Houllier confirms Ireland wants to leave!

[Phil from the upper holte]

People blaming the board is way off, we were too far down the road with the Milner deal when MoN walked, at the end of the day why would we not want a quality player (so we thought) down the Villa.

He's obviously a complete tosser either that or he does not like Houllier either way ship out the baldy twat and get some people in who want to play for the club. The same goes for Carew, Sidwell & Salifou

Wonder who the other unhappy players are? Hopefully Beye & Friedel

[Legion]

Goodbye, Mr. Ireland. You won't be missed.

[PeterWithe]

The General said that MON was fully on board with the Ireland signing and that it had nothing to do with his leaving.

[TopDeck113]

People blaming the board is way off, we were too far down the road with the Milner deal when MoN walked...

No deal is done until the contracts are signed.  There are plenty of business deals that founder on last minute hitches, a change of mind by one of the parties or unforeseen changes in circumstance.

The Villa board should have put everything on hold the moment MON walked.  They could have suggested to Citeh that they might like to try again in January, but everything was now on hold until a new manager was in post.

That they didn't and carried on probably tells us everything we need to know as what precipitated the MON flounce.

[Eigentor]

Wonder who the other unhappy players are? Hopefully Beye & Friedel

Let's not forget that there are probably also a few players that are happy with the change of manager: e. g. Reo-Coker, Clark, Bannan, Albrighton and Luke Young. Downing, Collins, Cuellar, Petrov and Heskey seems capable of adapting to the new regime. That leaves Dunne, Beye, Ireland and Carew. Personally I think Friedel is old and clever enough not to get mixed up in internal politics (witness his "I didn't see the incident" comments about the supposed Dunne episode).

[OzVilla]

A truely Hodge-esque performance from Stephen Ireland and what a complete waste of everybodys time and money.

If that's how he feels then good riddence and let's hope he's gone by January 2nd at the latest.  I've no doubt the greedy bastard will want some sort of ill deserved pay out to sulk off somewhere else.

It's idiots like Ireland in the game that makes you wonder why you really bother with it.

[eastie]

True , but the general also said mon had a great relationship with randy not long before he left - I'm sure the general is wise enough to only tell us what he wants us to know- I think most of us saw Ireland as an exciting signing but it dragged on a long time and it seems he was reluctant to leave city.

Some signings come good and some don't and I think we will have to accept maybe £5m and cut our losses on this one- best to get rid sooner rather than later as he may be a disruptive influence -he's friends with dunne so hopefully he will fuck off as well.

[Martyn Smith]

Can see this transfer window (it, like the New Year generally, just can't come soon enough) being extremely cathartic for Villa. Lot of deadwood (inc Ireland) needs shifting, lot of places need filling...

[dave.woodhall]

He'll probably demand (and very likely get) a loyalty bonus.

[PeterWithe]

This seems a very strange stick to beat the board with, we got a fantastic player for a relatively good fee, the new manager has played him but he hasn't looked the least bit interested. There is only one person to blame and its Ireland, he has been utterly unprofessional and should be ashamed of himself.

[DB]

I'm more worried about who else will leave come Jan. Ireland has done f**k all for ius so not bothered, but others...?

[PeterWithe]

He'll probably demand (and very likely get) a loyalty bonus.

Sick isn't it. Ireland is to loyalty what King Herod is to childcare.

I wished I could get angry but I just kind of numb to this shite.

[Matt C]

Thought he would be a sensation for us. I was sensationally wrong.

[TopDeck113]

This seems a very strange stick to beat the board with, we got a fantastic player for a relatively good fee, the new manager has played him but he hasn't looked the least bit interested. There is only one person to blame and its Ireland, he has been utterly unprofessional and should be ashamed of himself.

Whilst I agree that Ireland's attitude has been shocking, I think it is a perfectly reasonable stick with which to beat the board.  No player should be bought or sold during a managerial interregnum.   

[Jimbo]

A disastrous deal, all told. Some transfers don't work out, but not for the want of trying. Ireland's attitude since the moment he first stepped onto the pitch in a Villa shirt has been utterly disgusting. We can perhaps blame that on the bloke's fragile psychological state, and in future I think all of our transfer medicals should involve a psychiatrist's report. He's cost us a fortune, he's cost us points and he's been a complete embarrassment - get the fuck rid for whatever we can get for him.