect attention away from his bonce. Basically he was attempting (and reluctlantly willing) to be forever known as "the shorts guy" rather than "the wig guy".

Nice try but sorry Stevie, you failed.

~Rebel~

BaZmO* wrote: »

What about pulling down his shorts then? Not really the behaviour of someone that has just gone through such a traumatising event is it?

I stand corrected, indisputable evidence that his girlfriend had a miscarriage. A stupid celebration for a goal - the act of a true fiend.

/sarcasm

Care to mention how nothing a bit more substantial was found despite every tabloid obviously looking for something? Grannygate was uncovered immediately yet not a peep for this one.

Xavi6

BaZmO* wrote: »

What??? No evidence? Are ya mad? He lied twice about his Granny dying and then a week later, while playing for his club side, pulled down his shorts to reveal his Superman underpants after scoring a goal. The guy is very talented but he obviously has a screw loose.

Funny how it's a person from Cork and a Man City fan defending his actions.

Ah here there's no evidence to say the miscarriage never happened. Yes his lying was wrong and stupid but there was method in the madness. The Superman thing was just another one of those stupid celebrations. Nothing more, nothing less.

Me being a City fan really has nothing to do with it as I'm only looking at it from an Irish point of view. We need all the goo dplayers we can get and he is one of the best. Ideally I'd like a clean slate for him under Trap and let him do what he does best on the football pitch.

Mr Alan

Anyone who doubts his girlfriend is perfectly within their rights to do so, and need not provide any "proof" that she didnt have a miscarraige.

The only "proof" anyone has, is that that he is a liar and has no problem in lying in order to get out of international duty.

I seem to remember being totally villified at the time when i declared that i didnt believe it. At least now it seems more of an accepted viewpoint.

boy who cried wolf and all that.

reason 1 for leaving international setup-proven lie

reason 2 for leaving international setup-proven lie

reason 3 for leaving international setup- ?????? why would anyone believe watever he came up with?!

and then coupling this with his subsequent seemingly non existant interest in coming back into the international fold would lead me to believe he just couldnt be arsed.

~Rebel~

Mr Alan wrote: »

Anyone who doubts his girlfriend is perfectly within their rights to do so, and need not provide any "proof" that she didnt have a miscarraige.

The only "proof" anyone has, is that that he is a liar and has no problem in lying in order to get out of international duty.

I seem to remember being totally villified at the time when i declared that i didnt believe it. At least now it seems more of an accepted viewpoint.

boy who cried wolf and all that.

reason 1 for leaving international setup-proven lie

reason 2 for leaving international setup-proven lie

reason 3 for leaving international setup- ?????? why would anyone believe watever he came up with?!

and then coupling this with his subsequent seemingly non existant interest in coming back into the international fold would lead me to believe he just couldnt be arsed.

No problem with people saying they dont believe it, but its not cricket to be stating it as fact that he lied and made up the miscarriage, like was done on the previous page. There is no evidence so its entirely opinion based.

LuckyLloyd

PHB wrote: »

He is doing pretty well for City. He looks like he will be a top class midfielder. I don't give a **** what his reasons are for playing for Ireland, I couldn't care less. Once he plays to his fullest abilities for us I'm fine with that, even if its only to get more international exposure.

We desperately need him. We have no magic men in our team anymore. Duffers seems to have lost it. Keane needs people to work with him. Ireland is the only other player who really has that extra level that you need to qualify for major tournaments. We desperately need him.

PHB, the idea that you can just turn up and maximise your abillity without actually caring about your team's cause is a little silly. At club level the motiviation will always be money; bonuses; potential for bigger club with bigger money and bigger bonuses. But I struggle to believe that someone can turn up for a national team with the wrong mindset and still phone it in to a decent level. If thjis kid who has ultimately done very little in football so far isn't really interested in Irish football; we don't really need him.

He's shown a bit of potential over a relatively small sample size in the premiership. Why is he suddenly made out to be the second coming?

darkman2

The 'Granny Killer' is back

Ireland ready to make international return
Sunday, 17 February 2008 11:46
Republic of Ireland midfielder Stephen Ireland has confirmed that he wants to play for his country again and will make himself available for selection by new manager Gionvanni Trapattoni.


Ireland has not played for the Republic since his infamous withdrawal from the squad in September when he lied about the death of his two grandmothers.


However, the Manchester City player told The Star: 'I'm available for selection, very much available. We need someone like him (Trapattoni) hopefully to bring it out of us and get us playing.


Ireland revealed that his club manager Sven Goran Eriksson had a major influence on his decision to make himself available to Trapattoni.


'We Sven heard that he was announced, he said it was a great opportunity for me to go back now because he is a very good coach and I will learn a lot.


'This did have an effect on my decision to return. I trust Sven you know. Whatever he says is good advice and he means well.


'I think there is a lot of talent in the squad and we can actually qualify for the big tournaments.'

eirebhoy

"I'm available for selection, very much available. We need someone like him (Trapattoni) hopefully to bring it out of us and get us playing.

When Sven heard that he was announced, he said it was a great opportunity for me to go back now because he is a very good coach and I will learn a lot.

This did have an effect on my decision to return. I trust Sven you know. Whatever he says is good advice and he means well.

I think there is a lot of talent in the squad and we can actually qualify for the big tournaments."

http://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2008/0217/irelands.html

shane86

Well, Im exiorah and delirah

Although over the last few years fate has told me to only believe things regarding Irish football when I see it. I suppose Serbia might be his return.

Any sections of the crowd who boo him should be machine gunned tbh. Mistakes were made, and I dont think it cost us qualification. Even if it did, we would have been out in round one with Stan in charge IMO.

Necronomicon

Excellent. He hasn't endeared himself to anyone in the past few months but let's put this to bed, because we can't afford to turn away a talent like his.

Xavi6

Super news. Great to have him back

BaZmO*

Great news. He's done the right thing by saying he's available rather than waiting for Trapattoni to approach him. Although it'd be funny if Traps didn't want him! But I somehow can't see that happening.

tetsujin1979

BaZmO* wrote: »

Great news. He's done the right thing by saying he's available rather than waiting for Trapattoni to approach him. Although it'd be funny if Traps didn't want him! But I somehow can't see that happening.

Eriksson is supposed to have invited Trapattoni to the Citry - Everton game to watch Ireland and Dunne.

mayordenis

brilliant - top player - couldnt care less if he lies at every possible oppurtunity once he plays to standard he's capable of.

OhNoYouDidn't

mayordenis wrote: »

brilliant - top player - couldnt care less if he lies at every possible oppurtunity once he plays to standard he's capable of.

so to hell with team unity and discipline?

just out of interest, have you ever played football?

_blank_

OhNoYouDidn't wrote: »

just out of interest, have you ever played football?

Be careful when he reads that. It's going to be a rant of epic proportions.

ziggy

This post has been deleted.

gosplan

OhNoYouDidn't wrote: »

so to hell with team unity and discipline?

just out of interest, have you ever played football?

I'd wager not under Stan.

I'm surprised that we didn't have loads of players trying to come up with reasons to spend their time off at home rather than having that idiot shout undecipherable instructions at them from the touchline. :D

redspider

So, Stephen says he is available now ..... well, I dont think that makes the situation hunky-dory. Lets see what Trapattoni thinks of it all, I'm sure he'll be briefed by FAI staff. I'd say he (and Ly-am Brady, if on the staff) will have to have a quiet word with Stephen to figure out what went wrong, his absence, etc, and to make sure that it doesnt re-occur over something else. There's a good chance it will all be sorted out though, but you never know. I'll be looking at his next performance for Ireland whenever that will be with scrutiny however ...... lets see what happens,

Redspider

Boggles

ziggy wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

Would this be the same midfielder who echoed the sentaments of every Irish football fan who did not think medicority was acceptable, the midfielder who dared to say that FAI were out of there debt and not a clue what they were doing, all this before the appointment of Stan the Man. It's thanks to people like this that we have an opportunity today not just to move Irish football forward but to try and repair the damage the FAI are responsible for.

Xavi6

Boggles wrote: »

Would this be the same midfielder who echoed the sentaments of every Irish football fan who did not think medicority was acceptable, the midfielder who dared to say that FAI were out of there debt and not a clue what they were doing, all this before the appointment of Stan the Man. It's thanks to people like this that we have an opportunity today not just to move Irish football forward but to try and repair the damage the FAI are responsible for.

It's also thanks to people like this that we didn't progress further in a tournament we should have but as posted in another thread, it's been done plenty of times so let it go.

This thread is about Stephen Ireland.

Boggles

I actually think the 2 Reids would make the team before Ireland, that said he was good against United last week and is a goal scorer, would take the pressure off our forwards.

A manager like Trapatoni would start with a clean sheet for everyone, similar to Cappello, picking players on merit and not reputation.

ziggy

This post has been deleted.

_blank_

Ooh, is there going to be a Keane debate?

Will I get the popcorn on?

~Rebel~

DesF wrote: »

Ooh, is there going to be a Keane debate?

Will I get the popcorn on?

please, salted with lots of butter!

These are always great.


OT,

I'm glad he's back but, as mentioned above, the new management should have a chat with him, make sure everything is behind us and that this stuff won't happen again and won't be tolerated if it does.

All the same, he's the quickest rising star for us in the upper echelons of the game so his involvement is definately a good thing. Sven doesn't seem to have problems with him, so hopefully neither will Giovanni.

Boggles

DesF wrote: »

Ooh, is there going to be a Keane debate?

Will I get the popcorn on?

Oh Good God No.

~Rebel~ wrote: »

I'm glad he's back but, as mentioned above, the new management should have a chat with him, make sure everything is behind us and that this stuff won't happen again and won't be tolerated if it does.

Best not to mention it at all, draw a line under the shambles that went before and a clean slate for everyone, including the FAI.

Xavi6

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/sport/football.html?in_article_id=517584&in_page_id=1779&ico=Homepage&icl=TabModule&icc=picbox&ct=5

Ireland, who recently took delivery of a £90,000 Range Rover customised with pink wheels, grille, seats and accessories, has not played for his country since inventing the death of two grandmothers to engineer his way home from an international double-header last season.

It has to be seen to be believed....

http://img.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2008/02_03/IrelandPinkRange_468x269.jpg

Guy:Incognito

:eek:

For the man who thinks having pictures of himself in a thong in the public domain just isnt going far enough..........

ROFL!!!!! i think this man may have been even lying about having a girlfriend even. He must be a complete poofter to drive around in that. Ah well, live and let live if thats the case. talented player who id have no problem with seeing in the green shirt again.

surely its a photoshopped image!!???

Could also be the girlfriends i suppose.

grames_bond

ah that has to be fake! for the love of god that car is rediculous!