When I heard about Ireland demanding a £2m goodbye payment I thought it was a joke. Obviously it's coming from his agent who is trying to get him, and himself, as much money as he can. But it's a piss take to be frank and I thought the club was doing absolutely the right thing about playing hardball.
However, reading the article in the MEN (sorry if already posted but couldn't find it)
<a class="postlink" href="http://menmedia.co.uk/sport/football/manchester_city/s/1314078_ireland_left_out_in_cold_by_city" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://menmedia.co.uk/sport/football/ma ... ld_by_city</a>
I can't help but feel we're being very unprofessional by not letting him train with the 1st team. It's clear that Mancini is bringing the business side of things onto the training pitch. Bellamy has been told to stay away (rightly so if he is a disruptive figure in training but think it has more to do with trying to force him out) but now Ireland has been told he has to train with the reserves? This is a guy who has been brought through our ranks, has city in his heart, and yes hasn't been great recently but has performed very well for us in the past. He is NOT a reserve player, and even though he's probably leaving, and even though he isn't in our 25 man squad, how is letting him continue to train with the first team going to be a disruptive influence on the squad? He's never slagged us off to my knowledge and he's never been disruptive on the pitch, in the training room, or in the dressing room that I know of. And to treat him this way, because we want him to be part of the Milner deal is unprofessional and disgraceful in my opinion. Really don't like this side of Mancini. I hope I've got it wrong.
However, reading the article in the MEN (sorry if already posted but couldn't find it)
<a class="postlink" href="http://menmedia.co.uk/sport/football/manchester_city/s/1314078_ireland_left_out_in_cold_by_city" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://menmedia.co.uk/sport/football/ma ... ld_by_city</a>
I can't help but feel we're being very unprofessional by not letting him train with the 1st team. It's clear that Mancini is bringing the business side of things onto the training pitch. Bellamy has been told to stay away (rightly so if he is a disruptive figure in training but think it has more to do with trying to force him out) but now Ireland has been told he has to train with the reserves? This is a guy who has been brought through our ranks, has city in his heart, and yes hasn't been great recently but has performed very well for us in the past. He is NOT a reserve player, and even though he's probably leaving, and even though he isn't in our 25 man squad, how is letting him continue to train with the first team going to be a disruptive influence on the squad? He's never slagged us off to my knowledge and he's never been disruptive on the pitch, in the training room, or in the dressing room that I know of. And to treat him this way, because we want him to be part of the Milner deal is unprofessional and disgraceful in my opinion. Really don't like this side of Mancini. I hope I've got it wrong.