Stephen Ireland

[lexicon]

He's a bit of a prat but he could make something of himself if we utilise his skills correctly. Rotating him with Young as the man behind the striker could work well enough.

[BOF]

Fully aware of all this and therefore a little surprised that the Irish contingent on this forum appear to be such advocates of him.

I think you are attributing or seeing a national bias that simply isn't there. Every Villa fan, irrespective of nationality, wants him to succeed and after 2 games they are probably giving him the benefit of any doubt. If you are then choosing to read into the Irish contingent who are affording him the very same leeway, then I'm afraid that's your prerogative but it's wrong for the reasons I've just outlined.

[bannedfromHandV]

Fully aware of all this and therefore a little surprised that the Irish contingent on this forum appear to be such advocates of him.

I think you are attributing or seeing a national bias that simply isn't there. Every Villa fan, irrespective of nationality, wants him to succeed and after 2 games they are probably giving him the benefit of any doubt. If you are then choosing to read into the Irish contingent who are affording him the very same leeway, then I'm afraid that's your prerogative but it's wrong for the reasons I've just outlined.

I'm not trying to generalise Bof nor am I assuming that just because SI is Irish that he therefore warrants the unconditional support of any and all Irish people, but, upon posting yesterday my initial thoughts on SI, I was quickly met with firece opposition from the likes of yourself, Reality and P3TE, just to name a few off the top of my head.

The same happened when I queried the transfer initially under the previous SI thread, upon posting my opinion that I didn't think much of the lad I was met with staunch resistance from the likes of the aforementioned plus Zatman etc....

Hence my belief that he appears to have captured the imagination of most of this forums Irish subscribers, I could be wrong but it's how it's appeared to me.

[tezzaleed]

Can't believe people are slagging Ireland off already. He's played twice. The only time he's ever had a run in a team he was probably Man City's best player and he's, what, 23. Give the lad a chance first. Yes it's upsetting he came as part of the deal that saw Milner leave but he's certainly not the worst signing we've made at £8m.

[omariqy]

This is **** embarrassing. He's played 2 fecking games.

[BOF]

I'm not trying to generalise Bof nor am I assuming that just because SI is Irish that he therefore warrants the unconditional support of any and all Irish people, but, upon posting yesterday my initial thoughts on SI, I was quickly met with firece opposition from the likes of yourself, Reality and P3TE, just to name a few off the top of my head.

I could be wrong but it's how it's appeared to me.

Yes, you've looked and found what you wanted IMO. Here are the names that weren't on the top of your head who also disagreed with your opinion. Gazton, Wiggy, Hanky, nedster, villan007, CoopsAVFC, gilbertoAVFC, villanmike, Pieface, tezzaleed & omariqy. I think you 'could be wrong' as well

[ChrisNichollsToe]

This is **** embarrassing. He's played 2 fecking games.

This 8)

The lad has hardly had a ninety minutes in 12 monthes! Thats why his hamstring proberly started to go on him, because hes not played as much competitive football as he would of liked!

Jeez :oops:

[Risso]

This is **** embarrassing. He's played 2 fecking games.

And I think he's shown enough quality that I confidently predict that he's going to be a brilliant player for us.

[GaztonVilla]

Yes, you've looked and found what you wanted IMO. Here are the names that weren't on the top of your head who also disagreed with your opinion. .....Gazton, ....

Dublin born and bred But my support for SI isn't because of that, it's because he's a Villa player, and a good one too.

[BOF]

Dublin born and bred

You're not helping !

[bannedfromHandV]

I'm not trying to generalise Bof nor am I assuming that just because SI is Irish that he therefore warrants the unconditional support of any and all Irish people, but, upon posting yesterday my initial thoughts on SI, I was quickly met with firece opposition from the likes of yourself, Reality and P3TE, just to name a few off the top of my head.

I could be wrong but it's how it's appeared to me.

Yes, you've looked and found what you wanted IMO. Here are the names that weren't on the top of your head who also disagreed with your opinion. Gazton, Wiggy, Hanky, nedster, villan007, CoopsAVFC, gilbertoAVFC, villanmike, Pieface, tezzaleed & omariqy. I think you 'could be wrong' as well

Bof, I never, at any point, tried to make out that it was only Irish based people who were in favour of SI.

[PieFacE]

To be fair, even in those two games, i don't think he played badly at all.

Newcastle everyone was poor, and he did nothing wrong really, just passed it around. The team failed that day, not Ireland.

RV, i thought he looked really bright in the first 60minutes, then you could see he was struggling. Makes some decent late runs into the area, passes the ball around lovely. Just quite clearly not match fit. Or, fit at all.

[gilbertoAVFC]

I'm not surprised you're banned from Heroes and Villains with tripe like this! Nationality bias? It's called giving the lad a chance!

[barry'sboots]

Didn't realise he was Irish ........ only joking before I get shot.

I think he will be a super buy if used properly. Cracking footballer, great movement, lovely first touch and keeps the ball moving. I would have loved to see him play in a midfield three of:

-------------- sitting midfielder -------------

---------SI --------------------- Milner ------

but that will probably never happen unless he does really well and they come back in with a silly bid at the end of the season!

I think a midfield of:

-------------- sitting midfielder -------------

--------------------------------- Delph ------

------ SI -------------------------------------

could be very interesting though and I am looking forward to seeing this when Fabian gets fit.

[beasley14]

Delph's the new Milner.

[dudevillaisnice]

Meanwhile, the new Villa boss is likely to have Stephen Ireland available for his first match at Stoke a week on Monday after a positive progress report on the midfielder’s fitness.

Ireland was left out of last Sunday’s win over Everton as a precautionary measure after tweaking his hamstring during the pre-match warm-up.

But, as expected, the injury is not serious and Ireland is expected to join his Villa team-mates when they return to training after a few days off next week.

Gabby Agbonlahor is tipping Ireland to become a claret and blue star despite damaging defeats to Newcastle and Rapid Vienna in his first two appearances.

“Stephen Ireland is getting a good relationship with some of the players,” said Agbonlahor.

“Obviously Newcastle was a hard game to come into. He’s not really played much football, so we’re still yet to see the best of him.

“But what I’ve seen in training is that he’s been one of the top trainers. He can add a lot to the squad.

“If you look at him he can score goals and he’s one of the fittest players you’ll see, getting up and down the field, so it’s looking good for Villa with him playing.”

Hull are believed to be considering a temporary move for Habib Beye when the Football League loan window opens on Wednesday.

http://tinyurl.com/38pfktz

[beasley14]

Good news there.

[gilbertoAVFC]

People say SI has a bad attitude, but from what I've seen in games and heard in training for City and now Villa, his work-rate and determination is excellent. Bit of an odd-ball perhaps, but who cares if he delivers the goods?

[C4rvillan]

I hope he can really pick up a good relationship with Ash and Gabby. just watch the goals flow if he does.

[barry'sboots]

I hope he can really pick up a good relationship with Ash and Gabby. just watch the goals flow if he does.

He won't do this if he's standing on Richard Dunne's toes. Hopefully, the new manager will push him forward into the hole and get Ash back on the wing.