Ireland to get debut in Manchester United game says Pardew.
Posted on April 15th, 2011 | 13 Comments |
Ireland, who has yet to make a first team appearence for the club since he was signed on loan from Aston Villa carying a knee injury, was originally set to make his first team debut for the club against Everton on the 5th March. However another injury, a thigh strain picked up in training ended up ruling him out once again for a while.
Pardew began by saying how Ireland has already proved himself as a player from his performances with Manchester City, but that he wants to ensure he can produce similar form in a black and white shirt, observing:
“I don’t think there is pressure on him as a player, he has already proven he is a very good player at Manchester City,”
But adding a note of caution, he continued:
“The question with Stephen is whether he can do it in a black-and-white shirt. We’ve got this period between now and the end of the season where he has to show he can.
“If we don’t see it in the next six games, it’s highly unlikely we are going to bring him here permanently.”
Then declaring that we would finally see Ireland for the first time in Magpie colours in the Manchester game, and that he would feature heavily after added:
“He has to be comfortable at the club and we have to be comfortable with him. This is a very important period for him. He will get a bit of the Manchester United game and then hopefully he can feature more heavily after that.
“He hasn’t featured yet, he’s been injured since he got here, and we hope he’s going to feature heavily in these last six games. That will really beef up our offensive capability and, if I’m honest, it needs it.”
Pardew then moved on to Ireland’s off pitch activities in a Newcastle’s ‘Tup Tup Palace’ nightclub the night before Newcastle United’s game with Stoke on 19th March, where he and striker, Leon Best broke a club curfew to go nightclubbing and show their respective abdomens in an incident which was caught on camera. Pardew said of the nocturnal outing:
“The nightclub incident was something about nothing really. It wasn’t like they were drinking and doing anything outrageous, they just pulled their tops up. It has to be put into context, however I know he hasn’t played.
“It’s harsh on him, but that is all he has been known for since he got here because he hasn’t played in any games. I understand that. He hasn’t done anything.
Finally, he revealed that Newcastle United have not been paying him while he was out of the game, concluding:
“We took him injured, we understood that. The loan deal represents that, he hasn’t cost us any money, he will cost us when he plays and I can’t wait to pay some money for him.
“There weren’t many better midfielders around a couple of years ago when he was at City. He was outstanding. With players, sometimes the recipe doesn’t quite work at a club – it’s the same for managers.”
Meanwhile, from the other side, Ireland has also been giving his views on making his move to Newcastle United permanent. The offensive midfileder told Tyneside newspaper, The Chronicle:
“This is a good place for me to settle in the next few months, and who knows what could happen in the summertime.
“It could turn out to be permanent. We don’t know, or it could turn into a loan again. We will see what happens in the next two months.”
Moving on to his recent injury woes, he spoke of his “nightmare” of the past months, also touching on his problems at Aston Villa, where he had difficulties finding a place in manager, Gerard Houllier’s, starting eleven. Ireland said of these months:
“It has been an absolute nightmare – it feels like I have not kicked a ball for so long. I have not played competitively for so long and it has been difficult.
“When the new manager came in at Villa, I was left out of eight squads in a row – and that hurts.
“The lads were going away to hotels and playing games, and I felt really isolated at home.”
NUFCBlog Author: workyticket
workyticket has written 1091 articles on this blog.
“The nightclub incident was something about nothing really. It wasn’t like they were drinking and doing anything outrageous, they just pulled their tops up.
…yet you still banned the squad from Tup Tup Palace?
Interesting.