Good man Stephen Ireland... (1 Viewer)

[Richie]

Definately, Miller should be out of the squad now that he's found a club and Andy Reid should be there as an option, even if he's only going to be used as a backup winger.. He's raised his game for sure and a year in exile is long enough to show that Trap isn't taking any shit. Steven Reid made it through 75mins in the Carling Cup last night, with any luck he should be back in their first team within a couple of weeks. Get those two back in the squad and we can forget about S. Ireland for the time being.

 

[Cormcolash]

Yeah the Reid situation is ridiculous, he's really showing his quality right now and is involved in almost all of Sunderland's goals at the moment, he should definitely be in the team over Glenn fucking Whelan like.

 

[Moods For Mallards]

Bollix. No professsional footballer should be able to lose the weight he's lost. Speaks volumes about his attitude up to this point. No wonder Trap took a disliking to him, you can see where he's coming from. The season is only a few weeks old, let's see if he can stay fit and in the Sunderland team and then he's an option.
He was excellent againt Burnley.

 

[Unicron]

In terms of annoying absences from the team, the Andy Reid scenario is getting very interesting now I think. He's Sunderland's man of the match in most games these days and they're in the top half of the table. For how much longer can the Trap door stay closed (sorry)..?

I never really understood why people were so pissed about him being out of the squad before. He was a shit fatty who couldn't even get get into the Sunderland side regularly and I don't think Trap would have played him even if he'd been in the squad. At the moment though, he's playing and playing well and deserves the call up.

 

[Cryptid]

He could always pick out a couple of deadly passes, but wasn't much into winning the ball. He's not a widget that fits neatly into the Celtic-Italo-Germanic system, unlike the finely tuned imaginationless midfield machines we favour. It's a results business for sure, but the last few results have shown that winning isn't everything - you have to win in style, otherwise you end up like Greece, a loathed team by everyone apart from some Grecians.

Ridiculous rant over.

 

[Luther Blissett]

neither can I.

I wish they'd sell him.

most unlikeable player to play for them in 32 years of following the team.

More unlikeable than Joey Barton?

 

[nlgbbbblth]

More unlikeable than Joey Barton?

easily

more unlikeable than

Michael Frontzeck
Kit Symons
Kevin Bond
Tommy Hutchinson
Gerry Creaney
Jon Macken
Jo
George Weah
Steve Daley
Bernardo Corradi

 

[7 - No tomorrow]

Still believe that No. 7?

Yeah, absolutely.
I'd love him and his goals from midfield back in green, but after Hunt's taunting interview in June this was only going one way.
He's the villain of the piece for me.
I don't really expect anyone to agree with this.

 

[ratmonkey]

I don't really expect anyone to agree with this.

Why not? It's perfectly sensible.

 

[Moods For Mallards]

Surely the interview about Trap being on his 4 phones recasts Stevie I as the villain, even if he wasn't before. They guy is a spa.

 

[Froog]

time for trap to publicly roast this prick, no more nicey nicey phone line is open he's just shy shite.

trap: "fuck this cunt. his can kiss my chiseled italian ass and fuck off while he's doing it. but the phones are still open to his grandmothers, ffffuuuuuu"

 

[Vinnie]

Ive never seen anything like this in my life. It's a total fucking farce. When George Mitchell is done with the Middle East see if he cant get a halfwit professional footballer to potentially play at a world cup for his country of birth. Then he can maybe look into persuading an actor into accepting an oscar.

 

[ratmonkey]

Surely the interview about Trap being on his 4 phones recasts Stevie I as the villain, even if he wasn't before. They guy is a spa.

And having 4 phones ringing (and answering them) when you're trying to talk a lad into playing for you isn't being a spa?

 

[Cormcolash]

If it's the mafia calling you have to answer though

 

[7 - No tomorrow]

I cannot fucking abide bullies and Hunt got Ireland good.
Where's his interview saying that maybe things went too far in holding Ireland down against his will and reefing out of his hair?
Where's his interview saying he's sorry he alienated our best player (a fucking goalscorer!) by being a bullying prick?
No, fuckwit Hunt gives an interview saying more or less that the squad thinks Ireland is a cunt and he'd be an unwelcome usurper were he to return. There's a man thinking of his country.
Unstated in all of it was that nothing's changed so he could probably expect the same treatment in the locker room again. "Come back, I fucking dare you"
Why would Ireland bother?
You think Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink was physically abused while doing his volunteer work for Holland?

You can all follow what the red tops say, Ireland has no good reason to return, and one big curly-headed, fuckwitted reason not to.

 

[Moods For Mallards]

And having 4 phones ringing (and answering them) when you're trying to talk a lad into playing for you isn't being a spa?

The thing I took from the interview was that Ireland expected Trap to impress him into playing for his country. Who does he think he is? If he just says "I'm not really that interested in international football and I don't want to play", well that's fair enough at some level. But he's actually telling us that the manager isn't paying him enough attention, or isn't polite enough or whatever. Since when was any of that a prerequisite to accepting a place on the national team?

 

[Moods For Mallards]

I'm not going to defend Stephen Hunt - according to more trustworthy sources that Stephen Ireland, he's a knobend.
However, if one clown is your reason for not playing for your country, then you're probably in the wrong game. Ireland is going to have a hard career in the long run if he's that weak of character.
He's been shown way more conciliation from other squad members, has had more people bending over backwards to have him come back that anyone has a right to expect.

 

[Vinnie]

In fairness nobody has any idea what really went on to start this off or what has allowed it to perpetuate this long. The bottom line is that this is a chronic failure of management

 

[CinnamonBoy]

Andy Cole hated Teddy Sheringham and vice versa, didn't mean either of them stopped turning up for training. Ireland can fuck off. We've Steven Reid back now anyway.

 

[Richie]

I wish one of the players would come out and confirm whether the bullying stuff actually happened or not. Ireland said he had 'no problem with the players' at one of those interviews he gave a few months back. As far as I remember Dunne also denied that anything majorly untoward happened.

p.s. Latest on Ireland-Watch - taken to hospital suffering from dizziness after last nights game - maybe training intensively all summer with no break wasn't such a hot idea?
http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/s/1139880_city_star_stephen_ireland_rushed_to_hospital