I don't usually go in for rumour mongering and I'm sure many will laugh this off, but I was told 3 months ago, by someone who is usually pretty reliable, that the reason for Stevies collapse was down to him suffering a mild heart attack.
This is on the face of it, sounds somewhat unlikely, as you might think there would have been leaks to the press, but I'm not certain it couldn't have been kept under wraps.
One thing is certain, men of Irelands age do sometimes suffer heart attacks, especially some who get an obsession with exceesive and compulsive training techniques, like he did in the months leading up to his problems starting.
Anyway, I wouldn't discount this as an answer to why he is no longer the same player.
Stevie's game has always been about him giving 100% and playing at 100%, if he tries to play within himself then in my opinion, he is nothing.
It has looked for months like he has no stamina and has lost all his pace, and to be honest if this is the reason, nobody could blame him for being terrified of over exerting himself and pushing himself to the limit, like he has always done.
Sorry for having to write such a dark piece, but I for one am convinced this is the most rational and likely explanation and is probably nearer the truth to anything else I've read.
