Ireland's contract

[MoetVillan]

He has been on holiday since arriving.  As for fans player of the year, i have had the misfortune of watching him live in every one of his home games.  He dont give a shit. Worst value for money signing since Balaban.  Yup, even worse than Beye for me

[oldhill_avfc]

So what happened?

In May '12 Ireland was voted player of the season by the fans and now the fans are using pretty strong language to deny his talent and condemn him as a person.

So what is the evidence to substantiate the claim that since breaking his wrist he has become all the things the fans have accused him of?

A dearth of talent in last years squad coupled with a few modest performances led some to hope a corner had been turned.  However, in a Villa shirt he always was and always will be what the fans accuse him of - a half arsed spent force with no ability to head, tackle, pass more than 5 yards, create or score - other than that he's not bad.

[supertom]

I thought he was mediocre last season too. I'd have voted Stan as POTY for his half season, or Given personally. Ireland was one of the slightly better of a really bad attacking bunch. I think that award is utterly meaningless. Put him in our 09/10 side and he wouldn't even finish top 10 in the running for POTY.
And for his brilliant contribution last year, how many goals and assists did he get?

[Holte L2]

I thought he was mediocre last season too. I'd have voted Stan as POTY for his half season, or Given personally. Ireland was one of the slightly better of a really bad attacking bunch. I think that award is utterly meaningless. Put him in our 09/10 side and he wouldn't even finish top 10 in the running for POTY.
And for his brilliant contribution last year, how many goals and assists did he get?

He was wihtout doubt mediocre last season.  He probably had four good games.  I voted Robbie Keane as my player of the season.  It was a tongue in cheek vote simply for the three months he had here.

[London Villan]

I still want to meet someone who voted for him as player of the season last year...

[peter w]

And why is a broken wrist a precursor to being a shite footballer. i remember a World Cup finalist managing to struggle through the pain barrier in 1978 to play. ireland is a watse of space and all fan's are doingf is unleashing the disappointment that we mostkly feel about him. We have given him every chance to produce what we thought he was capable of and i disagree I don't think he has had 4 good games. i'd say last season he had spells in games when he was okay. Nothing else. But because we wanted him to be the player he was in one brief spell at man City he even got a fan's award.

Since he's been here he has been utter garbage.

[Damo70]

The plaudits last year were a triumph of hope over reality. In a truly dire season he appeared the man most likely (Keane's loan aside) to create something. That sums up our season. Player of the season for just looking more likely to do something special than the rest.

[AV82EC]

I still want to meet someone who voted for him as player of the season last year...

Guilty as charged! It was entirely based on his performance at Chelsea as when it came to the voting I struggled to think of one other performance/thing of note that season which warranted me actually voting.  Its frightening to think you could distill the whole of a season into one 90 minute performance from the whole team that was actually noteworthy.

[Villadroid]

I still want to meet someone who voted for him as player of the season last year...

Guilty as charged! It was entirely based on his performance at Chelsea as when it came to the voting I struggled to think of one other performance/thing of note that season which warranted me actually voting.  Its frightening to think you could distill the whole of a season into one 90 minute performance from the whole team that was actually noteworthy.

I can't remember which site it was on but Ireland was their Player of the Season for one simple reason; he won more Man of the Match polls than any other player.

That sort of excludes the idea that he just produced one memorable performance alone.

[Pete3206]

That sort of excludes the idea that he just produced one memorable performance alone

I'm really struggling to think of one.

[silhillvilla]

If only there was a way of getting rid without paying him off....

[PeterWithesShin]

I still want to meet someone who voted for him as player of the season last year...

Guilty as charged! It was entirely based on his performance at Chelsea as when it came to the voting I struggled to think of one other performance/thing of note that season which warranted me actually voting.  Its frightening to think you could distill the whole of a season into one 90 minute performance from the whole team that was actually noteworthy.

I can't remember which site it was on but Ireland was their Player of the Season for one simple reason; he won more Man of the Match polls than any other player.

That sort of excludes the idea that he just produced one memorable performance alone.

The Terrace Trophy can be won by being voted MOTM just 4 or 5 times out of a 38 games season. Considering how totally wank we were for the vast majority of the season, it wouldn't be that hard to win as not one player stood out as they were all pretty much crap. If it was by votes Herd would have been who I voted for. That's how shit we were.

[gervilla]

I got slated on here during a match thread early on in the season ( By someone who I have to presume was pissed at the time)for suggesting he was subbed at half time because he was crap as opposed to it being a tactical substitution.

I first heard the term "A Wastrel" mentioned in relation to him and I shall forever associate that term with him.

[danlanza]

Loan him out to Walsall. He might just have a good game. On second thoughts no, i like Walsall, give him to the Noses, free. That would finish them off for good.

[LeeB]

Loan him out to Walsall. He might just have a good game. On second thoughts no, i like Walsall, give him to the Noses, free. That would finish them off for good.

I like the cut of your jib.