Stephen Ireland V James Milner

Neil3030

(Christian names included in thread title to insulate this thread from sarky pedants.)

But given the strong likelihood of Ireland being valued at only 8m in a deal to acquire Milner, I would be interested to know who people consider the better player?

flahavaj

Hard to call between them to be honest - but theres certainly not £16 -£19 million of a difference between the two - which there is according to City's reputed evaluation of them both. Deal of the Summer for Villa, easily.

titan18

I'd consider Milner to be marginally the better player.Ireland would be far better value though

Mr Alan

i expect a lot of Villa fans to make tits of themselves in this thread

Milner

Cypher_sounds

Milner

I think ireland is far more skillful and smarter on the ball so i go for ireland myself

That_Guy

Mr Alan wrote: »

i expect a lot of Villa fans to make tits of themselves in this thread

They'd learn from the best eh?

ctrl-alt-delete

Milner

I'd choose Ireland and would think Villa would be getting a bargain if they got over £10million + Stephen Ireland for Milner. Would be a great bit of business especially if O'Neill got all the cash to splash out.

There is no doubting Milner is a good player, but i think Ireland is far the more creative of the 2. Milner is valued up so much more simply because of his nationality, crazy the way it happens all the same.

Just my opinion.

digme

Milner

Neil3030 wrote: »

(Christian names included in thread title to insulate this thread from sarky pedants.)

But given the strong likelihood of Ireland being valued at only 8m in a deal to acquire Milner, I would be interested to know who people consider the better player?

silly question it's fairly obvious

MonkeyTennis

they are both good players but neither are worth silly money. If i had to choose id pick Ireland. Milner runs hot and cold

everdead.ie

Milner

I think Ireland is the more creative of the two I'd certainly have him over milner especially at those prices

baldshin

Milner

Agree with what's been said about valuations. I'd prefer Ireland in my team though, handy too not to lose him for international games.

Helix

milners a better player, ireland is more what villa need though

Helix

MonkeyTennis wrote: »

Milner runs hot and cold

not for villa he doesnt

he runs hot and warm

judas101

Milner would be better to have around the dressing room.

Bounty Hunter

Milner.

However there is the specific role arguement where in an AMC role id say Ireland is better atm, but in general Milner.

However, Ireland & 16+million >> James Milner.

Ill be very sad to see James leave but Stephen just like Dickey Dunne last season could be the signing of the season from City at this price.

That_Guy

baldshin wrote: »

Agree with what's been said about valuations. I'd prefer Ireland in my team though, handy too not to lose him for international games.

matrim

I think Ireland is slightly better in the attacking role, but Milner is the better overall player.

eagle eye

Milner has got better and better over the last few years, he is ultra consistent and is not an injury prone player having played 170+ games over the last four seasons. He is also an England International which is good for business in the EPL.

Steven Ireland possibly has more upside to Milner as regards skill and what he can do on a pitch but he is less consistent and he is coming off an injury prone season. There are questions about his character too, he seems a little odd and you would have to be worried that he might never fit in at a new club and could be a problem in the locker room.

Overall I think Milner is worth a lot more than Steven Ireland at this time. Milner is the type that keeps his head down and works hard. As said though Ireland does have so much in his locker that it wouldn't surprise anybody if he became the best midfielder in the league at some stage. Its just that with him moving clubs there are a whole lot of issues that you just couldn't predict the outcome of.

L'prof

I think Milner is better, but if Ireland is included in the deal it's a great bit of business for Villa as I don't think the difference is large enough to warrant much of a transfer fee. I'd be happy to see Ireland at Villa anyway, he'd be getting regular football...Milner will too, at least at first!

GLaDOS

Overall I'd rather have Milner, but it's a close call

MonkeyTennis

Helix wrote: »

not for villa he doesnt

he runs hot and warm

Im having a bad day dude. hes a decent player..tops

JPA

Ireland is a very specialised attacking midfielder whereas you could stick Milner anywhere in the team and he'd perform.
I wouldn't do a straight swap of Milner for Ireland but throw 16 mill on top of it and I'd be quite happy to accept.

Milner is a better player but perhaps Ireland is better from a purely creative viewpoint.

daithijjj

Milner

Ireland is the better player imo. Milner has had a good 18 months + hes english so thats inc in the price. Villa dont have to worry about foreign quotas.

Villa have the best deal and i believe in 12 months time MON will get ireland back to the form he had under sven. Personally i dont think mancini has a clue what hes doing (in general). But if you throw enough cash at it ...........

MonkeyTennis

genuine question.. do Irish count as home based players?

matrim

MonkeyTennis wrote: »

genuine question.. do Irish count as home based players?

Not by default, but as most Irish players go to England when they are young (16ish) they will generally meet the 3 seasons registered at an English club before they are 21

For Example Stephen Ireland does, but Kevin Doyle doesn't

JPA

MonkeyTennis wrote: »

genuine question.. do Irish count as home based players?

Stephen Ireland does as he was there from a young age as are most Irish players in England but if a 22 year old from Ireland joined a PL league club he would not be home grown.

Leiva

Stephen ireland (whoever gets him) will be the bargain of the season.

Man City have distorted the transfer market yet again , IMO you couldn't get a hair between Milners value to a team in comparison to Irelands , yet alone 16million.

It's silly season yet again due to Citys ridiculous transfer powers .

Mitch Connor

I think Milner is a better player, far more consistent, but I certainly do not think he is worth 20million or so more than Ireland.

JohnnyRyan99

Milner

If Villa get Stevie Ireland and 20Million that in my opinion is the greatest piece of business done for a club in England since the begining of the PL, i no theres prob been better signings, but in terms of getting 20mil as well!.. I think Milner would not do much more if even as much as Ireland would do for City, and i reckon Ireland would be absolutely immense at Villa... Perhaps i rate Ireland too highly do to my City tinted glasses... But im a huge Milner fan as well, for me its more the principal of losing a guy who's come up through our ranks and at the start of last year signed a contract while sayin "I wanna be the face of Man City for years to come" ..... City are cúnts these days :mad:

flahavaj

The comparisons with last season are uncanny - City let a hugely talented Irishman go to be replaced by players that are barely better than him and once again Villa are the beneficiaries.

Esse85

Mr Alan wrote: »

i expect a lot of Villa fans to make tits of themselves in this thread

The only person that made a tit of themselves so far in this thread is you.

Esse85

Milner has been around longer and has more experience, he's a better team player.

Ireland is more the kinda player Villa need as was already mentioned.

If either player was offered to any team, Id expect most would choose Milner because of his attitude, hard work ethic and team spirit, he's a safer bet than Ireland.

parker kent

Milner

Ireland is far better. Aston Villa should be up in court if they get away with this steal of a transfer.

OPENROAD

Mitch Connor wrote: »

I think Milner is a better player, far more consistent, but I certainly do not think he is worth 20million or so more than Ireland.

Would agree with everything you have written, Milner the better player certainly at the moment, think Ireland is hyped up a bit over here, that said will be very interested to see how he gets on this season.

CSF

Milner, but if you asked me this time last year I'd have laughed for anyone suggesting that so I dunno what to expect from them both this season, both could go either way.

leedsfan88

Milner

I think its hard to really compare these players as they both offer different things, I'm a huge Milner fan but Ireland wins this one merely because of his ability to create, but his biggest problem is his attitude which is what Milner has to spare.

But looking at this transfer, Ireland + 20 million for Milner is a no brainer that Villa are getting the best they will never get.

Helix

its only £16.5m up front and £19.5m if all add on clauses are fulfilled, which they rarely are in deals

L'prof

Helix wrote: »

its only £16.5m up front and £19.5m if all add on clauses are fulfilled, which they rarely are in deals

That on it's own is probably more than I think Milner is worth. That plus Ireland? An absolute steal!

eagle eye

L'prof wrote: »

That on it's own is probably more than I think Milner is worth. That plus Ireland? An absolute steal!

How are you deciding the player's worth? What are you comparing it to?

Jax Teller

Milner

villa signed milner for 12 million 2 seasons ago id even say that was a bit over the odds for him

Pro. F

Milner

If this was a straight swap Villa would still be getting the better deal.

Ireland is a more skillful player than Milner. Milner has a good attitude and is adaptable and all that. But that doesn't make up for his lack of skill when compared to Ireland.
Ireland was unfortunate last season to have an eejit managing him when he was trying to make his comeback from that mystery sickness. If MON plays him centrally at Villa he'll continue to be one of the best ACMs in the league just like he was being before it all went wrong at city.

Mancini makes me laugh - he's so clueless.

JPA

It seems Milner is still underrated by many.
At least not by Man City.

eagle eye

Pro. F wrote: »

If this was a straight swap Villa would still be getting the better deal.

Ireland is a more skillful player than Milner. Milner has a good attitude and is adaptable and all that. But that doesn't make up for his lack of skill when compared to Ireland.
Ireland was unfortunate last season to have an eejit managing him when he was trying to make his comeback from that mystery sickness. If MON plays him centrally at Villa he'll continue to be one of the best ACMs in the league just like he was being before it all went wrong at city.

Mancini makes me laugh - I'm so clueless.

FYP:)

DirkVoodoo

Milner

Pro. F wrote: »

If this was a straight swap Villa would still be getting the better deal.

Ireland is a more skillful player than Milner. Milner has a good attitude and is adaptable and all that. But that doesn't make up for his lack of skill when compared to Ireland.
Ireland was unfortunate last season to have an eejit managing him when he was trying to make his comeback from that mystery sickness. If MON plays him centrally at Villa he'll continue to be one of the best ACMs in the league just like he was being before it all went wrong at city.

Mancini makes me laugh - he's so clueless.

I agree, I would take Ireland over Milner in that Man City team.To me Milner is just a slightly younger and more eager Barry, I certainly wouldn't play the two of them together. Midfield dynamos, that's what I'm getting at. A bit too similar for me to want to play them in the same midfield, and I have to question what Milner's reason is for wanting to leave Villa at such an important stage of his career. He would be entering a team not short of talent or egos when he is turning heads for England performances, but he's still not a starting 11 player for them yet, and I would hate to see him wither on the bench. Players with his energy and enthusiasm need a smaller club (no offence villa!) to thrive at, playing as many games as his fitness allows.

Neither is short of technical ability either, we've seen they are able to pick out a pass as well as tackle hard. However, I still think Ireland has the edge on both of them in terms of creativity and "footballing" intelligence.

It's his off-the-pitch intelligence that worries me and I don't think Mancini is a fan of it at all. Could MON get the best out of him? I think so, plus we might see him return to an Ireland shirt with a manager who can straighten him out.

Pro. F

Milner

eagle eye wrote: »

I know nothing about football and I'm crap in bed

FYP
:-|

grenache

Milner

James Milner is English, and like all semi-decent English players, is vastly over-rated. We see this every four years in the World Cup. Stephen Ireland is a more influential and technically better player who has been treated badly by Mancini since his arrival. He might be a first grade twAt, but Ireland gets my vote here.

Augmerson

It doesn't make a difference by the way that Milner is English and Ireland is Irish. They are both homegrown players ie spent atleast 3 years under the age of 21 with English clubs.

Personally, wouldn't want Ireland, he is a problem player.

grenache

Milner

Augmerson wrote: »

It doesn't make a difference by the way that Milner is English and Ireland is Irish. They are both homegrown players ie spent atleast 3 years under the age of 21 with English clubs.

Personally, wouldn't want Ireland, he is a problem player.

Oh it makes all the different Augmerson. All the difference. If Milner was Irish, do you really believe he would be valued at £24m??

Augmerson

If he was actually good he would be, simply as man.

OPENROAD

grenache wrote: »

James Milner is English, and like all semi-decent English players, is vastly over-rated. We see this every four years in the World Cup. Stephen Ireland is a more influential and technically better player who has been treated badly by Mancini since his arrival. He might be a first grade twAt, but Ireland gets my vote here.

In fairness their is a bit of that going on here, expect from Stephen Irelands point of view