Jarpie Posted September 1, 2012 Share Posted September 1, 2012 He floats around and has a couple of good games a season, and now that he needs a new contract, he will perform for the next couple of games! He doesn't need a new contract. He wants one. He wants to stay at villa and he wants to earn a new deal. I've just can't win can he. If he said he didn't want a new deal people would complain. He comes out and says he wants to continue to work hard and earn a new desk at the club if we want to keep him. There's NOTHING wrong with that He knows hell take a pay cut in a new deal too. Yet he wants one and people whine If he's so shit what do people expect him to do? If he's such a bad player, how is he underperforming? If he's no good why are people saying he's not delivering? Without the right players and right system, what can he do? He can't make incisive passes to players who aren't imaging the right runs. He can't make great runs if nobody can pick the pass to him Instead he's rolling up his sleeves and doing the job asked of him and required by the performances of our other players. Give him the right balance in his teammates and you'll get the attacking Stephen Ireland we bought. Don't give it to him and you get a player who breaks his balls for the team every game but can't make the most if his skills Spot on. As the season develops and the players learn to play together I think we're gonna see Ireland getting better and better too. Wouldn't surprise me if he'll develop good trio with KEA and Holman. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AVFCforever1991 Posted September 1, 2012 Share Posted September 1, 2012 If he's so shit what do people expect him to do? If he's such a bad player, how is he underperforming? If he's no good why are people saying he's not delivering? Read my post above please. I Believe Ireland has the potential to be a great Villa player, he just needs to start being more consistent. I Never once said he was shit. And just for the record, I do believe he will be quality player for years to come. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andym Posted September 1, 2012 Share Posted September 1, 2012 i hope so jarpie, but i keep hearing about irelands supposed quality, how he just needs a run in the team, how he will be this great creative player but everyone elses lack of ability is holding him back. however as it stands thats all based on 6 good months he had at man city several years ago. 1 goal and 2 assists last season for our supposed quality attacking midfielder, and before someone mentions modric again, ireland has shown no ability to fully dictate and control games like he can you can count on one hand the great games he has had for us. too many times he goes missing and provides no end product. he works no harder than many of our other players (although outlandish and ego boosting claims are no stranger to him so its not surprising he claims this). at what point do we accept the stephen ireland who played well for 6 months (with robinho and elano next to him) is the exception, and what we have seen at villa is as good as its going to get. he may well have the ability in there somewhere, but that is useless if he is never able to use it on a matchday. he wouldnt be the first player to show great technical and creative potential for a short period, but then not be able to build on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bannedfromHandV Posted September 1, 2012 Share Posted September 1, 2012 A lot of his forward passes get cut out by defending players. This has **** all to do with the players in front of ireland on the pitch. He has the vision, I have no doubt but does he have the ability and/or desire to make it work during matches? Evidence so far suggests not Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skruff Posted September 1, 2012 Share Posted September 1, 2012 Steven Ireland made 24 appearances for Aston Villa last season. 5 as a substitute. At an average his stats were as following: 2.3 tackles per game. (Cheik Tiote 2.8 N'zonzi 1.7) 2.6 interceptions. ( Cheik Tiote 2.5 N'zonzi 1.7 ) 0.6 clearances (Cheik Tiote 1.4 N'zonzi 2.3) 0.3 blocked shot.(Cheik Tiote 0.4 N'zonzi 0.2) 0.8 shots. 0.9 key passes. (Arteta 2.1 Yaya Toure 1.7) 32.3 passes 1.0 Accurate long ball (Arteta 5.2 Yaya Youre 5.5) 0.2 Accurate Throughballs (Arteta 0.2 Yaya Toure 0.3) 80.6% successful pass rate. (Arteta 90.8% Yaya Toure 90.5%) Think it's fair to say he put in a good shift defensively last season. Pretty sure he was the Villa player who put in the most miles in a match on more then one occasion. No idea where certain people get this nonsense about him being lazy from. Not to great offensively but not total gash either, think his offensive performances will improve this season since we got Paul Lambert as manager instead of McLeish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P3te Posted September 1, 2012 Share Posted September 1, 2012 That's it. Ireland in the previous system couldn't be an attacking player. Simple as that. Instead he went far above what people ever thought him capable of defensively, showing hell do whatever he's asked to for the sake of the team That apparently makes him shit, uninterested and lazy though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skruff Posted September 2, 2012 Share Posted September 2, 2012 What intrigued me was that when looking at defensive stats of Nzonzi and Steven Ireland back to back. Steven Ireland looks the better player. CI? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dont_do_it_doug. Posted September 2, 2012 Share Posted September 2, 2012 Love Stephen Ireland. Think he's really really good and an interesting character. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lexicon Posted September 2, 2012 Share Posted September 2, 2012 I detested Ireland when he first came here, mainly because he wasn't Milner and was sort of a walking reminder that we'd lost Jimmy - but also because he put in **** all effort and looked totally disinterested. A lot of this was due to being out of confidence and feeling a bit betrayed by Man City it seems. I was a massive detractor of his but I think he's come on a lot and puts a hell of a lot more effort in than he used to (I was shocked when he first started tracking back, as it seemed so out of character). I definitely think we should hang on to him for the time being as he is a very talented footballer and is showing that he wants to play for the club - what Lambert needs to do is to play to his strengths and get the best out of him because I think he could prove to be vital to our attacking play. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillakevBromsgrove Posted September 2, 2012 Share Posted September 2, 2012 I was watching Ireland very closely albeit against Tranmere, he constantly was looking for the pass but other players movement was just not there to help him, we constantly had to pass back from advanced positions ending up with the ball at the half way line and starting again. The problem is the lack of movement by the players around him, PL will get this right as the second half of the game showed, when this improved and our players become less static Steven Ireland shone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ronk-villa Posted September 2, 2012 Share Posted September 2, 2012 If Lambert sees him as a starting 11 player, maybe we should give hime the captains armband. he comes across as someone who needs an arm round the shoulder and have a manager believe in him. He does put in a shift, but he's not the most vocal. but then neither is Bent. He can't possibly stay as captain! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CI Posted September 2, 2012 Share Posted September 2, 2012 Looking forward to seeing what he offers today Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bazdavies79 Posted September 2, 2012 Share Posted September 2, 2012 I'm interested to see what tactics we play and how he fit's in, if he fit's in at all. Benteke coming in has thrown the cat amongst the pigeons a bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robbie09 Posted September 2, 2012 Share Posted September 2, 2012 Confident Lambert will know exactly what to do with him. Irelands attitude seems alot more amicable now, he actually wants to be here now and we all know a settled, happier player is more likely to deliver than one in Irelands position over the past 2 years. Like PL has just said on why he never pursued Dempsey further, he wont have players who dont have desire to play for AVFC. And he's a big fan of Ireland so I cant forsee any problems. Read reports on him being v. professional in training too, wanting to impress. I personally think it will be a good season for SI This for me. Even if he puts in a motm performance no doubt he'll get slagged off by his detractors. His work rate is undeniable, alot of the off the ball work he puts in doesn't get picked up by the TV cameras that these people judge him by. Anyway i'm off to the game now and i'm backing us to get a point today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob182 Posted September 2, 2012 Share Posted September 2, 2012 I'm interested to see what tactics we play and how he fit's in, if he fit's in at all. Benteke coming in has thrown the cat amongst the pigeons a bit. I think when everyone's fit, Lambert will go with the 4-3-1-2 he's used recently. -------- Benteke ---- Bent ----------- ---------------- Ireland --------------- Delph --- Elh Ahmadi -- Westwood Bennett - Dunne -- Vlaar -- Lowton ---------------- Given ------------------ The 2 wide midfielders aren't wingers, they're acting as central midfielders that will go forward or drop back into the left or rightback positions when the FBs are attacking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AVFCforever1991 Posted September 2, 2012 Share Posted September 2, 2012 I really want him to succeed here. Just hope Lambert uses him in an more advanced role than he did against West Spam, he was sitting far too deep.. He needs to play behind the striker, further up the pitch.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bazdavies79 Posted September 2, 2012 Share Posted September 2, 2012 I'm interested to see what tactics we play and how he fits in, if he fits in at all. Benteke coming in has thrown the cat amongst the pigeons a bit. I think when everyone's fit, Lambert will go with the 4-3-1-2 he's used recently. -------- Benteke ---- Bent ----------- ---------------- Ireland --------------- Delph --- Elh Ahmadi -- Westwood Bennett - Dunne -- Vlaar -- Lowton ---------------- Given ------------------ The 2 wide midfielders aren't wingers, they're acting as central midfielders that will go forward or drop back into the left or rightback positions when the FBs are attacking.Yeah 4-3-1-2 could be the one, but I'm not sure about dropping Gabby. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avfc1982am Posted September 2, 2012 Share Posted September 2, 2012 I'm interested to see what tactics we play and how he fits in, if he fits in at all. Benteke coming in has thrown the cat amongst the pigeons a bit. I think when everyone's fit, Lambert will go with the 4-3-1-2 he's used recently. -------- Benteke ---- Bent ----------- ---------------- Ireland --------------- Delph --- Elh Ahmadi -- Westwood Bennett - Dunne -- Vlaar -- Lowton ---------------- Given ------------------ The 2 wide midfielders aren't wingers, they're acting as central midfielders that will go forward or drop back into the left or rightback positions when the FBs are attacking.Yeah 4-3-1-2 could be the one, but I'm not sure about dropping Gabby. Gabby(much more penetration and pace down the wing) in for delph and rotate Ireland and NZog in the floating role behind the strikers. We may get more from NZog. Not sure though if El Ahmadi will be able to do all the DM work though in this system he doesn't seem all action but very much like Stan though so will probably be the link between Def and Mid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sonic_bouma Posted September 2, 2012 Share Posted September 2, 2012 i expect a big perfromance from him today he is fighitng for his place in the team now after the Tekkers signing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PieFacE Posted September 2, 2012 VT Supporter Share Posted September 2, 2012 Yup, he really needs to do something other then work hard and put a shift in. For the wages he's on that's not enough. A few assists/goals is needed from him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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