Houllier confirms Ireland wants to leave!

[Rudy Can't Fail]

I did say a while back that if he wants to stay and turn things around he'd have my full backing. Just the type of player we need, even if he is a bit of a tit.

If he wants out (and that is far from clear at the moment) then I wouldn't want us to expend any energy persuading him otherwise. To come to that kind of judgement after a few short months at your new club would indicate a lack of character.

Where I'd still say there is doubt is that in the press conference on SSN yesterday GH made mention of Ireland and even apologised for his comments a few weeks back. Not the first time he's had to backtrack, he seems to have a chronic case of foot in mouth. He then went on to say that he thinks Ireland wants to leave because that's what his (SI's agent) has told him. GH then said he was unsure whether Ireland actually wants to leave. Ireland agent has also apparently distanced himself from those claims.

So whether this is a case of GH simply tying himself in knots again or another case of a modern footballer acting the spoilt barsteward remains to be seen.

Whether you call it back tracking or apologising, I have no problem with it, as it shows he's not so arrogant to realise he never makes mistakes. One thing that does annoy me about GH is this belief that one size fits all. Of course he wants all the players to give everything but the point is not all will respond to the same approach. Everybody knows Ireland is bit strange and needs an arm around his shoulder, so why go public with a brutal approach? Maybe GH has realised this and is why he is as you call it, back tracking. Admitedly he's been thrown in the deep end since his arrival and may not have had the time to give Ireland the attention he so desperately needs, but when you're dealing with players that cost £8m and earn £68k a week, you really can't afford not to try everything to resolve the problem. You only have to look at Heskey to see how a different approach from the manager can have a positive effect.

The most annoying thing is most realise if Ireland could get his head sorted out, we'd have a great player on our hands. The bloke is a complex character and I hope the club stand strong and insist he will only be allowed to leave if somebody meets the asking price. Until that price is met, I hope we do everything to resolve whatever issues Ireland has. It may be pissing in the wind but it's certainly worth the try.

[taylorsworkrate]

I did say a while back that if he wants to stay and turn things around he'd have my full backing. Just the type of player we need, even if he is a bit of a tit.

If he wants out (and that is far from clear at the moment) then I wouldn't want us to expend any energy persuading him otherwise. To come to that kind of judgement after a few short months at your new club would indicate a lack of character.

Where I'd still say there is doubt is that in the press conference on SSN yesterday GH made mention of Ireland and even apologised for his comments a few weeks back. Not the first time he's had to backtrack, he seems to have a chronic case of foot in mouth. He then went on to say that he thinks Ireland wants to leave because that's what his (SI's agent) has told him. GH then said he was unsure whether Ireland actually wants to leave. Ireland agent has also apparently distanced himself from those claims.

So whether this is a case of GH simply tying himself in knots again or another case of a modern footballer acting the spoilt barsteward remains to be seen.

Whether you call it back tracking or apologising, I have no problem with it, as it shows he's not so arrogant to realise he never makes mistakes. One thing that does annoy me about GH is this belief that one size fits all. Of course he wants all the players to give everything but the point is not all will respond to the same approach. Everybody knows Ireland is bit strange and needs an arm around his shoulder, so why go public with a brutal approach? Maybe GH has realised this and is why he is as you call it, back tracking. Admitedly he's been thrown in the deep end since his arrival and may not have had the time to give Ireland the attention he so desperately needs, but when you're dealing with players that cost £8m and earn £68k a week, you really can't afford not to try everything to resolve the problem. You only have to look at Heskey to see how a different approach from the manager can have a positive effect.

The most annoying thing is most realise if Ireland could get his head sorted out, we'd have a great player on our hands. The bloke is a complex character and I hope the club stand strong and insist he will only be allowed to leave if somebody meets the asking price. Until that price is met, I hope we do everything to resolve whatever issues Ireland has. It may be pissing in the wind but it's certainly worth the try.

Agreed. 

I think that Houlllier would have been better served when he took the job by saying how important Ireland is to us.

I think Ireland is the sort of guy that constantly needs to be told how great a player he is.  He is certainly not the type to respond well to negative criticism, especially in public.

If as now looks likely he leaves, I have a nasty feeling he will go on to be an excellent player for another team.

[KevinGage]

I tend to agree Mark but the thing is GH is not some greenhorn manager.

He's been in the business a while and some of the errors he's made already have been pretty basic.

It's pretty standard fare to praise or try to boost your players in public and give them a bollocking if required in private. Not doing that not only loses you the respect of the individual player concerned but also wouldn't go unnoticed amongst the rest of the playing staff. "He's turned on Ireland this week to grab himself a few headlines, will it be me next week?" and so on.

[dicedlam]

From what I gather, the deal was done between AVFC and MCFC *before* MON left - signed and sealed. The delay was caused by issues between City and Ireland... Papers were signed and Aston Villa could not have backed out of the deal had they wanted to do so no matter the circumstances.

Well why were we signing deals with other clubs whilst the player still had issue's with his club?
It seems ridiculous to me to conduct business in this manner.

Call me a cynic, but it sends out a signal that we wanted the deal done just as much as Man City..

Given the choice, I'm sure we would of been better off having an unhappy Milner still here, rather than having a player who never wanted to be here in the first place..

At least Milner would of still earned his money.

[Greg N'Ash]

From what I gather, the deal was done between AVFC and MCFC *before* MON left - signed and sealed. The delay was caused by issues between City and Ireland... Papers were signed and Aston Villa could not have backed out of the deal had they wanted to do so no matter the circumstances.

Well why were we signing deals with other clubs whilst the player still had issue's with his club?
It seems ridiculous to me to conduct business in this manner.

I'm guessing they thought it was just a matter of time till he signed and with a manager who wanted him here it wasn't a problem. May have been naive by the board but they obviously thought MON wasn't about to walk out. Like most of us.

[curiousorange]

It's an interesting hypothetical but would Ireland be performing any better had MON still been here? Because to be fair, he wasn't exactly Mr Fantastic under Kevin McDonald.

[Greg N'Ash]

well he usually does play them until they find form or prove absolutely useless if Petrov is anything to go by. I think he would have played more under MON just because he didn't like to be proved wrong.

[Eigentor]

From what I gather, the deal was done between AVFC and MCFC *before* MON left - signed and sealed. The delay was caused by issues between City and Ireland... Papers were signed and Aston Villa could not have backed out of the deal had they wanted to do so no matter the circumstances.

If this is the case, the board is blameless. There was a manager to make the footballing decision (signing Ireland for £8m) and a board to make the business decision (selling Ireland). It's just a shame that the manager made such a decision just days or weeks before he resigned.

[Eigentor]

It's an interesting hypothetical but would Ireland be performing any better had MON still been here? Because to be fair, he wasn't exactly Mr Fantastic under Kevin McDonald.

The big problem isn't that Ireland is underperforming. I think both the fans and the manager is prepared to give him time to settle (which he needs). The problem is that Ireland isn't interested. He has had a hard time for a couple of months and has already decided that he has had enough.

[curiousorange]

It's an interesting hypothetical but would Ireland be performing any better had MON still been here? Because to be fair, he wasn't exactly Mr Fantastic under Kevin McDonald.

The big problem isn't that Ireland is underperforming. I think both the fans and the manager is prepared to give him time to settle (which he needs). The problem is that Ireland isn't interested. He has had a hard time for a couple of months and has already decided that he has had enough.

But that's the point of the hypothetical isn't it? On the one hand, MON had his clear favourites and had Ireland been one of them, maybe we could have expected him to settle in rapidly. But on the other, how long before MON's personality rubbed Ireland up the wrong way? Or his use of the player, who would probably have got played out of his preferred position.

[Greg N'Ash]

maybe he was planning to change the formation. say, Ireland, Keane up front and another centre midfielder. We all think Ireland was Milner's replacement but we're just guessing frankly and we'll never know now.

[TimTheVillain]

I did say a while back that if he wants to stay and turn things around he'd have my full backing. Just the type of player we need, even if he is a bit of a tit.

If he wants out (and that is far from clear at the moment) then I wouldn't want us to expend any energy persuading him otherwise. To come to that kind of judgement after a few short months at your new club would indicate a lack of character.

Where I'd still say there is doubt is that in the press conference on SSN yesterday GH made mention of Ireland and even apologised for his comments a few weeks back. Not the first time he's had to backtrack, he seems to have a chronic case of foot in mouth. He then went on to say that he thinks Ireland wants to leave because that's what his (SI's agent) has told him. GH then said he was unsure whether Ireland actually wants to leave. Ireland agent has also apparently distanced himself from those claims.

So whether this is a case of GH simply tying himself in knots again or another case of a modern footballer acting the spoilt barsteward remains to be seen.

Whether you call it back tracking or apologising, I have no problem with it, as it shows he's not so arrogant to realise he never makes mistakes. One thing that does annoy me about GH is this belief that one size fits all. Of course he wants all the players to give everything but the point is not all will respond to the same approach. Everybody knows Ireland is bit strange and needs an arm around his shoulder, so why go public with a brutal approach? Maybe GH has realised this and is why he is as you call it, back tracking. Admitedly he's been thrown in the deep end since his arrival and may not have had the time to give Ireland the attention he so desperately needs, but when you're dealing with players that cost £8m and earn £68k a week, you really can't afford not to try everything to resolve the problem. You only have to look at Heskey to see how a different approach from the manager can have a positive effect.

The most annoying thing is most realise if Ireland could get his head sorted out, we'd have a great player on our hands. The bloke is a complex character and I hope the club stand strong and insist he will only be allowed to leave if somebody meets the asking price. Until that price is met, I hope we do everything to resolve whatever issues Ireland has. It may be pissing in the wind but it's certainly worth the try.

Agreed. 

I think that Houlllier would have been better served when he took the job by saying how important Ireland is to us.

I think Ireland is the sort of guy that constantly needs to be told how great a player he is.  He is certainly not the type to respond well to negative criticism, especially in public.

If as now looks likely he leaves, I have a nasty feeling he will go on to be an excellent player for another team.

My thoughts entirely and my concern also.

[Nigel Macdougall]

From what I gather, the deal was done between AVFC and MCFC *before* MON left - signed and sealed. The delay was caused by issues between City and Ireland... Papers were signed and Aston Villa could not have backed out of the deal had they wanted to do so no matter the circumstances.

So if James Milner had sustained a serious injury against West Ham,the deal would still have gone ahead ?

[Eigentor]

I think that Houlllier would have been better served when he took the job by saying how important Ireland is to us.

I think Ireland is the sort of guy that constantly needs to be told how great a player he is.  He is certainly not the type to respond well to negative criticism, especially in public.

If as now looks likely he leaves, I have a nasty feeling he will go on to be an excellent player for another team.

Well, there are some excellent armchair psychologists on this board who no doubt would have had Ireland playing like Messi were they managers. However, imagine that GH joined Villa and immediately said what an important player Ireland is to us, and Ireland still did not play well. Should he keep an underperfoming player in the team? Should he play a youngster like Hogg instead of him but still go on about what a great player Ireland is? Wouldn't that look somewhat strange?

GH is not brutal with Ireland. He is actually saying that he likes him as a person and player but that there is a reason why he isn't playing that much at the moment.

[Villa'Zawg]

From what I gather, the deal was done between AVFC and MCFC *before* MON left - signed and sealed. The delay was caused by issues between City and Ireland... Papers were signed and Aston Villa could not have backed out of the deal had they wanted to do so no matter the circumstances.

If this is the case, the board is blameless. There was a manager to make the footballing decision (signing Ireland for £8m) and a board to make the business decision (selling Ireland). It's just a shame that the manager made such a decision just days or weeks before he resigned.

From what I gather, MON resigned because AVFC and  MCFC had signed  a binding agreement to sell Milner on terms he didn't agree with and that they had made his position untenable by overruling him.

See what I've done there?