Stephen Ireland

[Pat McMahon]

Regardless of his ability I think we should not have signed a player when we had no manager. To me that was crazy.

[brontebilly]

Good riddance.  I still shudder at how we were bounced by Citeh into taking him off our hands in PX for Milner.  I hope Faulkner never makes a similar mistake again.

It was a hell of a deal at a time. A more talented player, technically, and £16m...just a pity he didn't have Milner's engine.

would agree with that, 24m for james milner was daylight robbery.

[Herman]

Free at last?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/aston-villa/10561690/Aston-Villa-make-Stephen-Irelands-loan-move-to-Stoke-City-permanent.html

And good riddance - overrated waster imo.

Agreed.  He is the epitome of what has been wrong at the club over the last few years.

Which is what exactly? I would say that responses like this are the epitome of what is wrong with some of the clubs fans over the last few years.

The signing of Ireland never really worked out for us and it's probably a good example of why you shouldn't sign players when you don't have a manager but i really don't get a lot of the vitriol that has been thrown his way by some fans.

Yes he's undoubtedly a talented player and he's never really been able to realise the full potential of that talent, but i think it's rubbish to say he never put in the effort either on or off the pitch. On the pitch he's had to play for several disjointed managers in a variety of poor squads with dodgy tactics, and i think you could see his frustration with that sometimes, yet he always put in a shift. After some games i would see some fans saying he'd been lazy, yet I'd seen him often tracking back and making important tackles on the edge of our area after running the full length of the pitch. Even when he won player of the season people would denigrate it and say 'well yeh, just goes to show how poor the rest of the squad was'. Well if that's the case then surely the rest of the squad deserved more criticism than him, but of course he was always the easy fall guy.

Off the pitch he has always been one of the players that puts in a hell of a lot of time to charity too and has been a good ambassador for the club in that way, and despite the way he's been treated, has never spoken out about it.

But lets forget about all that, lets focus on the faux dead granny incident, the dodgy pink range rover and the rather dodgy pictures of his house, or him with a sheisha. Yes i think we can all agree he's a bit of a numpty in that regard, but i'm not sure he deserves a lot of the criticism he's had.

That said, I'm glad he's gone, it will free up a significant amount of wages for us and if anyone can get the best out of him, it will be Hughes, who despite him being so poor for Stoke this season according to some, has wanted to sign him permanently.

Conversely, that some seem to overlook his, couldn't give a toss attitude, his lack of application, his wasting of the ability that he undoubtedly has, his unwillingness to impose himself on games which he could and should have done, could be classed as the epitome of what is wrong with some of our fans.
His pipe and his car and his multitude of grandmothers merely demonstrate that on a personal level, he is a twat. His having been taking the piss out of the club pretty much since his arrival (and indeed since shortly before his arrival - as he clearly didn't want to come here) demonstrates that he is a waster of the highest order, to be filed alongside Curcic and Alpay.

[SoccerHQ]

Regardless of his ability I think we should not have signed a player when we had no manager. To me that was crazy.

This has been done to death. I have no idea really who wanted him as he didn't strike me as an MON player at all, certainly not one to fit into his rigid 4-4-2 system.

My reading at the time was the plan was to give kevin McDonald the job for the season. Ireland signed on the Wednesday before the horrendous Newcastle game and said in articles he was looking forward to working with Mac as they've got on well at ROI as Mac was an assistant when Staunton was boss there. Then the 6-0 happened which changed everything. The board really couldn't give the job full time to a rookie who'd just lead us a to a heavy defeat to a newly promoted team.

[OzVilla]

I think Faulkner & co have probably learned a lot over this signing which has been to our benefit but we just don't know it.

[brontebilly]

should have sold him the year after he won player of the year. Might have got back a few million then.

for a luxury player, he doesnt score enough or generate enough assists. tidy but gutless would be my summation. with not enough pace or presence to play anywhere but a free role.

[Dribbler]

Conversely, that some seem to overlook his, couldn't give a toss attitude, his lack of application, his wasting of the ability that he undoubtedly has, his unwillingness to impose himself on games which he could and should have done, could be classed as the epitome of what is wrong with some of our fans.
His pipe and his car and his multitude of grandmothers merely demonstrate that on a personal level, he is a twat. His having been taking the piss out of the club pretty much since his arrival (and indeed since shortly before his arrival - as he clearly didn't want to come here) demonstrates that he is a waster of the highest order, to be filed alongside Curcic and Alpay.

Wow how many unqualified presumptions can one person put in one post! Can you provide any evidence of his 'couldn't give a toss attitude', that his relative lack of success in what has been a recently unsuccessful team was down to 'his lack of application' rather than just playing in some rather poor sides. Can you prove he's really gone on the pitch and said 'I could impose myself on this game, but i'm unwilling to'!? How exactly has he 'taken the piss out of the club pretty much since he came'? And before he came? He didn't want to leave Man City, but that didn't mean that when he knew he had to, he didn't want to come to us.

So a picture of him smoking a sheisha, and his taste of car and house furnishings show on a personal level he's a twat, good psychology there, where does his massive amount of work towards charity fit in there?

To me it would appear that you haven't taken the facts and come to the conclusion he's a twat from them, you've presumed he's a twat and so this has coloured your interpretation of the facts, none of which are borne out with any evidence.

People wonder why footballers supposedly don't show loyalty to clubs and fans, well posts like yours are probably a good example of why.

[Herman]

Conversely, that some seem to overlook his, couldn't give a toss attitude, his lack of application, his wasting of the ability that he undoubtedly has, his unwillingness to impose himself on games which he could and should have done, could be classed as the epitome of what is wrong with some of our fans.
His pipe and his car and his multitude of grandmothers merely demonstrate that on a personal level, he is a twat. His having been taking the piss out of the club pretty much since his arrival (and indeed since shortly before his arrival - as he clearly didn't want to come here) demonstrates that he is a waster of the highest order, to be filed alongside Curcic and Alpay.

Wow how many unqualified presumptions can one person put in one post! Can you provide any evidence of his 'couldn't give a toss attitude', that his relative lack of success in what has been a recently unsuccessful team was down to 'his lack of application' rather than just playing in some rather poor sides. Can you prove he's really gone on the pitch and said 'I could impose myself on this game, but i'm unwilling to'!? How exactly has he 'taken the piss out of the club pretty much since he came'? And before he came? He didn't want to leave Man City, but that didn't mean that when he knew he had to, he didn't want to come to us.

So a picture of him smoking a sheisha, and his taste of car and house furnishings show on a personal level he's a twat, good psychology there, where does his massive amount of work towards charity fit in there?

To me it would appear that you haven't taken the facts and come to the conclusion he's a twat from them, you've presumed he's a twat and so this has coloured your interpretation of the facts, none of which are borne out with any evidence.

People wonder why footballers supposedly don't show loyalty to clubs and fans, well posts like yours are probably a good example of why.

My unqualified opinion about him as a person is of little consequence. The fact that he has done nothing since he arrived to prove wrong any of my unqualified opinions of him as a footballer forms my low opinion of him. You may consider that he has been unlucky/unfortunate or whatever you think the reason is. I don't agree. However your opinion is obviously more qualified than mine so maybe I should just defer to you.

I don't feel responsible for any footballer's lack of loyalty as that isn't down to me and I'm sure if you asked him or any of them, he/they wouldn't care either way what I thought but no doubt you're the kind of fan that players appreciate rather more than I am.

[Toronto Villa]

should have sold him the year after he won player of the year. Might have got back a few million then.

for a luxury player, he doesnt score enough or generate enough assists. tidy but gutless would be my summation. with not enough pace or presence to play anywhere but a free role.

good old hindsight but in reality he won player of the year in a very poor side, in a very poor year. I think most other clubs would have seen through that.

[Dribbler]

Conversely, that some seem to overlook his, couldn't give a toss attitude, his lack of application, his wasting of the ability that he undoubtedly has, his unwillingness to impose himself on games which he could and should have done, could be classed as the epitome of what is wrong with some of our fans.
His pipe and his car and his multitude of grandmothers merely demonstrate that on a personal level, he is a twat. His having been taking the piss out of the club pretty much since his arrival (and indeed since shortly before his arrival - as he clearly didn't want to come here) demonstrates that he is a waster of the highest order, to be filed alongside Curcic and Alpay.

Wow how many unqualified presumptions can one person put in one post! Can you provide any evidence of his 'couldn't give a toss attitude', that his relative lack of success in what has been a recently unsuccessful team was down to 'his lack of application' rather than just playing in some rather poor sides. Can you prove he's really gone on the pitch and said 'I could impose myself on this game, but i'm unwilling to'!? How exactly has he 'taken the piss out of the club pretty much since he came'? And before he came? He didn't want to leave Man City, but that didn't mean that when he knew he had to, he didn't want to come to us.

So a picture of him smoking a sheisha, and his taste of car and house furnishings show on a personal level he's a twat, good psychology there, where does his massive amount of work towards charity fit in there?

To me it would appear that you haven't taken the facts and come to the conclusion he's a twat from them, you've presumed he's a twat and so this has coloured your interpretation of the facts, none of which are borne out with any evidence.

People wonder why footballers supposedly don't show loyalty to clubs and fans, well posts like yours are probably a good example of why.

My unqualified opinion about him as a person is of little consequence. The fact that he has done nothing since he arrived to prove wrong any of my unqualified opinions of him as a footballer forms my low opinion of him. You may consider that he has been unlucky/unfortunate or whatever you think the reason is. I don't agree. However your opinion is obviously more qualified than mine so maybe I should just defer to you.

I don't feel responsible for any footballer's lack of loyalty as that isn't down to me and I'm sure if you asked him or any of them, he/they wouldn't care either way what I thought but no doubt you're the kind of fan that players appreciate rather more than I am.

In essence whatever any of us think on here is of little consequence. I'm not even a massive fan of Ireland but i do however prefer to judge a player based upon the presentable facts and try to understand the wider context of those facts rather than to presume things that have no grounding. Essentially you've just accused him of a load of things that you don't have one iota of evidence for and said guilty until proven innocent in your eyes. Fair enough, that's maybe the way you like to roll, i'll just stick to judging him on what we know, as yeh, no doubt, players, and people in general, like to be judged on the facts rather than stuff that people have just made up.

[supertom]

For any talk suggesting Hughes is getting the best out of Ireland, Stevie still can't get in the side week in, week out. He's spent more time with his arse on the bench than on the pitch. He has a modicum of talent certainly, but when all is said and done he's not blessed with mercurial brilliance by any means. He's got an okay touch, reasonable pass, but that's about it. The fact he seems utterly lost in all but one position too should suggest that he's actually a pretty average player. I'm actually surprised Hughes wants to make the deal permanent. I'd also imagine before long, Ireland will be impressing in the Championship as a bit of a flat track bully, able to look classy among the ordinary without much effort.

[hartman_1982]

The difference between Ireland now and at City is application. He still has a good touch and he can still pick a pass but he isn't fit enough to compete higher up the pitch. At City he would drive with the ball and hit the box in the same way Lampard always has. He never had blistering pace but he had a burst that allowed him to get away from players and an engine that meant he could go box to box. For us, he was played in a deeper role because he was unfit and it allowed him to just sit and pick a pass. I think if he had applied himself he could have been a very good Premier League player, not top draw, but still very good. Instead I see his career dwindling out into a move to the MLS for one last pink Range Rover.

[SoccerHQ]

For any talk suggesting Hughes is getting the best out of Ireland, Stevie still can't get in the side week in, week out. He's spent more time with his arse on the bench than on the pitch. He has a modicum of talent certainly, but when all is said and done he's not blessed with mercurial brilliance by any means. He's got an okay touch, reasonable pass, but that's about it. The fact he seems utterly lost in all but one position too should suggest that he's actually a pretty average player. I'm actually surprised Hughes wants to make the deal permanent. I'd also imagine before long, Ireland will be impressing in the Championship as a bit of a flat track bully, able to look classy among the ordinary without much effort.

As usual with Ireland when he gets a run of starts he picks up little injuries which disrupts him- that was a problem when he actually played for us.

That and Stoke are a workmanlike side so can't afford too many luxury players in there, Charlie Adam has been playing well lately and really you can't play him and Ireland in the same midfield even if there's 5 in there.

That said both are better than that Aranutovic bloke who strolls round for most of the Stoke games thinking he's Bergkamp or something. He isn't, he's toss.

[Herman]

Conversely, that some seem to overlook his, couldn't give a toss attitude, his lack of application, his wasting of the ability that he undoubtedly has, his unwillingness to impose himself on games which he could and should have done, could be classed as the epitome of what is wrong with some of our fans.
His pipe and his car and his multitude of grandmothers merely demonstrate that on a personal level, he is a twat. His having been taking the piss out of the club pretty much since his arrival (and indeed since shortly before his arrival - as he clearly didn't want to come here) demonstrates that he is a waster of the highest order, to be filed alongside Curcic and Alpay.

Wow how many unqualified presumptions can one person put in one post! Can you provide any evidence of his 'couldn't give a toss attitude', that his relative lack of success in what has been a recently unsuccessful team was down to 'his lack of application' rather than just playing in some rather poor sides. Can you prove he's really gone on the pitch and said 'I could impose myself on this game, but i'm unwilling to'!? How exactly has he 'taken the piss out of the club pretty much since he came'? And before he came? He didn't want to leave Man City, but that didn't mean that when he knew he had to, he didn't want to come to us.

So a picture of him smoking a sheisha, and his taste of car and house furnishings show on a personal level he's a twat, good psychology there, where does his massive amount of work towards charity fit in there?

To me it would appear that you haven't taken the facts and come to the conclusion he's a twat from them, you've presumed he's a twat and so this has coloured your interpretation of the facts, none of which are borne out with any evidence.

People wonder why footballers supposedly don't show loyalty to clubs and fans, well posts like yours are probably a good example of why.

My unqualified opinion about him as a person is of little consequence. The fact that he has done nothing since he arrived to prove wrong any of my unqualified opinions of him as a footballer forms my low opinion of him. You may consider that he has been unlucky/unfortunate or whatever you think the reason is. I don't agree. However your opinion is obviously more qualified than mine so maybe I should just defer to you.

I don't feel responsible for any footballer's lack of loyalty as that isn't down to me and I'm sure if you asked him or any of them, he/they wouldn't care either way what I thought but no doubt you're the kind of fan that players appreciate rather more than I am.

In essence whatever any of us think on here is of little consequence. I'm not even a massive fan of Ireland but i do however prefer to judge a player based upon the presentable facts and try to understand the wider context of those facts rather than to presume things that have no grounding. Essentially you've just accused him of a load of things that you don't have one iota of evidence for and said guilty until proven innocent in your eyes. Fair enough, that's maybe the way you like to roll, i'll just stick to judging him on what we know, as yeh, no doubt, players, and people in general, like to be judged on the facts rather than stuff that people have just made up.

Last one before we bore each other to death.
I am judging my opinion of him as a player on what I saw when I have seen him play and Ive seen nothing to change my negative opinion of him. I can't see inside his head but he looks to me like he's a coaster who doesn't give a toss. I may be right, I may be wrong but that's my opinion and I can take it or leave it whether you disagree with me.
As for facts. there are very few facts on which to base a positive or negative opinion of him. It's all about opinion and perception. Mine's different to yours but I'm sure we can agree to disagree. It doesn't make my opinion any more or less valid than yours and it doesn't make either of us a better fan than the other.

[big rons jeweller]

I've never seen a central midfielder hide as much during a game as Stephen Ireland.  He was great a trying to look busy.  Cheerio Stephen you've wasted your undoubted talent and probably the best years of your career!