Welcome Stephen Ireland

[BannedUserIAT]

Yes, but it's based on science fact.

Oh, Lee, come over here for a minute will ya? Just a quick chat.
[sniff, scratch, eye twitch]

[nechells]

Blimey Troy, good work!

It's not good work-It's the work of a drama queen who is looking for something that isn't there.

Remember this is the same Troy who clings onto posts from Mysteryman for "facts" & the same Troy who ststed categoricly that Lee Mockable is a Villa fan.

Great interveiw from a player who is clearly happy to be here & is clearly hungry to to well for the clu (scratches nose & avoids eye contact)

[andyh]

Great interview with him in todays Daily Heil.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1304794/Aston-Villa-new-boy-Stephen-Ireland-admits-Manchester-City-frustration-warns-James-Milner.html

Looks like he might just fit in.

[Drummond]

Blimey Troy, good work!

It's not good work-It's the work of a drama queen who is looking for something that isn't there.

Remember this is the same Troy who clings onto posts from Mysteryman for "facts" & the same Troy who ststed categoricly that Lee Mockable is a Villa fan.

Great interveiw from a player who is clearly happy to be here & is clearly hungry to to well for the clu (scratches nose & avoids eye contact)

Miaouw!

[Lizz]

Same interview in The Guardian

[PaulTheVillan]

Blimey Troy, good work!

It's not good work-It's the work of a drama queen who is looking for something that isn't there.

Remember this is the same Troy who clings onto posts from Mysteryman for "facts" & the same Troy who ststed categoricly that Lee Mockable is a Villa fan.

Great interveiw from a player who is clearly happy to be here & is clearly hungry to to well for the clu (scratches nose & avoids eye contact)

I agree.

Looking for a problem before there is one.

Let's give the player a chance.

[john e]

Blimey Troy, good work!

It's not good work-It's the work of a drama queen who is looking for something that isn't there.

Remember this is the same Troy who clings onto posts from Mysteryman for "facts" & the same Troy who ststed categoricly that Lee Mockable is a Villa fan.

Great interveiw from a player who is clearly happy to be here & is clearly hungry to to well for the clu (scratches nose & avoids eye contact)

Miaouw!

do you think he was scratching his chin when he posted it ?

[damon loves JT]

maybe all the twitching was down to the fact that he was

1. being interviewed on camera
2. not really used to it
3. a bit nervous

[john e]

maybe all the twitching was down to the fact that he was

1. being interviewed on camera
2. not really used to it
3. a bit nervous

4. never watched 'lie to me'

[Villa'Zawg]

That "lie to me" has made my life a misery.

Me; Hi daring. Sorry I'm late, just had to finish off a couple contracts at work.
Her: lyin' bastard, you've been to the pub.

It's not that she's only just found out how to tell when I'm bullshitting, it's that she now has "evidence" and is confident enough to give me both barrels from the off.

[Hammer]

Wait, what, this hasn't been posted yet? It should be. From the Guardian...

Edit: Lizz posted it, never mind. But still, the text is here now!

Stephen Ireland last night lifted the lid on life at Manchester City with an astonishing attack on his former club. Ireland, who joined Aston Villa this week as part of the deal that took James Milner in the opposite direction, tore into everyone, from the manager Roberto Mancini to the club's "money-obsessed" young players, as he revealed the full extent of his anger at the way he has been treated.

The Irishman was prevented from discussing the details of the financial pay-off he received from City because of a confidentiality agreement he has signed – he is believed to have picked up a little more than half the £2m he was demanding – but every other subject was considered fair game as he reeled off a list of complaints that painted a bleak picture of his final 12 months at City. Ireland's tirade included:

• Warning James Milner he will get a shock if he thinks the grass is greener at City

• Claiming Mancini has no relationship with any of the players

• Insisting he is as good as if not better than any of the new signings

• Accusing City's young players of wearing £10,000 watches and believing they are Premier League stars

• Describing City as a club where loyalty is no longer recognised

• Branding Mancini's criticism of his attitude unfair because he was the "best player in training"

It was a remarkable assault on City and will make for uncomfortable reading when the club's officials, players and supporters wade though Ireland's diatribe. The midfielder, who is expected to make his Villa debut at Newcastle on Sunday on his 24th birthday, spoke about City as if they were a club he could not wait to leave. "I think Aston Villa got a really good deal," he said. "I guess James Milner must think the grass is greener on the other side. He's going to get a shock soon because it's definitely not that way.

"I've really landed on my feet here. I think it's a family club and one that will get the best out of me. I am actually shocked at how good it is. I've settled in so well, so fast. Even the young lads are so polite. I'm actually quite shocked with that. At City they're not like that. They're coming in with £10,000 watches on their wrists and walking around as if they have played 200 Premier League games."

Ireland, who has a reputation for spending his own money quite lavishly, came through City's youth system and spent nine years at the club, but he felt as though the service he gave them counted for nothing in the end.

"I don't think loyalty is much in anyone's mind at Manchester City," he said. "I felt like I would be next [to leave]. A lot of players felt like that as well – the homegrown guys."

The former City trainee said he had not spoken a word to Mancini before he left although he suggested there is little communication between the manager and his former team-mates full stop. "He doesn't really build relationships with players," said Ireland. "He brought Patrick Vieira in and when I spoke to him about his relationship [with Mancini], he said he doesn't really have one, and he's worked for him for years. I think that's the way he is."

Ireland won the player of the year award at City in 2009 but he was a peripheral figure last season, in particular after Mancini replaced Mark Hughes in December. When asked about Ireland's lack of action last season, the Italian implied the midfielder had an attitude problem, when he claimed he needed to "change his head". Ireland remains deeply upset with those comments.

"I think that was really unfair, all the players know I was the first player into training and the last to leave," he said. "I worked the hardest. With all the heart-rate monitors and tests, I was always No1, far ahead of everyone. You see the performance in training and I was practically always the best player in training. If [Mancini's] standing there watching that, I don't know how he doesn't see that."

Another wave of big names have arrived at Eastlands this summer but Ireland claimed he is as good as any of them. "I'm not really a highly-self-confident person," he said, with no hint of what was to come. "But I can honestly say Manchester City have tried to replace me for the last three or four seasons and it's never happened. I can easily say I've got, if not more ability, as much ability as any player they have signed this year."

Ireland described the way his time with City ended as "heartbreaking" but he is adamant he is heading in the right direction. "I can understand why James Milner has gone there but I can tell him that I'm very happy to leave there and come here," he said. "Some people have used the phrase that I've been forced out. I couldn't be more happy to be forced to come here, to a club like Aston Villa."

[richard moore]

Sounds as if we have a very highly motivated player to me. I fancy this is going to prove an excellent signing whilst Milner will flounder at The Mercenaries, paying the price for what that twat of a manager sees as his versatility. I think he'll end up filling in for injuries and squad rotation and mostly playing out on the right wing where I don't think he'll be very effective

And I didn't think Man City had any young players any more?

[Mazrim]

Sorry Troy. My chinny reckon sensors are finely tuned and I detected nothing.

[Risso]

That "lie to me" has made my life a misery.

Me; Hi daring. Sorry I'm late, just had to finish off a couple contracts at work.
Her: lyin' bastard, you've been to the pub.

It's not that she's only just found out how to tell when I'm bullshitting, it's that she now has "evidence" and is confident enough to give me both barrels from the off.

I always find the beer breath and slurred speech a bit more of a giveaway than any eyebrow twitching or shifty glances!

[Risso]

Sorry Troy. My chinny reckon sensors are finely tuned and I detected nothing.

I agree.  Not even a murmur from the Jimmy Hillometer.