Ireland signs?

Well I did say Ireland signs....
See what I did with the title and the picture? Hmm, HMM? I was impressed anyway….

As you may have guessed from the rather tenuous headline and photo, this article is concerning Stephen Ireland and the intesifying speculation that the deal is pretty much done.

Large buckets of salt are needed as nothing is ever official until the club have announced anything, but that dude on Twitter seems pretty adamant that the deal is done. Combine that with the fact that nufc.com are reporting it and it would certainly strengthen the case. Niall and Biffa aren’t generally the types to peddle unsubstantiated rumours.

Still, it gives us another chance to debate the merits of potentially signing the 24-year-old. Much depends on which Stephen Ireland we get to be fair. If we get the one that won their Player of the Season award a couple of years back then it could be a good move. If we get the one that has looked a shadow of the aforementioned player then it will be a bad move. It’s as simple as that really.

The main issue I have is that he doesn’t play in a position where we are lacking. If I recall correctly, Ireland is an attacking midfielder, like Kevin Nolan but a little bit more…….. svelte. Is he any better than Nolan? With Big Kev in the form he is in at the moment I don’t think he is.

It’s out wide where we are struggling in my opinion, especially now Routledge has gone. Pardew may have seen fit to lambast the lad yesterday, but surely he would have been better than nobody out wide? That is where we are at the moment. Our options on the right wing are restricted to Joey Barton – a central midfielder – being forced to play wide, although he is doing a cracking job at it to be fair. That is about it.

If Ireland signs I hope he uses this move as a springboard to relaunch his career, but I will be wondering just how he will fit in with the team we have currently. With the wages he will be on I would assume he is being brought here to play in the first team, so it will be interesting to see how he will be employed in the team

With the rumour mill suggesting a deal could be imminent pending the arrival of Michael Bradley at Aston Villa, where do you think Ireland will fit in the team? Will he even turn up at Newcastle?

As ever, your thoughts please.

About toonsy

A lifelong Newcastle fan and current webmaster of this very 'blog who has the sole aim of creating a place by Newcastle United fans, for Newcastle United fans.

47 thoughts on “Ireland signs?

  1. Is it micheal Bradley or Bradley Johnson? If it’s Michael I’ll be asking why are we getting this mug instead of Bradley! 😯

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  2. Loving the headline/photo toonsy!! 😆 😆
    Can he play anywhere other than CM? Because I am struggling to see why we would sign him otherwise?

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  3. I’d rather have Michael Bradley than Steven Ireland. Ireland has unquestionable talent, but his attitude and/or mental state is a serious concern.

    Bradley’s heart, guts and fitness will never be an issue–he’s a young lion and will only improve.

    It’s like the old comment about running coaches: Given a choice between two sprinters with exactly the same times– one has perfect technique and the other doesn’t. Which one do you choose?

    Answer: Choose the imperfect one with room to improve. In his natural, uncoached state, he’s already as good as the cat with the training. With good coaching, he’ll surpass the “perfect” one.

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  4. Is Pardew signing players in his own image – white range rover, pink wheels – gold star on teeth – I am not happy – give me Chris’s approach any day.

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  5. Lol aye Batty you’re right, Tiote, Ben Arfa, getting rid of wasters whose hype is as big as their wage packet, and underperformance as massive as their ego’s. Clueless knew nowt 😆

    Nee wonder the melon shagger loves Pardew – you find out who was using your nick? I always admit banter – like I did with Bunter – otherwise you never get to enjoy it!

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  6. stardy mr pardew signed ben arfa 😉 and you sound like workys twin 😀 as for the other i think you know

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  7. Well there’s one other who I imagine would want to do that – has he coughed the job in private?

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  8. How do you log into a blog when you’re banned Batts? I only worked out how to do Edward Rogers at the end – I have a fixed IP on my connection – but when I reboot it reverts to the original if I change it?

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  9. Stardust – I’m no computer geek but it can be done. Its also to refers track people who change it though so its not failsafe.

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  10. It’ll be 4 weeks before we are in – it’ll be livable but not 100 percent finished – the main bathroom will be done but all of the ensuites, gardens, drives etc are a few weeks off – but we need a proper home again – feels like my family life is on standby!

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  11. Its funny Toonsy, I have websites that track multiple agents for us, and everyone gets realtime info on leads – but come to me hiding my id on a blog – I haven’t got a clue! Well long term anyway!

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  12. Heard the interview with Pardew on radio Newcastle and he mentioned that Graham Carrs involvement in signing Tiote was very evident. Did Hughton know who he was?

    As for Ireland, I reckon its a no lose signing for us. If he recovers his form of early last summer he’ll be a great asset, if he doesn’t, he goes back in May. No problem.

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  13. Potty – I’m really surprised Pardew is trying to discredit Chris, NOT

    He will be talking about his team next, what he has done, where he saw weakness what HE did to change it, on bad result days you will never hear the same line – he will hang younger player like Krul out to dry.

    He is a hideous creature imo.

    Read Jim Collins – Good to Great and Built to Last to get the gist of what I’m on about (if you haven’t already)

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  14. Great to see Chris as a pundit on tv, speaks more sense than those who try to discredit him – take note Pardew – you aint got the class of that man – chump

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  15. Im still struggling to find comfirmation of this, NUFC.COM obviously hang fire before writing stories like this so im assuming theres some truth.

    Hopefully we wont stop there and we can bring in another one before deadline, poss a striker to take the strain if Carrolls injured

    P.S. Or has his head turned by the genuine all round mightiness of Spurs and the city where the streets are paved with gold 🙄

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  16. Chrissy Hooten – Championship manager, football pundit, – ( I heard there’s a job going at SkySports Chris. 😀

    Im not sure about Ireland. Worth a shot on loan I suppose but hope it’s not a return to the bad old ways. He deserves another chance though, it was very fish the way he was forced out at City.

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  17. Toonsy

    Ireland won’t be replacing Nolan as Nolan now plays in the central midfield area. Ireland is likely to occupy Nolan’s former position, AM. Not going for a striker in this window tells me that Pardew may start going with a 4-5-1.

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  18. I’d love to see Ireland in a Newcastle shirt, I really think he can replicate his form for city in the right team, we need to make sure we have a future fee in place so we can secure him in the summer. I can see Pardew playing a 4-5-1/4-3-3.

    …………………. Harper ……………………
    Simpson . Taylor . Coloccini . Enrique
    ………………….. Tiote …………………….
    Barton ………………………….. Ben Arfa
    …………… Nolan …. Ireland …………….
    ………………….. Carroll …………………..

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  19. ET – This is why I worry about it. I’m not sure whether Nolan has the legs for a proper CM role anymore. When he is allowed to float it isn’t so bad because when he goes missing he isn’t allowing a player to go through our midfield unaided.

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  20. Tom- tasty lineup there.

    I’m OK with Ireland but reallywant another winger as well. Accimplish tat and we suddenly ave a bit of depth. A bit of quality depth mind…

    Sorry to see Bradley go to Villa if true. Though hardly a position of need, he’s the type of high energy waarior we need plus at 23 is the right age. More versatile than Ireland

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