Stephen Ireland

[Clampy]

His performance in the 2nd leg against Bradford finally convinced me his time was up. He just did'nt look interested.

[SamTheMouse]

Seriously, though. Does anyone have any knowledge about who made the decision to sign him? That's something that simply can't be allowed to happen again. Utter disaster.

[Greg N'Ash]

Apparently Pubehead agreed it before walking out and the club felt honour bound to stick with the deal.

[eastie]

Ireland has been a huge flop - very hard to move him on with his wages but not really of benefit making hom train with the kids - if we could loan him to a championship side it could suit all parties even if we had to pay most of his wage.

Someone like ireland can be a poisonous influence on younger players .

[OzVilla]

I really think it was another one of Faulkners masterstrokes, we had no manager at the time and he was the one talking to the media about the Milner deal.

Stands to reason then that it went tits up from Day One.

Ireland to be fair to him (can't believe i've just typed that) didn't hide the fact he was reluctant to join us and it feels like he's been spiting us ever since.  Complete waste of space and one of our top earners to boot.

[eastie]

Apparently Pubehead agreed it before walking out and the club felt honour bound to stick with the deal.

I cant see that greg , i think faulkner did the deal - whatever it was silly to sign him on a huge deal without having a manager.

[Lastfootstamper]

Seriously, though. Does anyone have any knowledge about who made the decision to sign him? That's something that simply can't be allowed to happen again. Utter disaster.

If I get a wasps' nest in my back garden, would you like to come round and poke that with a big stick, too?

[OzVilla]

Apparently Pubehead agreed it before walking out and the club felt honour bound to stick with the deal.

Well Pubehead left 2 weeks before the Milner deal went through - i know you don't like him but lets not blame him for a signing that happened more than 2 weeks after he'd left.  That's totally down to the people in charge of the club.

[Concrete John]

Apparently Pubehead agreed it before walking out and the club felt honour bound to stick with the deal.

I cant see that greg , i think faulkner did the deal - whatever it was silly to sign him on a huge deal without having a manager.

There have been conflicting 'ITKs' on this.  Some have said MON lined up the deal and others that he wanted the straight cash as he was after Keane and McGeady. 

I don't know either way, but for all his faults MON was always able to get players 'at it', so you would have hoped that if it got to the stage of negotiating with the player he'd have sensed his heart wasn't in it. 

[Greg N'Ash]

Apparently Pubehead agreed it before walking out and the club felt honour bound to stick with the deal.

Well Pubehead left 2 weeks before the Milner deal went through - i know you don't like him but lets not blame him for a signing that happened more than 2 weeks after he'd left.  That's totally down to the people in charge of the club.

nothing to do with disliking him. It's what the General said at the time and it makes more sense than the club buying players for a manager who they haven't appointed. My guess is they agreed in principle for Ireland to be part of the Milner deal, but it took a while for Ireland to agree his pay-off with Citeh. hence the delay


edit@ and didn't ireland say at one point how the manager who signed him had left before he arrived?

[eastie]

Whether o neill was involved or not in the deal once he left it should have become obvious that we should have only been prepared to accept cash for milner rather than an off form player on high wages and a high fee - no point signing any player without a manager.

[OzVilla]

Apparently Pubehead agreed it before walking out and the club felt honour bound to stick with the deal.

Well Pubehead left 2 weeks before the Milner deal went through - i know you don't like him but lets not blame him for a signing that happened more than 2 weeks after he'd left.  That's totally down to the people in charge of the club.

nothing to do with disliking him. It's what the General said at the time and it makes more sense than the club buying players for a manager who they haven't appointed. My guess is they agreed in principle for Ireland to be part of the Milner deal, but it took a while for Ireland to agree his pay-off with Citeh. hence the delay

Ok well even if your account is correct surely all signings should have been called off, especially those involving player swaps, the second MON flounced out the door.  Tough shit if a deal had been agreed, the bloke who agreed it is gone.

[SamTheMouse]

Whether o neill was involved or not in the deal once he left it should have become obvious that we should have only been prepared to accept cash for milner rather than an off form player on high wages and a high fee - no point signing any player without a manager.

Exactly. Bollocks to honour.

[jonzy85]

I find it incredible that in the space of a couple of pages about Stephen Ireland, a number of posters have managed to use it to have a go at our current manager and one that left 2 and half years ago.

The only problem with Stephen Ireland is Stephen Ireland. At the time we signed him, there was a lot of justifiable hope, he could reproduce his form from before he was shunned by Mancini. He has been given umpteen opportunities and has taken none of them. Our squad is so lacking in quality and experience, Lambert had to try and get something out of him this year. If the Bradford 2nd leg was the last straw for him, he is completely right to send him train with the youths.

[Greg N'Ash]

Apparently Pubehead agreed it before walking out and the club felt honour bound to stick with the deal.

Well Pubehead left 2 weeks before the Milner deal went through - i know you don't like him but lets not blame him for a signing that happened more than 2 weeks after he'd left.  That's totally down to the people in charge of the club.

nothing to do with disliking him. It's what the General said at the time and it makes more sense than the club buying players for a manager who they haven't appointed. My guess is they agreed in principle for Ireland to be part of the Milner deal, but it took a while for Ireland to agree his pay-off with Citeh. hence the delay

Ok well even if your account is correct surely all signings should have been called off, especially those involving player swaps, the second MON flounced out the door.  Tough shit if a deal had been agreed, the bloke who agreed it is gone.

well hindsight is a wonderful thing. From memory with the noticable exception of Chris Smith everyone wanted him. Looking back he deffo had "form" at Citeh for being trouble but most on here were swayed by his performances. Also, how would us pulling out have affected the Milner deal as although the two deals were seperate officially it amounted to Citeh paying less in cash for Milner. Would Milner have come back or would we have been in a situation of a very unhappy player seeing his dream move scuppered?