Stephen Ireland

[ono]

Yeah, i remember when people said it was a horrible deal for City and that Ireland was as good as Milner.
     

To be fair, when Ireland was at his best (only lasted 1 season) he was better than anything Milner has produced with us.

 

[franksinatra]

Stephen Ireland is similar to a number of players who have left the club under Mancini, they all prefer to blame others for their own form and conduct rather than look at themselves. Ade wants to be loved, Robinho wants to be in Brazil, Ireland wants to be played in his chosen position, Tevez wants everything and a little more.

As a player he flickered brightly at times and possessed fantastic ability but he wasnt prepared to play within the structure of the team and take responsibility on the field of play to benefit the team. This was evident in the derby where he showed no interest in getting involved, evidenced by his marking of Scholes for the goal. How can a manager trust such a player?

The comparison with Milner is an interesting one. Milner has less natural ability yet is still twice the player and has had the career to reflect that. He believes in the ethos of the team and understands his responsibility on the football pitch, Ireland prefers to be "involved" in the bits he enjoys, without doing the neccessary dirty work all top players are required to do. Its awaful to say it but you look at Rooneys contribution on a football pitch, he hits twenty goals a season, is the crerative hub of the team yet still he works incredibly hard for the team, Ireland is the exact opposite to Milner and Rooney in this respect.

 

[GazM]

You can have all the talent in the world but if you ain't gonna roll up your sleeves & get stuck in then you're worthless (Robinho, Ireland, Ade, the list goes on).

 

[billygoat]

You can have all the talent in the world but if you ain't gonna roll up your sleeves & get stuck in then you're worthless (Robinho, Ireland, Ade, the list goes on).

The only people who would disagree are their bank managers!

 

[The Fat el Hombre]

oh sorry - which thread!?

No worries mate, i cant see the thread with the actual pic of hand but here it is...

One thread mentioning it is here <a class="postlink-local" href="http://forums.bluemoon-mcfc.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=243010" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">viewtopic.php?f=14&t=243010</a>

Repulsive and hideous on multiple levels

The more milner plays, the more stevie doesn't and the more Liverpool spunk tens of millions on English players, the more the milner deal looks a bargain

 

[JoeMercer'sWay]

Milner is much more talented than ireland, ireland scored lots of goals but milner matched his calibre v villa and also elano and robinho did a lot of the creating.

Let's face it ireland was #2 to MJ, got his opportunity with MJs injury but blew it.

 

[liamctid]

Maybe slightly off topic...

As much as people probably dislike him now, Robinho did a lot of good things for us. Off the pitch, he raised our profile. As stupid and painfully cringeworthy, "We've got Robinho" was as a terrace song, it was a simple message of "You lot think our clubs shit, but a world class star came to play with Tal Ben Haim and Javier Garrido". On the pitch, he was the focal point for the oppositions marking. They concentrated on him so much that Ireland would always find space; although thats not to say that he made some good runs. The goal away to Hamburg sums his season up. 3 players staring at Robinho so Ireland can slot away a goal.

The only other times where I can remember him shining in the past was the 2-1 victory at OT, but I think you can blame a lot of that on Fergusons team selection.

I don't think you can really compare him to Milner. I didn't really rate Milner last season, but similar to Barry, I think it's taken him awhile to find his feet in the team, and with the exception of WBA the other day (too many sloppy passes) I don't think he's really put a foot wrong this season.

 

[bluelady47]

Milner is worth ten times more the superflop (ireland) at least Milner puts a good shift in every time he's on the pitch, not just when he wants too

 

[Freestyler]

Ireland is more bothered about what colour his wheel trims are and how many fish he has in his tank, than actually playing football.

 

[carlos tevez is a blue]

Ireland is more bothered about what colour his wheel trims are and how many fish he has in his tank, than actually playing football.