Mr Ireland last night

[JUAN PABLO]

I said on the match thread I wish Ireland played with JPA together.. I was kind of saying, when JPA played for us he had a brilliant footbal brain that the other players seemed not to be on his wavelength at times and made JPA look a little worse than he really was sometimes..   A bit like Ireland really the other night , great football brain , when I watched him with Robinho , they were both awesome together, the same wavelenght...

He will be a great signing , and settle in very quickly.....   

[pablopicasso_10]

i thought he showed his quality in spells, and remembering that he is match rusty, it was good to see...

it was a little concerning that him and petrov didnt gell as a partnership, and if petrov is still undroppable, then we will continue to struggle unless we have reo-coker in there as well...

personally, i would look at that, with one up top and young and albrighton / downing as "wing forwards"...

speaking of albrighton, he again, looked direct and dangerous... he does seem to want to beat his man 3 times over though sometimes, and thats something that needs addressing, however, he is showing real signs of quality...

[Chris Smith]

I'm still trying to figure out what "hiatus has died down" means.

As For Ireland, I thought he had a decent game. Him and Petrov linked well but we're still to find the right line up to get the best out of him.

[Clampy]

I really like the look of him, especially his range of passing. Reminds me of Beckham a bit, where as he dose'nt ned to stand on the ball for 5 minutes and pick people out, he seems to know where they are and plays a first time pass.

He's going to be very very good once he properly settles.

[atomicjam]

Already it is obvious his passing range is excellent. Either into a team mates feet, or into space. I think Gabby will have alot of joy from those passes. If we could get the central midfield formation right then Ireland will get a load of assists this season. A few goals as well and he will be a great buy. With Albrighton, Ashley, Downing and Gabby runner around Ireland should be spoilt for passes and through balls to play. Get the defensive side of team right and we will be just fine.

[ktvillan]

Looks a very good footballer, eye for a pass, usually manages to find his man, and good control, comfortable on the ball. A bit like a more mobile Barry.  My only slight  concern is that he disappeared in the second half of both games he'splayed for us so far.  That might be down to match fitness or the fact that everything else was falling apart around him though.  I wonder if he's any good a penalties?

[supertom]

He showed glimpses of being very much an old school Scholesy. But we were playing him in the position Scholes plays now, very deep, which is a waste of Irelands talents, until his legs go anyway.

We need to play him off a front man, perhaps with the odd switcharoo with Ash every now and again.

But yes, he looks very promising indeed. Could be what we've lacked since Merson.

[sfx412]

I'm still trying to figure out what "hiatus has died down" means.

Amusing

[Irish villain]

If he's Mr Ireland, there must be some bloody ugly men in Ireland

Careful now! Some of us ain't bad!

As for his footballing ability, he should NOT be playing behind NRC and Petrov. He is designed to play in front of two defensive midfielders.