HAVING ALREADY MADE two substitute appearances for new club Stoke, Stephen Ireland enjoyed a full debut for the club tonight, and got his name on the scoresheet to boot.
Ireland has gone some way towards repaying the faith shown in him by manager Mark Hughes by opening the scoring away to Tranmere.
The Irish player picked up a clever through pass from Marko Arnautovic and showed good composure to score for the first time since December 2011.
And interestingly, temporary Ireland boss Noel King was watching Ireland in the stands, along with the other Irish player in action — Glenn Whelan — while Jonathan Walters is on the bench.
Gary Neville trolls Luis Suarez, says he wants to see ‘a bit of bite’ in tonight’s game>
LIVE: Manchester United v Liverpool, Capital One Cup>
Advertisement
Time for Irish fans to get a grip and stop letting pride get in the way of having players who are capable in the squad no matter what happened in the past.We have a small enough pool of players as it is and cannot afford to cast aside guys who fell out with previous managers. Stop reading rubbish in rag papers that say he did this or that….If he is playing well at premiership level he should be called up if he wants to make a return.
He might be a bit mad, but he is a class footballer, I rather see him in the centre of the park instead of current collection of Donkeys.
He selfishly let us down before..anyway he’s not as good as he was
What he did in the past was wrong but to be honest, its time for everyone to move on. Clean slate and all that.
his gf had a misacarriage I think most of us would sacrifice kicking a bit of leather about for our loved ones
While i wouldn’t rule him out, necessarily, A goal against tramere hardly proves a whole lot. I’d be more concerned why a succession of managers have sold him on.
Not the first player to have a lot of moves, Robbie Keane had his fair share of them. think it’s down to his form hasn’t been the best in the last few years as opposed to him being a disruptive or negative influence. Stoke could give him a new lease of life that he needs
I’d have to agree with mister red thumbs.Only reason he wants back in the Ireland squad is to get a look in at club level.The only reason he started today was due to the opposition stoke were playing against.Pardon my French but he’s a little rat snake bastard who wasn’t willing to play for his country when his country needed him.Bring him back,but only to rot on the bench
Why take up a space on the bench so clown
He’s a premier league player, we havnt lots a them! Get him back in and see what he’s capable of