Welcome Stephen Ireland

[KevinGage]

Time was when players joined the club and said stuff like "I've come here to win things," or "massive club, going places," et.c. 

Yes we knew it was largely bollocks. But I think I preferred that to "Nice club, family club," and so on.

But it perhaps accurately represents the shift in perception.

Bottom line is I won't really give a shit if he delivers performances on a par with Dickie Dunne who said similar last year. The stuff he said about Citeh has a touch of sour grapes about it as well. As such, I wouldn't read a whole lot into it.

[Monty]

Other family clubs include Man Utd, Arsenal and Barcelona. Family club and successful club are not mutually exclusive terms.

[KevinGage]

I have never heard a player joining any of those clubs citing that as a reason for signing.

It's the kind of thing a big name player says when his career hits the skids and he ends up at Watford, Ipswich or similar.

[Muscle-Dolphin]

I personally like the fact that Ireland is showing some spunk.  We need a little bit of that right now.  I think that Albrighton, Young and Gabby are going to really be spurred on by Ireland's inherent creativity and mojo.  He could turn out to be a spark plug.

[Mazrim]

In this case though, its a player wanting stability and strong foundations and promising that because of that, we'll see the best of him.
That's a good thing.

[pmk1981]

anyone know what shirt number ireland is getting?  when he joined he was holding a shirt up but it had no number

[Mazrim]

I'm guessing it will be 8.

[SoccerHQ]

Wasn't it 9?

[Andy_Lochhead_in_the_air]

From todays Guardian.


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."

[Edvard Remberg]

Edvard likes this

[olaftab]

This has been done to death in the main Stephen Ireland  thread.

[usav]

When do we play them?  Could be quite tasty.

[darren woolley]

just what we thought not everything in the garden is rosy.

[myf]

I'd prefer it if he did his talking on the pitch.  He got a decent pay off from them and should concentrate on the future rather than the past.

[nechells]

I'd prefer it if he did his talking on the pitch.  He got a decent pay off from them and should concentrate on the future rather than the past.

He was doing an interveiw & answering questions-As per usual,the press were not interested in "little old Villa" & were looking for a bit more meat on the bone by asking questions about Man City that were aimed at enticing a bit of sour grapes.
The lad is here & is hungry to do well for the club-Why can't you give him the benefit of the doubt untill it is proven otherwise.