Zatman Posted July 6, 2011 Share Posted July 6, 2011 in fairness i think he played less than 10 games for us which is not enough time to judge anybody whether manager or player(though a lot of our fans have no problem doing it to either) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moose Posted July 6, 2011 Share Posted July 6, 2011 Given the state of our squad right now I'd give anyone a chance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Lions_Roar Posted July 6, 2011 Share Posted July 6, 2011 How many times did he actually play for Newcastle? Don't ever remember hearing his name mentioned for them! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony_Tony_Daley Posted July 6, 2011 Share Posted July 6, 2011 How many times did he actually play for Newcastle? Don't ever remember hearing his name mentioned for them! I dont think he even played at all...was injured...i mean "injured" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Lions_Roar Posted July 6, 2011 Share Posted July 6, 2011 How many times did he actually play for Newcastle? Don't ever remember hearing his name mentioned for them! I dont think he even played at all...was injured...i mean "injured" Just found it, he played twice, a grand total of 49 minutes of football! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRS-T Posted July 6, 2011 Share Posted July 6, 2011 When Ireland played for us he played quite well, then Houllier blasts him in public and he never plays again.. I think much of his attitude at Villa was down to Houllier. This. Houllier was clearly at fault, not Ireland. Houllier criticises him in public, freezes out of first-team picture and then tells him to move to Brum (even though other players commute.) Houllier was a nasty piece of work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AVFC-Prideofbrum Posted July 6, 2011 Share Posted July 6, 2011 When Ireland played for us he played quite well, then Houllier blasts him in public and he never plays again.. I think much of his attitude at Villa was down to Houllier. This. Houllier was clearly at fault, not Ireland. Houllier criticises him in public, freezes out of first-team picture and then tells him to move to Brum (even though other players commute.) Houllier was a nasty piece of work. So you agree Ireland played quite well? He was very poor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NowDoINotLikeThat Posted July 6, 2011 Share Posted July 6, 2011 Don't rmber Ireland exactly pulling up tress under Kev Mac either. To soley blame Houllier for Ireland is ridiculous IMO - and i wasn't a big Houllier fan either . Anyhow we are stuck with Ireland - lets see if McLeish can do anything with him. Tho i really cannot see Ireland playing much under McLeish either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dudevillaisnice Posted July 6, 2011 Share Posted July 6, 2011 Houllier Houllier Houllier Just like it was Mancini's fault too? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dont_do_it_doug. Posted July 6, 2011 Share Posted July 6, 2011 This is kind of the most pointless conversation ever. Nobody is coming up with anything new. He's part of the squad. If he comes good great, if not, shame. That's about the end of it. I've got no idea what will happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CBGB Posted July 7, 2011 Share Posted July 7, 2011 We might as well try and get him playing well. Who knows if we've got anything in the way of decent money to spend on new players, sounds like we don't. And we won't get much money by selling him, so... Maybe he can play in the Sheringham role in a 4-4-1-1 behind Bent? Hope so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRS-T Posted July 7, 2011 Share Posted July 7, 2011 When Ireland played for us he played quite well, then Houllier blasts him in public and he never plays again.. I think much of his attitude at Villa was down to Houllier. This. Houllier was clearly at fault, not Ireland. Houllier criticises him in public, freezes out of first-team picture and then tells him to move to Brum (even though other players commute.) Houllier was a nasty piece of work. So you agree Ireland played quite well? He was very poor. He didn't really play well but then he didn't play so badly that he deserved to be dropped from the first-team squad all together and forced to train with the kids. Houllier clearly had it in for him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ozvillafan Posted July 7, 2011 VT Supporter Share Posted July 7, 2011 He didn't really play well but then he didn't play so badly that he deserved to be dropped from the first-team squad all together and forced to train with the kids. Houllier clearly had it in for him. Neither did he play well enough to justify his massive wages, nor keep his place in the team. Houllier criticized him because he simply wasn't good enough. Ireland spat the dummy, declared he hated Birmingham and loved Newcastle and desparetly wanted to stay there despite having not played a single game for them. Bad management? Or a Prima Donna? I know which way you are leaning - but if he is to be reintroduced under AM, then there will simply be no excuses for him underperforming. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrDuck Posted July 7, 2011 Share Posted July 7, 2011 You can't blame Houllier for the Ireland situation. Ireland had a fine track record of being a total prick long before he signed for Villa. Jeez, I never thought I'd be defending GH! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted July 7, 2011 Share Posted July 7, 2011 So you agree Ireland played quite well? He was very poor in fairness he wasnt only player playing bad at the time and as he was the new guy he sort of got the blame but Carew, Collins, Warnock and Dunne were just as bad at that time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juanpabloangel18 Posted July 7, 2011 Share Posted July 7, 2011 Houllier was clearly at fault, not Ireland. Having watched every training session and overheard every conversation they shared, clearly thats how it went down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam2003 Posted July 7, 2011 Share Posted July 7, 2011 Houllier was clearly at fault, not Ireland. Having watched every training session and overheard every conversation they shared, clearly thats how it went down. Well said, that man. Now, I'm off to listen to Randy Lerner and Alex McLeish argue... :winkold: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRS-T Posted July 7, 2011 Share Posted July 7, 2011 It's pretty obvious that Houllier had it in for Ireland. First thing he does is critisize him in the press. Then he freezes him out of the first-team squad. He was good enough for the bench at least - no need to be put into the reserves. Then he tells him not to bother turning up on a matchday. He was clearly trying to force him out of the club. He also told him to move house even though Pires came from London every day, and his lover Ashley Young sold his house in the Midlands to commute from Hertfordshire. He did this to Carew, Davies, Beye and Warnock as well. Like I say, Houllier was a nasty piece of work. This is what I posted on another forum: "After 15 matches on the bench Houllier told me to stay at home," said Ireland, who is hoping to make his Newcastle debut against Everton this weekend. "I trained during the week and on Fridays he told me, 'no point you coming, you are not in the team'. "Yet I was the best player in training. It was my team that won in every session. One of the few times he played me, we drew 0-0 at Chelsea and I ended up man of the match. "Apparently that didn't matter to him. I was stuck with being paid for doing nothing at all. I was left to myself. I had to pay out of my own pocket for medical treatment. Can you believe that?" Ireland also took exception at being asked to move to Birmingham from his home in Manchester. "Houllier asked me to come and live in Birmingham because it was taking me 75 minutes to come to training. But there were 15 players in the same position as me. Some came from London and took more than two hours, but he only asked me to move," he continued. "For a start, Birmingham is a c**p city and I wasn't going to make the effort, especially as I wasn't playing. Might as well be in Manchester if I had to stay home on match days. " Now Ireland has come out and said the interview has been sensationalised and his words taken out of context etc so i'll ignore the part of Brum not being a very good city. But the bit about him being the best player in training but never being picked - I believe every word he says. We all know what Houllier is like once he decides he doesn't like you, there's no way back - see Warnock, Beye, Davies etc. I mean are you really telling me that Stephen Ireland wasn't good enough to make the bench? When we were playing the likes of Hogg during that injury crisis? And also about being asked to move to Brum when other players lived further away than he did in London. Again I believe every word. Ashley Young sold his house in the West Midlands and now commutes from London but you don't see him being dropped from the team. Pires also commutes from London. With Houllier, it's once rule for some, another rule for others. Think about it, would Ireland make all this up? No. This is true (ignoring parts about Brum and Cork/Ireland.) I'm glad this has come out because it backs up my dislike of Houllier. Houllier out Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dudevillaisnice Posted July 7, 2011 Share Posted July 7, 2011 Are you Ireland's agent? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimbojames Posted July 7, 2011 Share Posted July 7, 2011 Well Ireland has the pre-season to prove himself, if he's not interested then ship him out. Just let his football do the talking because his mouth is no good at it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts