Stephen Ireland Open Door or Slam it Shut! [mod warning post #645 / #713]

Seaneh

Cheers Xavi, you're a lege.

nkay1985

That's a really good interview. I agree with Xavi that he does tend to interview quite well. Most of the lads in work or whatever that toe the "Stephen Ireland is a [insert explicative of choice here]" line base it on one huge mistake by the lad. They've not looked on anything he's done since.

I'm amazed to see him say that he's not been contacted by the FAI though. I can't see why he'd lie, but I can't see why Trap would either. So that's a bit perplexing.

I've always thought that he'd use this season to get himself right and that once he'd done that, he'd come back to the Irish team. But it seems he's happy in himself now but still has no intention of returning. I find this a great disappointment. He would make an enormous difference. Imagine the team is Steven Reid was fit and Ireland was back playing. I'm not saying we'd be world beaters but it'd be a lot better than having Whelan and Gibson in there.

I live in hope anyway!

redout

Xavi thinks Ireland + Robinho = Porn.

I thinks he right !

Outstanding this season.

Hope he comes back to the Ireland setup.

I think Trapp in private is fuking livid he manages an average team with one real outfield star and he cant pick him !

Craft25

Does anyone else think he seems to be taking his lead from Keane in a big way on this issue.. i wish i could say we should get RK to have words with him, but who in the FAI in their right mind would have the balls to ring Keano!!

I personally think it takes a community to raise a child and it seems that through both the bullying incident and the hatemail he recieved, he feels let down by his community.

Sure he made mistakes himself but i think any player shoud be forgiven that, regardless of how good he is now, especially seeing as he was a wildchild young lad when he made those mistakes!

I think its up to some community elders to reach out to him.. that means Brady, Robbie Keane, Senior players.. and anyone else you can think of. He needs to know that when he does come back that he will be welcomed!

nkay1985

Craft25 wrote: »

I think its up to some community elders to reach out to him.. that means Brady, Robbie Keane, Senior players.. and anyone else you can think of. He needs to know that when he does come back that he will be welcomed!

That brings up a big point I meant to make. The fact that Shay Given is now at City does us no harm at all. He's always given everything for Ireland and I'm sure he'll be brave enough to have a few words with Ireland about it. I actually think I heard something on Off The Ball indicating that he already had.

LuckyLloyd

Pighead wrote: »

'I read in the press that
Trapattoni and Liam Brady
have said they have
contacted me. Well, they
haven’t. That’s all I can say'

:eek: Wow, I am actually shocked at that statement. What on earth is going on? Somebody isn't giving us the whole truth here. If Stephen Ireland is telling the truth Brady, Traps and Co have some serious questions to answer.

I am forced to question Stephen Ireland's credibility at this point, given previous incidents.

Craft25

probably spoke to mark hughes or got richard dunne to speak to him..

maybe they ask his girlfriend's permission for him to come out & play

ziggy

This post has been deleted.

therecklessone

Craft25 wrote: »

maybe they ask his girlfriend's permission for him to come out & play

Quit the trolling.

A Primal Nut

mikemac wrote: »

It’d be some blow to Glenn Whelan or Andy Reid if they lose their place in the World Cup squad if he decides to come back for the tournament.

I’d let Stephen Ireland back anytime but when the qualifiers are over and El Trap is deciding who to bring to South Africa then is no way he should be allowed go.

It'd cause resentment anyway among the team imo.
Sure imagine a similar situation in your workplace when someone doesn't chip into a project but steps up at the end to get the glory

Doesn't matter this is professional sport the best players should go - especially for a team with limited players. The same **** happened with Roy Keane in 2002 this doesn't happen anywhere else except Ireland.

Besides Andy Reid lose his place...he hasn't got his place to lose.

Mr Alan

Stephen Ireland is a proven liar. If Trapp & Brady have said they have spoken to him, there is only one version of events i'd be inclined to believe.

ShoulderChip

Mr Alan wrote: »

Stephen Ireland is a proven liar. If Trapp & Brady have said they have spoken to him, there is only one version of events i'd be inclined to believe.

ah now, its unfair to call him a proven liar,
even though I'm sure you have proof he lied a certain amount of times.

Mr Alan

ShoulderChip wrote: »

ah now, its unfair to call him a proven liar,
even though I'm sure you have proof he lied a certain amount of times.

no its not, its perfectly fair. he admitted he lied.

redout

Mr Alan wrote: »

no its not, its perfectly fair. he admitted he lied.

Who gives a bollox if they guy lied. Every politician in this country is a compulsive liar yet we still vote/support them come election time ! The fact is he is the best Irish player there is and if he comes back then fuking great.

therecklessone

redout wrote: »

Who gives a bollox if they guy lied.

I think it's very relevant to his Daily Mail interview, as outlined above.

dogpile

Pighead wrote: »

'I read in the press that
Trapattoni and Liam Brady
have said they have
contacted me. Well, they
haven’t. That’s all I can say'

:eek: Wow, I am actually shocked at that statement. What on earth is going on? Somebody isn't giving us the whole truth here. If Stephen Ireland is telling the truth Brady, Traps and Co have some serious questions to answer.

So he's basically calling the management team liars in the written press! way to go Steven, that's another notch in your belt up there with "grannygate"...if they didn't approach maybe the thought behind it is to leave the door open to him for if they did make the approach and he turned it down that would surely be the door closed for good.....for me I think there's no going back "in his own head" which is a shame really but not alot can be done about it

noodler

Mr Alan wrote: »

Stephen Ireland is a proven liar. If Trapp & Brady have said they have spoken to him, there is only one version of events i'd be inclined to believe.

You're a proven liar. You know why? Because you have lied at least once in your life as well.

darkman2

Ive been pondering today that our best player - yeah the one who was slagged off the training ground by our bunch of Pele's in 2007 - may have something to do with Andy Reid's absence. Is it possible (I think it might be) that Brady looked for answers from the other players and former staff over what really happened with Ireland and might have discovered that Andy Reid was centrally involved!??? Thus in an effort to placate Ireland and get him back, to prove this sort of thing won't stand with the new setup, are punishing Andy Reid? Think about it - there is no real available reason as to why Reid is not in the team yet. In my opinion this is my next best guess.

Could Reid be being punished over Stephen Ireland?

~Rebel~

doubt it tbh, id say its more to do with the widely publicised ignoring of the curfew early on under trap.

http://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/trapattoni-breaks-his-silence-on-reid-row-1550205.html
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/sport/2008/1124/1227293466680.html

Asked about the matter, Trapattoni suggested he was reluctant to reveal what had happened among squad members behind closed doors but, clearly frustrated by the recurring theme of his treatment of the 26-year-old, he ended up providing his version of events, often in characteristically animated fashion.

Reid, he says, was one of 10 players to break the curfew and stay in the bar of the team hotel until well beyond midnight.

"It was two o'clock. We had a game in three days' time and the table was like a pub with all the beer on it," he says of the situation.

The Dubliner was playing guitar and, the manager alleges, declined to call it a night, despite repeated attempts to persuade him to do so.

"'Go in bed, you must go in bed'," he says he said to the player. "'Richard (Dunne) has gone to bed, (John) O'Shea has gone to bed, you must go in bed'.

"If he was my son, I would go boom!" he continued while pretending to kick somebody up the backside. "But he is not my son. Do you understand? This is the first time I have clarified the situation, the 10 players can say it is true or not true.

"Football is my work," he said. "I saw what happened between (Michel) Platini and (Zbigniew) Boniek 25 years ago and I did the same with them. I haven't come here to be on holidays and sing songs and be up all hours. There has to be some discipline, authority.

"All the teams I have led in my career have respect and authority. I let them up for four hours, 10 o'clock till two o'clock - but tomorrow, I told them, you work, you train, so now you must go to bed."

CHD

Stephen Ireland threads make baby Jesus cry.

eirebhoy

In a training match on Monday, he was part of what is effectively the reserve side but was threading through passes with such regularity that, at one point, Liam Brady roared across the park: "Andy Reid, different class."

http://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/jokes-stop-here-for-trapattoni-1459304.html

LuckyLloyd

MERGE

Davey Devil

Steven Ireland was asked about his international situation at the end of this interview. Looks like we won't be seeing him in the green for a long time if ever.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/football_focus/8041610.stm

Davey Devil

Davey Devil wrote: »

Steven Ireland was asked about his international situation at the end of this interview. Looks like we won't be seeing him in the green for a long time if ever.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/football_focus/8041610.stm

Amen

PHB

That's very disappointing

Sounds like personal reasons to me though, so I'm hopeful that those will change over time. Unlikely for this WC though, but maybe the next qualifiers.
You gotta at least respect him for putting what appears to be his family first.

JPA

I don't understand his mentality.

JPA

JPA wrote: »

I don't understand his mentality.

Same here. Fcuk knows what his reasons are

DSB

The reason we don't understand is because we don't know whats gone on. Something has happened behind the scenes, I do believe that he was getting bullied by squad members over his hair and all that. Probably beyond a little bit of banter, and I honestly don't understand why he should go back to take that kind of thing from players he'll never have to play at the same club as at club level, because he is of a different class to almost all Irish players. Its too easy to criticise him for not wanting to play for Ireland. But we don't know whats gone on, and if hes unhappy being there, hes right not to make himself unhappy.

Xavi6

rarnes1 wrote: »

Same here. Fcuk knows what his reasons are

He said it in the interview. He's just not comfortable or happy in the set up. It doesn't feel right for him so he doesn't want to be there. Rightly or wrongly that's enough for him, which is all that matters really.

Mikeyt086

Im upset because he is gifted. Absolutley gifted. If he doesnt want to play for Ireland, then... ****. I still admire him as a footballer though.

thegen

I think thats puts to bed all the ideas that he was being mistreated, its his own choice, head is not in the right place to play for his country.

joe123

Would love to know why....an awful shame.

Mr Alan

exactly, he says clear as day, nothing to do with manager,staff or players.

he just ain't arsed. its his decision.

Neil3030

Manchester is his home now but your country is always your country. All it takes is a few signings in his position, or maybe a new manager whose system he doesn't fit into and everything could change. Manchester City are business, just like Coca-Cola or Google, who trained and now employ him - they have no emotional or patriotic allegiance to him or his family and should circumstances dictate, they will dispense of him in a heartbeat.

I think it's absurd for someone to prioritise their morals and allegiances in the manner he has, but that's just my personal opinion. I would have given anything to have the natural talent he possesses, so that I could represent my country at international football. He’s made his choice, which I don’t respect as an Irishman, but as free as I am to express such an opinion, he is equally as free to live his life as he chooses.

Liam O

Mr Alan wrote: »

exactly, he says clear as day, nothing to do with manager,staff or players.

he just ain't arsed. its his decision.

I think it may be the media. His girlfriend just had a miscarriage and he made any old excuse to get out of the squad and from there it just snowballed with every newspaper piling it on him at a time when him and his girlfriend must've been devastated and he just said f**k it I don't need this and has never really forgiven the people of the country for the witchhunt that resulted in every one of his personal details being plastered around the media. There was also nobody in the squad who made a genuine effort to talk to him or support him.

I just hope Given and Dunne can convince him in some way to come back.

LuckyLloyd

I think that interview makes it certain that he won't be involved at WC2010in any capacity. If we qualify and he's watching it on tele, it may stir some motivation within him for future tournaments. Might be the same too even if we aren't there - when he sees the build up around the tournament knowing that he is good enough to be the center piece of a team with an above average chance of getting to that level, it may force a change of heart.

Some breakout season for him though - he was spectacular away at Hamburg in the first leg of the UEFA quarter - final. Long and successful career ahead of him.

kinaldo

LuckyLloyd wrote: »

Some breakout season for him though - he was spectacular away at Hamburg in the first leg of the UEFA quarter - final. Long and successful career ahead of him.

Some pundit or sports writer, can't remembere who, called him a disgrace in that particular game. Funny how opinions can differ.

Xavi6

kinaldo wrote: »

Some pundit or sports writer, can't remembere who, called him a disgrace in that particular game. Funny how opinions can differ.

Lol whoever said that is an idiot.

noodler

Neil3030 wrote: »

Manchester is his home now but your country is always your country. All it takes is a few signings in his position, or maybe a new manager whose system he doesn't fit into and everything could change. Manchester City are business, just like Coca-Cola or Google, who trained and now employ him - they have no emotional or patriotic allegiance to him or his family and should circumstances dictate, they will dispense of him in a heartbeat.

I think it's absurd for someone to prioritise their morals and allegiances in the manner he has, but that's just my personal opinion. I would have given anything to have the natural talent he possesses, so that I could represent my country at international football. He’s made his choice, which I don’t respect as an Irishman, but as free as I am to express such an opinion, he is equally as free to live his life as he chooses.

Lets be clear here-talentis only part of it. I dare say you didn't/don't have the dedication required to do it either

~Rebel~

Liam O wrote: »

I think it may be the media. His girlfriend just had a miscarriage and he made any old excuse to get out of the squad and from there it just snowballed with every newspaper piling it on him at a time when him and his girlfriend must've been devastated and he just said f**k it I don't need this and has never really forgiven the people of the country for the witchhunt that resulted in every one of his personal details being plastered around the media. There was also nobody in the squad who made a genuine effort to talk to him or support him.

maybe, though he does say that even before all of that he just wasn't happy going back for internationals and it was only a matter of time

dogpile

F...k him! chrome dome....it's his decision and he'll live with it the rest of his life be it good or bad


In the meantime there'll be other talented players emerge who want to represent their country, always have done and always will...


Hope City crash n burn

Brian Capture

Stephen Ireland is a traitor.

Players that refuse to represent their country should be forced out of the game.

Neil3030

noodler wrote: »

Lets be clear here-talentis only part of it. I dare say you didn't/don't have the dedication required to do it either

There's a lot of requisite physical and mental/psychological skills he has that I don't.

witnessmenow

Brian Capture wrote: »

Stephen Ireland is a traitor.

Players that refuse to represent their country should be forced out of the game.

We should hang him while we are at it

DSB

The chap doesn't owe us anything. I'd love to see him back, but he certainly doesn't owe me anything.

CHD

I don't really blame him tbh. Good luck to him. Hope to see him back.

therecklessone

Brian Capture wrote: »

Stephen Ireland is a traitor.

Players that refuse to represent their country should be forced out of the game.

That is a ridiculous suggestion.

noodler

Neil3030 wrote: »

There's a lot of requisite physical and mental/psychological skills he has that I don't.

There is. You build physical and mental strength though. It takes alot of effort, dedication and hard work. Football is littered with talented players who didn't have the bottle to make it.

I simply hate the suggestion that he woke up one morning as a Premiership footballer.

Neil3030

noodler wrote: »

I simply hate the suggestion that he woke up one morning as a Premiership footballer.

He did though... this morning for example... and yesterday... and probably will tomorrow...

~Rebel~

Its his own decision, and if he doesn't want to play again, then thats nobodies business but his own. Its not the decision most would make, and i do believe he'll regret it when his (comparitively) short career is over, but its his mistake to make.

Can only hope he changes his mind.