Forget Stephen Ireland. I accept that its his perogative whether or not he wants to represent Ireland. Why then does he feel the need to go to the papers everytime theres a big match hes not involved in & spout the same rubbish about how he hated International football, that it was such an inconvieniance to him. Fair enough hes made his decision, so he should shut up, mind his own business & let the boys who want to play get on with it. The Irish press ALWAYS concentrate on the players who arent there , rather than lads that are.It was the same when the other Cork messiah threw the toys out back at the last World Cup we were in.Hopefully they have given up going on about him now. Glenn Whelan is a good honest pro.A hard trier who has grown into a good player under Trapatoni whos shown faith in him. He may not be blessed with Irelands flair or natural ability but give me a team of Glenn Whelans anyday. Ireland will probably be shipped out of City in the summer anyway. Hes not going to get much of a look in the more players they buy.
Since the French game Whelan has become a regular in the Stoke side and looks a very composed and combative midfield player. I think the man was lacking in confidence for a while not helped by the tough time he was getting off the media here in Ireland. He was excellent again on Tuesday night and Ireland fell apart when he was substituted. I wouldnt be awful surprised if he got a big money move in the summer. As for the other clown its backwards he is going. I have a funny feeling in 5 years time we will wondering what all the fuss was about with Stephen Ireland.
this shouldnt even be an argument. i wouldnt hav rated whelan that highly but he wants to play for his country, and he has definity improved over the last few years. trapp has show faith in him and he is paying him back. so my answer would be whelan every day of the week.
the other is a brainless fool who doesnt know when to keep his mouth shut. he has been asked enough to play for his country but has refused. that ship has saled so forget about him and move on.
trap only needs players who want to be there and i would agree with him on the issue of andy reid as well. when the papers were shorting about him, where was most of the time, ON THE BENCH for that great team called sunderland. the papers were using the fact that he lost some weight as a reason to bring him back, but i taught he was a professional sportsman, that is part of his job to keep in shape.