Houllier confirms Ireland wants to leave!

[WikiVilla]

Ireland was just a makeweight as part of the Milner deal. simple as that.
Did we get £26m + Ireland or £18M + Ireland (£8m) ?

I believe it went through as £26m for Milner, and £8m for Ireland.

Meaning we were left with £18m net and Ireland.

So in other words we sold Milner on the cheap ??
As it was Man Citeh we should have been talking £40m for Milner

[Toronto Villa]

It was a shit a deal.

It was shit because Milner was our best player last season
It was shit because it weakened us and strengthened the team that finished 3 points ahead of us
It was shit because Milner was less than half way through his contract
It was shit because it included Stephen "Football Is SHIT Why Did I get Stuck Doin It ..." Ireland
It was shit because of what it said about our ambitions
It was great because the board banked £16,000,000(ish)

By board, you mean the football club banked that money to be re-invested in new players to improve us. You make it sound like they've pocketed the cash, never to be seen again, based on your penultimate statement, and one which I disagree with. Like Berbatov at Spurs, Milner wanted out. Yet, Spurs are infinitely better than they were with Berbatov. It's not who you sell, or for who much. It's what you do with the money that determines whether you get better. Houllier now has receive the backing of the board and improve the playing squad with the Milner money and whatever else he receives/generates.

[Villa'Zawg]

It was a shit a deal.

It was shit because Milner was our best player last season
It was shit because it weakened us and strengthened the team that finished 3 points ahead of us
It was shit because Milner was less than half way through his contract
It was shit because it included Stephen "Football Is SHIT Why Did I get Stuck Doin It ..." Ireland
It was shit because of what it said about our ambitions
It was great because the board banked £16,000,000(ish)

By board, you mean the football club banked that money to be re-invested in new players to improve us. You make it sound like they've pocketed the cash, never to be seen again, based on your penultimate statement, and one which I disagree with. Like Berbatov at Spurs, Milner wanted out. Yet, Spurs are infinitely better than they were with Berbatov. It's not who you sell, or for who much. It's what you do with the money that determines whether you get better. Houllier now has receive the backing of the board and improve the playing squad with the Milner money and whatever else he receives/generates.

Spurs spent £120m on new players during the season they sold Berbatov, it isn't the same thing at all.

[Merv]

It wasn't really a shit deal. We got a very, very, big fee for a player who isn't as good as some think, and in January - to a lesser extent - and the summer we'll get to see some of that money reinvested in players the current manager wants.

Ireland has been very disappointing, and not for the first time I'm happy to admit I was all for his signing and convinced he'd be a good player for us. He hasn't been. I'm not sure exactly what has gone on; he hasn't exactly been given a run of games to bed in, but then again, he's featured enough to show some semblance of form, and hasn't done a lot. My reading is that his head's not right, at all. And if he wants to quit a club like Villa after four months.... well, that really is a sad state of affairs. I've read one or two pieces on Ireland written by Irish journalists and... they're not exactly complimentary.

It could be worse, though. We'll near or dammit get our money back on Ireland when he does eventually go. Which is more than can be said for City with Milner... I doubt their fans are thinking they got a good deal out of all this, either.

[WikiVilla]

Did Ireland even move home to Brum ? Seems like he never wanted to join us

[Toronto Villa]

It was a shit a deal.

It was shit because Milner was our best player last season
It was shit because it weakened us and strengthened the team that finished 3 points ahead of us
It was shit because Milner was less than half way through his contract
It was shit because it included Stephen "Football Is SHIT Why Did I get Stuck Doin It ..." Ireland
It was shit because of what it said about our ambitions
It was great because the board banked £16,000,000(ish)

By board, you mean the football club banked that money to be re-invested in new players to improve us. You make it sound like they've pocketed the cash, never to be seen again, based on your penultimate statement, and one which I disagree with. Like Berbatov at Spurs, Milner wanted out. Yet, Spurs are infinitely better than they were with Berbatov. It's not who you sell, or for who much. It's what you do with the money that determines whether you get better. Houllier now has receive the backing of the board and improve the playing squad with the Milner money and whatever else he receives/generates.

Spurs spent £120m on new players during the season they sold Berbatov, it isn't the same thing at all.

And Houllier's spent nothing since Milner was sold because the window has been closed.

[TheSandman]

I know we miss him an awful lot, and I'd rather have kept the player, and I appreciate the money is no use if you don't use it, but 26 million pounds for  James Milner.

Crikey.

Absolutely even £18million would be a bit steep.

Man City fans don't rate him and their manager doesn't rate him in his best position where the fans could see the best of him. I think both sides got a raw deal. Milner the winger strikes me as the Man City equivalent of Chelsea signing Shaun Wright-Phillips. A player not quite the best in terms of ability but up there in application that the team massively overpaid for.

As for Ireland he'll be at Walsall inside two or three years. Or Celtic.

[Toronto Villa]

Milner the central midfielder and Milner the winger are worlds apart in terms of ability. If Man City weren't just collecting pieces and were actually buying players to play in their best positions, they would have got a lot more out of Milner. He's gone from a starting position with us and widespread acclaim and recognition to a shadow of the player we witnessed last year and a sub at Man City.

[andrew08]

Its good tactics by citeh though. Take our two best players and remove us from the the top 4 battle. Did it to Everton as well. Now just Bolton and Sunderland are the comp for the top 6. Wait till they get top 4, then they'll cherry pick Spurs. A route for us is to get the good ex citeh players, which failed this time

[Chris Smith]

I know we miss him an awful lot, and I'd rather have kept the player, and I appreciate the money is no use if you don't use it, but 26 million pounds for  James Milner.

Crikey.

Absolutely even £18million would be a bit steep.

Man City fans don't rate him and their manager doesn't rate him in his best position where the fans could see the best of him. I think both sides got a raw deal. Milner the winger strikes me as the Man City equivalent of Chelsea signing Shaun Wright-Phillips. A player not quite the best in terms of ability but up there in application that the team massively overpaid for.

As for Ireland he'll be at Walsall inside two or three years. Or Celtic.

Disagree, Milner is a top player and will be for years to come. He's not the only one that Mancini is having trouble accommodating in his overly negative formations. Of course the price in inflated because of the Arab money but other clubs would pay it if they had it.

How many of them have you canvassed to come to the conclusion that "Man City fans don't rate him"? If it's just what you've picked up from the internet then is it any different to what a lot of our own bozos were saying about Downing last season?

[damon loves JT]

Picking a winning side at the Villa this season must be like making a model of the Eiffel Tower from a wheelbarrow full of donkey shit

[Brend'Watkins]

Picking a winning side at the Villa this season must be like making a model of the Eiffel Tower from a wheelbarrow full of donkey shit

You'd get top marks for the authentic smell that surrounded your effort.

[damon loves JT]

Barry Bannan underneath it, doing tricks on his rollerskates for money

[Whiney MacWhineface]

It's a hoot. As soon as Mancini rotates his squad (remember the concept?) and either Barry or Milner get bumped to the bench, the Schadenfreude Set get all moist in the gusset area.  Milner the failure at City is a ways off I think.

Milner is not a world-class player, but an incredibly effective one in this league. We miss him badly, and I'd have him back like a shot.

[Brend'Watkins]

Barry Bannan underneath it, doing tricks on his rollerskates for money

With Sidwell not even painted bronze but statuesque and so real that nobody takes any notice.