Whilst I wasn't entirely surprised that the Stephen Ireland deal didn't work out last year (and it clearly didn't) I was surprised at the reports about him being a bad trainer and negative influence though.
I'm not saying those reports were wrong, BTW. But I had seen it mentioned by Bellamy and others that Ireland trained like a demon at Citeh. He even undertook a strength and conditioning programme in his downtime before the 08/09 season. It obviously worked, as he had a good campaign that year.
It's hard to know who carries the burden of blame for some of the goings on last year. I think ultimately, the player does. Even if he had misgivings about the manager, his own standards and personal pride should ensure that he does all he can to get in the team and make an impact. But Ireland did seem to say that Houllier wouldn't play him no matter what, and some of GH's comments last year were less than helpful.
I can understand -to a degree- that Ireland felt railroaded into the move last year and might have been unsettled initially, leaving the club who he'd been with all his career -just when they look like they're on the up. A manager with GH's sometimes caustic approach was probably the last thing he needed too. But ultimately, only he can turn things around now from this point onwards, whether he wants to make a genuine go of things here or get a good move elsewhere. If he makes a balls of it again, his next move will be to a Bolton, Wigan or Championship side.
