Richard Posted August 5, 2011 Author Share Posted August 5, 2011 and against Derby alongside a bunch of kids/reserves. Not having a go at you Mark as we mostly agree on everything (politics aside ;-) ) but it gets me when this is said. That team of mostly kids and reserves is basically our first team squad for this season. People need to realise that Ones things for sure given the size/quality in our squad an on form Stephen Ireland is certainly something we need.Absolutely it is and as I have said for me that is the equation Mcleish is weighing up. Get 2M for him now that he weill not reinvest, or keep the player and try and get him to perform for us. As hard as the second bit will be he has to try it. Needs must. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markavfc40 Posted August 5, 2011 Share Posted August 5, 2011 and against Derby alongside a bunch of kids/reserves. Not having a go at you Mark as we mostly agree on everything (politics aside ;-) ) but it gets me when this is said. That team of mostly kids and reserves is basically our first team squad for this season. People need to realise that Totally see where your coming from Richard and I do realise that they do make up a fair chunk of our first team squad. It doesn't change the fact that they are a bunch of kids/ what were/should be considered reserves and if at some stage we have to play a few of them at the same time in a Premeirship fixture then, like against Derby, I believe we will struggle and be found wanting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bannedfromHandV Posted August 5, 2011 Share Posted August 5, 2011 and against Derby alongside a bunch of kids/reserves. Not having a go at you Mark as we mostly agree on everything (politics aside ;-) ) but it gets me when this is said. That team of mostly kids and reserves is basically our first team squad for this season. People need to realise that Ones things for sure given the size/quality in our squad an on form Stephen Ireland is certainly something we need.Absolutely it is and as I have said for me that is the equation Mcleish is weighing up. Get 2M for him now that he weill not reinvest, or keep the player and try and get him to perform for us. As hard as the second bit will be he has to try it. Needs must. Yeah, minus the entire defence and goalkeeper, our major summer signing and our central midfield. Other than that though it's our starting 11. wake up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Posted August 5, 2011 Author Share Posted August 5, 2011 Did I say it was our starting 11 ? Wide awake thanks not sleepwalking into the new season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted August 5, 2011 Share Posted August 5, 2011 Also went to Newcastle and spent most of his time out on the piss. Ireland doesnt drink. he was in photo in a nightclub on Paddys day with a bottle of water in his hands Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boumasbabies Posted August 5, 2011 Share Posted August 5, 2011 On da ees man. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrackpotForeigner Posted August 5, 2011 Share Posted August 5, 2011 Ireland doesnt drink. I knew he was untrustworthy. This just confirms it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nik986 Posted August 5, 2011 Share Posted August 5, 2011 Build the team around our decent attacking talents surely? Ireland first choice in the hole, Bannan his back-up? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dchitz Posted August 6, 2011 Share Posted August 6, 2011 worked hard when came on, 3 or 4 good tackles/interceptions and some nice passing, movement off the ball was great. Should of got a little longer given gabby and bents input in the second half. Not enough to start next week though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimbojames Posted August 6, 2011 Share Posted August 6, 2011 Got to say I was surprisingly impressed with him getting into tackles and some nice movement and touches with Bannan and Heskey. Will some one with more discipline behind him he may get even better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supermon Posted August 6, 2011 Share Posted August 6, 2011 Seeing Ireland play for the last 20 mins or so against FV Braga, he definitely wasnt anonymous. There was nothing wow about his performance but he certainly got stuck in. Was nice to see him track back and get stuck in with the defense. had sum good touches here and there. Hopefully he finally his mind in the right place. He probably will go missing in some games but think he will be important player so long as we feed him the balls that we need. side note, emile of the heskey didnt play too bad on the wings, who would've thought that! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
string28 Posted August 6, 2011 Share Posted August 6, 2011 Good 20 mins from ireland i really do hope it takes off for him this season. Can be a game changer if his head is right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lexicon Posted August 6, 2011 Share Posted August 6, 2011 Best I've seen him in a villa shirt today, easily. Maybe there is hope for him yet. I hope so, we could do with someone with his ability - just we need someone who we can rely on as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rc_villa1972 Posted August 6, 2011 Share Posted August 6, 2011 He looked good tonight because there was a clever technical player alongside him (Bannan) with some people behind him prepared to give him the ball (Makoun). It would have been good to see Bent as the striker and N'Gog on the wing because they are all clever footballing players. Remember how good he was when he had Robhino alongside ? I know Bannan isn't Robhino but I am referring to technical footballing brains. ------------------Bent --------N'Zog-----Ireland------Bannan --------------Makoun-----Petrov ---Back 4 + Keeper That would be my lineup to get the benefit of having creative technical players who can pass and move. It is narrow but if things dont work so well, Gabby, Heskey, Delph and Albrighton off the bench and have the creative elements of Gardner to come to. Its not all doom and gloom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AValon Posted August 6, 2011 Share Posted August 6, 2011 Is this is the player we hoped to have signed? Looked very good tonight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan. Posted August 6, 2011 Share Posted August 6, 2011 The player is in there, we just need to feed it confidence! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Qwpzxjor1 Posted August 6, 2011 Share Posted August 6, 2011 Ireland is more than capable of pulling strings in midfield. He needs solid people behind him to hold the fort though, and I'm not sure we have that at the moment. ---------- DM ------ DM ------- Albrighton - Ireland - N'Zogbia ----------------Bent---------- Would be a great formation. But I can't see anyone in our squad occupying those 2 'DM' positions in any reassuring way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan. Posted August 6, 2011 Share Posted August 6, 2011 I think Makoun could fill one CM slot as we still need someone to get that ball out of our half and start our attacks, however we do ideally need a defensive minded (agile) player, which we haven't got. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr_Dogg Posted August 6, 2011 Share Posted August 6, 2011 We and the management just need patience with him, he needs to be treated as just another player and get fully integrated in to the squad instead of being looked upon to do something special each and every time he touches the ball. If that happens then in time we might start to see the talent he has. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dchitz Posted August 7, 2011 Share Posted August 7, 2011 What most of the fans don't realise is in his good season at city he wasn't playing just off the front man, he actually played right of a 3 man narrow midfield with a license to go up and down which he excelled at as his fitness was excellent. Contrary to belief his tracking ability is actually ok and although he doesn't smash into tackles like delph etc he has a decent ability to nick/intercept possession as he reads the game quite well. Any player will struggle to play off the front man in our squad for two reasons 1. Bent doesn't take the ball to feet, he plays off the shoulder of the last man making it hard for the player in the no 10 role to link with him 2. The gap between the midfield and man supporting bent is to large and the ball doesn't come to him fast enough as gabby found out yesterday. Anyone who watched the game yesterday could see Ireland was playin on the left of a 3 and not directly off front man and both aspects of his game benefited from this. An added problem he has is his head drops when he hasn't strong a couple of passes together and his mind goes wondering so it is important to have his closer to the action early on, and maybe push him on later on as his confidence grows. Playing in "the hole" can be very deceiving to fans because from experience you usually spend half if not more the game closing down defenders in a game of 4 v 2 possession, most defenders worth there salt won't be dispossesed in this situation, plus our defenders have a habit of bypassing midfield and banging it long. hence it's a fruitless position. All said I don't think this is the right position for him or any player in our squad but have no doubt about the players ability Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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