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Stephen Ireland


omariqy

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Everyone wanted the Stephen Ireland between 2007-09....That has failed to happen in part maybe from not been given the "free role" he had sitting behind the front two under houllier and the ginger word removed ...Its up to the player to impress his manager and adapt show his hunger ..the lad is still only 26 but his head is not with it 

 

His last few games for the first team were decent performances but it looked like he was going through the motions ...a few sloppy passes not tracking back and no general enthusiasm to win the ball....

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I don't hate bent, Don't even hate Hutton. I despise Stephen Ireland

Why? Makes no sense.

 

Fair question deserves a fair answer,  and yours Jim.

 

To me it makes sense.

 

Hutton - At least wants to play,  limited in terms of talent and a clogger.  Was never worth the 9M spurts payed for him or the 4M we did (this bloke has transfered for 13M in his career!!),  not his fault that.  I think he recognises his level.  Awful player but he at least wants to play and has got moves to other clubs while he has been with us and tried to get a move.  With him I think he doesnt have the ability ,  recognises this but wants to play at least

 

Bent - I like him as a player actually and wanted him at this club for ages.  Was utterly delighted when he signed for us but the current manager (who I wanted at this club more ) does not fancy him,  Bent does not fit into the team tactics or team set up the way the manager wants.  The manager is charged with changing this club and ensuring we are set up to achieve some good stuff in the future.  So as part of that Bent has to leave.  I have no problem with that.  I am sure he would still be happy to play for us if the circumstances were different but they are not.  I think he is talented at what he does and we will get some money for him,  at his best he justifies the wages he is on

 

Ireland - For me is nowhere near as talented as he himself believes he is.  A waste of 60K per week.  For me the fact that he came in return for Jimmy Milner is an utter disgrace and sought of sullies the memories of Jimmy for me. In my opinion he does not want to try and get a move,  has not tried to play,  does not want to play and is content at picking up his wages as he knows he could never earn that much from his skill or effort now,  that is the impression I get.  How he has ever been a player at this level is beyond me and he does not deserve the title "professional".  Attitude stinks and he is holding this club back ,  maybe in a small way,  but the FACT that his wages are probably three times the level of a Lowton or Westwood,  or that his wages could be better spent on a player who would contribute to the success of Villa and he is content to drain them from us knowing he has no career is the reason why i despise him.  Romavilan posted this on the transfer thread "Ireland, well, if he's prepared to stay knowing there isn't even a minimal chance of him training with the first team, let alone getting a game, then that's his career **** as far as i'm concerned. he *should* be coming into his prime if he wastes one of the best years of his career training on his own picking up his wage then he doesn't want to be a footballer. no-one will touch him with a barge pole if he does that, no club at any decent level that is" and it goes some way to summing it up for me

Edited by Richard
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Absolutely. I think he'll retire and spend the rest of his life counting his money.

 

dont know. I could see him retire and do something obscure for a guy of his salary like being a plumber or working in an office

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1 goal 2 assists last season, let's see if he can top that this year

 

 

503 quid to VT if he doesn't.

Just read the first 9 or ten pages of this thread,  some really funny stuff there!

 

Did VT ever get the 503 quid though?

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I love Lambert, but the total bomb out approach of players he doesn't fancy, has just affectively ruined any chance we have of moving any of them on. We can't even get rid of Bent for less than a quarter of what we paid for him.

 

 

This sums up my general feeling on the 'bomb squad' although i still think we'll move Bent on before the window closes albeit for a very hard to stomach price which will probably be undisclosed due to it's nature.

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Morpheus, carrying on our chat about Stephen Ireland's attitude from the transfer speculation thread, you're probably right that Ireland never really gave a shit about us since before the moment he arrived and that anyone doing their homework wouldn't have signed him*.  We agree on that.  My response however was in relation to whether I'd do the same as him in his position and I don't think I would.  I'd like to think I'd apply myself no matter who I was playing for and I expect the same from every footballer - as naïve as that is.

 

 

 

* The fact he was signed sans-manager is probably quite a telling factor in why he's even here

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On the subject of managers surely the bigger issue is exactly that rather than this current crop of the bomb squad per se.

 

We spent years bemoaning the "bomb" squad that MON left us with only to now be doing exactly the same with the players bought by Houllier/McLeish or in Ireland's case no one at all.

 

I think the problems we've had in this respect are more to do with the fact we've changed manager every season rather than the players themselves.

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On the subject of managers surely the bigger issue is exactly that rather than this current crop of the bomb squad per se.

 

We spent years bemoaning the "bomb" squad that MON left us with only to now be doing exactly the same with the players bought by Houllier/McLeish or in Ireland's case no one at all.

 

I think the problems we've had in this respect are more to do with the fact we've changed manager every season rather than the players themselves.

 

There could be some truth in that, perhaps no in the case of Ireland, but certainly Bent, Given and Bannan. If Houllier was still here, then I'm sure we'd have no problem with this trio.

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On the subject of managers surely the bigger issue is exactly that rather than this current crop of the bomb squad per se.

 

We spent years bemoaning the "bomb" squad that MON left us with only to now be doing exactly the same with the players bought by Houllier/McLeish or in Ireland's case no one at all.

 

I think the problems we've had in this respect are more to do with the fact we've changed manager every season rather than the players themselves.

 

There could be some truth in that, perhaps no in the case of Ireland, but certainly Bent, Given and Bannan. If Houllier was still here, then I'm sure we'd have no problem with this trio.

I often wonder what would have happened if GED and GMac were able to have another year. I liked the way we were starting to change our way of playing under GED.

Lerner bringing in McLeish after GED is one of the most baffling decisions I have ever seen anyone make

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We don't actually know for certain he doesn't give a shit, it's a toxic mix of the fact how his attitude has been portrayed, the fact he clearly winds managers up by not playing to his potential and who he replaced at Villa. We don't even know what wages he is on.

 

He is clearly one babybel short of a packed lunch, but still not sure if he deserves the derision we give him.

I love Lambert, but the total bomb out approach of players he doesn't fancy, has just affectively ruined any chance we have of moving any of them on. We can't even get rid of Bent for less than a quarter of what we paid for him.

 

 

 

I don't agree with this - I did at the time think it was madness when he threw Bent out of the first team squad and would only harm his value. But I think the reality with these players is they know they are not wanted as do their agents and hence as do other clubs. Agents and clubs likely knew long before anyone was bombed out that Bent/Ireland/Bannan etc. could be got on the cheap.

 

It also puts the onus on the player - if you want to play football go and talk to other clubs, negotiate wages, make it happen yourself. If you just want to earn money for doing nothing here's the bomb squad - enjoy. Its' clear what the bomb squad want to do.

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We don't actually know for certain he doesn't give a shit, it's a toxic mix of the fact how his attitude has been portrayed, the fact he clearly winds managers up by not playing to his potential and who he replaced at Villa. We don't even know what wages he is on.

 

He is clearly one babybel short of a packed lunch, but still not sure if he deserves the derision we give him.

I love Lambert, but the total bomb out approach of players he doesn't fancy, has just affectively ruined any chance we have of moving any of them on. We can't even get rid of Bent for less than a quarter of what we paid for him.

 

 

 

I don't agree with this - I did at the time think it was madness when he threw Bent out of the first team squad and would only harm his value. But I think the reality with these players is they know they are not wanted as do their agents and hence as do other clubs. Agents and clubs likely knew long before anyone was bombed out that Bent/Ireland/Bannan etc. could be got on the cheap.

 

It also puts the onus on the player - if you want to play football go and talk to other clubs, negotiate wages, make it happen yourself. If you just want to earn money for doing nothing here's the bomb squad - enjoy. Its' clear what the bomb squad want to do.

 

But that's the problem isn't it - they won't get the wages they are on now - and they still think they are good enough to justify those wages somewhere else - or are prepared to do nothing and just take the money - believing they have been treated poorly.

Bent is probably the only one you could say that is probably worth most of the wages he is on as when he plays he scores much of the time.

How do we expect people to want these players if we are happy to let the world know how little we value them.

Segregating them and making them train alone just says to the world 'Here is a bunch of expensive arseholes we don't rate, are disruptive to the rest of the team and we will do anything to get rid of'

Bent is an asset, he may not be better than what we have in the formation we play - but if we'd kept him as a sub or occasional plan B then we wouldn't be struggling to shift him. But Lambert decided that getting absolutely nothing or nowhere with/from Jordan Bowery was the better option.

Edited by VillanousOne
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