Stephen Ireland - Mad as a box of snakes

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/spo...cle6916420.ece

Either he's a Grade A jacket done up from the back or the Oirish are a still a medieval tribal society.

Originally Posted by Charlestown Rouge

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/spo...cle6916420.ece

Either he's a Grade A jacket done up from the back or the Oirish are a still a medieval tribal society.

Grade A jacket. funnily enough Roy Keane and Denis Irwin were from Cork. didn't see them taking a back seat.

to say that he wasn't interested when he was younger is %@#$&!s. the minute he said his granny was dead, it was over. he's not missed anyway.

you let your country down Stuart Pearce...I mean Stephen Ireland

Originally Posted by Charlestown Rouge

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/spo...cle6916420.ece

Either he's a Grade A jacket done up from the back or the Oirish are a still a medieval tribal society.

Is the nation state the apogee of human civilisation?

I think most people's identities are strongly local.

In Stephen Ireland's case, the guy is from Cobh, they don't even mix with the rest of Cork down there.

The Dublin bias has even been acknowledged by the head of the FAI.

It's particularly frustrating given their sporting culture is exemplified by Andy Reid leading a boozy sing song early in the new regime and the Dublin journos not still understanding why the eejit has been cast into the wilderness as a consequence. Far too light hearted to be regularly competitive.

Originally Posted by Chorlton74

Grade A jacket. funnily enough Roy Keane and Denis Irwin were from Cork. didn't see them taking a back seat.

to say that he wasn't interested when he was younger is %@#$&!s. the minute he said his granny was dead, it was over. he's not missed anyway.

Saipan?

Tom Humphries had a good article on this earlier this year though, Cork people are like the stroppy canary in the mine. What they're complaining about, the rest of the country cops on to a while later.

What happened to the good old days, when all the Irish players were English?

Originally Posted by Charlestown Rouge

What happened to the good old days, when all the Irish players were English?

I find the Cork lot have a chip on their shoulder, the rebel county my arse.

Originally Posted by elephantstone

I find the Cork lot have a chip on their shoulder, the rebel county my arse.

If it wasn't for Cork people, Ireland would still be in the UK.


Mind, the Dubs probably still are...

We used to have a particularly fine contingent of scouse @#%&!s in the Irish squad....

Houghton
McAteer
Babb
Aldridge
Whelan
Finnan
Beglin
Staunton
Kennedy
Lawrenson


£#%&! off.

Originally Posted by celtbion

If it wasn't for Cork people, Ireland would still be in the UK.


Mind, the Dubs probably still are...

yeah

Originally Posted by elephantstone

I find the Cork lot have a chip on their shoulder, the rebel county my arse.

jealousy

Originally Posted by celtbion

Saipan?

dont think he took a back seat. he just told him to £#%&! off and walked. i mean who in their right mind would want to play under that incomprehensible buffoon McCarthy.

Said it all when he was roundly booed on O'Connell St on the St Patricks Day parade in 2002.

i just can't fathom the irish.

He's gone backward under Hughes.

Originally Posted by wonky no

i just can't fathom the irish.

neither can i

Originally Posted by armchair

He's gone backward under Hughes.

Last season was probably his best.

Originally Posted by rebelcountyred

neither can i

why make things awkward for yourselves? i dont think there are many other european countries who try so hard to hold themselves back.

Originally Posted by Coracao

Last season was probably his best.

It's only Hughes' city this season imo. Ireland has improved season on season regardless of manager except this season where he's started going backwards.

Originally Posted by wonky no

why make things awkward for yourselves? i dont think there are many other european countries who try so hard to hold themselves back.

i blame the nuns

Originally Posted by armchair

It's only Hughes' city this season imo. Ireland has improved season on season regardless of manager except this season where he's started going backwards.

I don't see how you can blame Hughes for Ireland playing poorly tbh, when under Hughes last season he had his best season.

You can't lay all the blame on the manager when a player is playing poorly and give the manager no credit when they're playing well.

Gérard Houllier says Aston Villa will look to sell Stephen Ireland in January after the midfielder expressed a desire to leave the club less than four months after joining from Manchester City.

The Villa manager, who has omitted Ireland from his squad for the second week running, also warned any other players who are disgruntled with his regime that it is case of "adapt or you die".

Houllier sounded exasperated with the "whingeing and moaning" he has put up with over the changes he has made since becoming manager in September, but the Frenchman said he would not bow to players' demands, which include calls for more days off.

Instead he said "those who are not happy" will leave, which opens up the possibility of Richard Dunne, who was dropped last Saturday and is also not travelling to Wigan, following Ireland out of the club.

Villa will look to recoup the £8m Ireland was valued at when he arrived as a makeweight in the deal that took James Milner to Eastlands, although it remains to be seen whether that asking price is realistic. Ireland has made 12 appearances for Villa but he has completed 90 minutes on only two occasions – the 6-0 drubbing at Newcastle in August and the 3-0 defeat at Liverpool earlier this month – and looked a shadow of the player that excelled under Mark Hughes at City.

He was not in the squad against West Bromwich Albion last Saturday and has not travelled to Wigan despite Ashley Young being ruled out after suffering a knee injury. In short, Ireland's departure next month seems inevitable. "He said he wanted to go in January, to his agent. I'm not convinced, not so sure about that," Houllier said before later admitting: "Once a player wants to go, he goes." He also confirmed the club want to get their money back.

Houllier said he regretted publicly criticising Ireland in October, when he questioned the player's work rate. "I said – and I regret to have said – that he should push more, but somebody asked the question and they saw him play. There is a discrepancy in what I see in training and what we see in the game. I told his agent this. He's got to sort that out. I like the man, the player. He's got some skill, touch, an eye for a pass, but he's got to adapt to modern football as well."

The Frenchman said he initiated the squad meeting that took place the week before last but denied there had been a bust-up with Dunne. He did, however, admit there was unrest among the players. "You adapt or you die," Houllier said. "We are changing a lot of things and that upset the comfort of some players. We know that sometimes people are whingeing and moaning but they have a fantastic job. I am not going to give more days off than I was doing."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2...reland-january