The Fat el Hombre
Well-Known Member
Quite good again actually:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...tephen-Ireland-finally-grown-up.html?ITO=1490
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...tephen-Ireland-finally-grown-up.html?ITO=1490
Shaun Wright-Phillips sits in a car on the way to a community appointment in Stockport. It's raining.Traffic round the Manchester ring road is slow and the England international seems a little bored, but he comes to life at the mention of one subject.
'One of the best things about coming back to Manchester City has been the change in some of the guys that I left behind,' says Wright- Phillips, becoming animated.
'And the one who stands out is Stephen Ireland. He was always a talented player but he has changed so much as a person and has grown up so much. And look at him now.
'We have people like Robinho in our team but Stephen has probably been our best player this season.'
Robinho and Stephen Ireland. A year ago you would not have put them in the same sentence, never mind the same team.
Listen now to Ireland's manager, Mark Hughes. 'Some players can get daunted by the arrival of new, expensive faces,' said Hughes recently. 'They shy away from the challenge. They give in before they start. Others, like Stephen Ireland, look the challenge in the face and rise to meet it. They become better players. They make sure they are a part of the future.'
Just over a year ago it seemed as though Ireland may not have a future at City at all. A gifted, natural footballer, the young midfielder was nevertheless one of the Barclays Premier League's comedy figures.
Ireland drove a black 4x4 car with pink alloy wheels, for example. And that was the good bit. On his Bebo internet social networking page he called himself 'Daddy Dick' and posted the above lament.
Then, in September 2007, Ireland invented the death of two grandmothers to secure his release from international duty with the Republic of Ireland. The simple truth was that his girlfriend Jessica had suffered a miscarriage and he wanted to go home.
'When I first heard about that it was just a rumour,' said one senior City official. 'But I just knew it would be true.
'At that stage I wouldn't have put anything past him. That was just Stephen all over. A good player but he was all over the place.'
At his home in Warrington, Cheshire, there was further evidence of Ireland's jumbled life and mind. Situated on a smart cul-de-sac, his house was nevertheless chaos inside. In the garden lay bits of discarded furniture, torn to pieces by a dog over which Ireland seemed to have little control.
'To be frank it was a tip,' one friend of Ireland said. 'It was quite nice to look at but inside it was a disaster. It was if Stephen didn't really know how to look after it or the dog.'
These days, reminders of those dark, embarrassing days remain.
Still uncertain of his feelings about international football, he has not returned. As such, he still receives occasional hate mail at City's training ground and the Irish press have been unforgiving.
Nevertheless, his recovery, both personally and professionally, has been remarkable. This season Ireland has started every Premier League game since coming on as a late substitute in the opening fixture at Aston Villa.
He has also scored seven goals and - according to the player himself - this transformation has its roots in a long summer of introspection and hard work.
'I did a lot of training in martial arts in a gym in Glossop where I was doing one-on-one sessions,' Ireland said this week.
'Half seven in the morning I would be down there. I did long-distance running with bags on my back, too, but it was enjoyable.
'I dedicated six weeks of my summer to that work and thankfully it has paid off. I feel fitter and stronger and feel as though I could run all day.
'Last season I always felt I had a lot more to give. I could do it in training but never on match day and there would be one game in 15 where I would do well.
'It was driving me insane and I was getting quite depressed about it but I knew if I put in the hard work in the summer the benefits would come.'
Still just 22, Ireland's emergence this season has certainly been helped by increased personal happiness and, of course, some maturity.
It is clear that, even more than most players, Ireland's contentment off the field is intrinsically linked to his performances.
Being free from the pressures of international football has helped - he has said he just wants 'to keep my head down for now' - but so has the presence of three children and the fact that girlfriend Jessica is now his fiancee.
The Bebo page has long gone, or is at least impossible to find, and in its place is an official website (<a class="postlink" href="http://www.stephenireland.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.stephenireland.com</a>) that serves as a reference point for his official charity.
Set up recently to raise money for the Francis House children's hospice in South Manchester, Ireland encourages supporters to bid for shirts worn by both himself and opponents.
He said: 'They have all helped, Gerrard, Lampard, everyone. In three months we have raised about nine grand.'
Decent figures indeed, but it is Ireland's football statistics this season that continue to make the most impressive reading.
A young man who won Sir Bobby Charlton's soccer skills competition two years running as a child and then played for the same club, Cobh Ramblers, as Roy Keane, Ireland has become very much a City mainstay.
It is a different story to last season. And not only Shaun Wright-Phillips has noticed.