Post match comments from Stephen Ireland:

"Looking back at the end of the season we'll probably see it as a good point but we feel a bit robbed," Ireland said.
"We played well, we went ahead but conceded too early. It was very unfortunate but it could have been worse."
As for City's recent habit of drawing too many games, Ireland added: "It's unfortunate we've drawn those games but I think last year we were losing them, so I think it is a positive and it's onwards and upwards or us now.

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Stephen Ireland. Aunque no lo parezca, de ángel no tiene nada Por RocheteauNo vamos a hablar de la mano de Henry. No es un síndrome de originalidad desmedida. Es que FNF nació para ocuparse de las esquinas de la actualidad, de aquello que otros desdeñan, y por la carretera comarcal, lejos del atasco de la autopista de la unanimidad, cabe invocar otros motivos para la eliminación de Irlanda. Click to continue reading...

I thought Daniel Levy was the Tottenham Hotspur Chairman? I was mistaken. It now seems that Mr. Pavlyuchenko is the Chairman of the Board.
"I am prepared to accept any decent offer from Russia", said our new Chairman.
Coming back to reality; it looks as though our Cameron Diaz lookalike is so eager to leave us, he's bypassed all forms of control at White Hart Lane. Click to continue reading...

I've written before about how good an interview Stephen Ireland is, always providing a great insight into situations with an honesty rarely offered by footballers.
There are a couple of features today in The Telegraph and The Guardian in which Ireland discusses - on the eve of Ireland's World Cup play-off with France - his continued absence from the international scene, and despite reports that have hinted at a return he firmly closes the door on a potential return:

But while admitting he will watch Giovanni Trapattoni's team tackle the French when he returns to Manchester, Ireland has emphatically ruled out the possibility of an about-turn on his international retirement and insisted that the hate mail does not concern him.

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The members of Manchester City not busy with international duty finally met the man who pays their massive wages for the first time yesterday in Abu Dhabi, ahead of today's friendly against the United Arab Emirates (which City lost 1-0). The awkwardness of the occasion is evident especially the shot at 10 second into the video where it appears they just finished talking about the weather and now have absolutely nothing left to say to each other.

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There are plenty of stories being knocked out this week from Abu Dhabi - no doubt in attempt by journos to justify the expense of jetting them out for the best part of the week, and The Guardian carries one that, whilst not a new subject, is always interesting in how it lifts the lid on the disharmony during the 2008/09 season. Click to continue reading...

Stephen Ireland has spoken about the recent incident where he was taken to hospital following the Fulham win:

"Thankfully it wasn't too serious because at the time I thought that was the end of me but I don't even know what it was. I've had every test that there is and still don't know what it was.

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"I've gotten used to 4-3-3. I've not played 4-4-2 for four or five seasons, and my game has to be different in that system. Last year I was bombing forward into the box.

"Now I have to adjust, and it will make me a more rounded player eventually. I have to play with more discipline, especially when Gareth Barry gets forward, but I feel like I'm getting there.

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Stevie Ireland is back home after being taken to hospital following last night's Carling Cup win over Fulham.

The Blues reigning player of the season was substituted in the 75th minute of the 2-1 win and taken for precautionary checks after complaining of dizziness and feeling unwell.

Tests were carried on the 23-year-old and he was given the all-clear.

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Some positive news following the concern that Stephen Ireland could miss the derby:

"I can't wait for the match and I am confident that I will be fine for Sunday," insisted Ireland. "The injury was painful on Saturday but the three points soon made that fade. Derby games are great; the nerves before hand, the build up, the fans just everything about them.

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So says the MEN:

STEVIE Ireland has added to City's injury woes as they gear up for the big Manchester derby next weekend.
The midfielder limped off with an ankle injury during the Blues' 4-2 win over Arsenal and is already a doubt, along with Carlos Tevez.
Robinho has already been ruled out after it was revealed he has a stress fracture just above his ankle.

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All the stuff being covered outside the unfriendly confines of the award winning Dirty Tackle...

Is Maradona untouchable as Argentina's manager? [Reuters Blog]

How West Ham persuaded Jermain Defoe to leave Charlton. [The Spoiler]

Sir Alex says everyone is jealous of United.

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Stephen Ireland has stated that his decision to retire from international football as, "the best decision I ever made", all but ending, it would appear, any hope the Manchester City midfielder might represent his country again in the medium term.
In an interview with a British Sunday newspaper, Ireland is asked about the work he undertook to improve his fitness during the close season and reveals he was looking forward to the other players at City being away on international duty as it will give him a chance to resume his latest hobby of running up flights of steps! Click to continue reading...

Manchester United have reportedly failed in a cheeky bid to bring Manchester City Player of the Year Stephen Ireland to the Theater of Dreams. The Sunday Mirror claims that United attempted to lure the midfielder due to the huge competition for places at Eastlands but City officials has told the Old Trafford club that Ireland is [. Click to continue reading...

It seems Manchester City are paying money for the press around the world to involve Manchester United in any story related to their SMALL CLUB. Today The Mirror football just comes with another joke!...
Full story at Trulyreds.com. Click to continue reading...

Manchester paying the the involve in related SMALL The just another buying, United to fans, who will to they Ireland a for of funniest this showing Man a Man work get those are dirty shirt.

Mirror Ferguson the could away because has of with Nigel and in United that no City - player year any Stephen got in (Scholes, and Alex looking a can to player Gattuso eveyone the addtoany_share_save" width="120"

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It seems Manchester City are paying money for the press around the world to involve Manchester United in any story related to their SMALL CLUB. Today The Mirror football just comes with another joke!...
Continue to the full story Click to continue reading...

"The difference between this season and the last is the team spirit.

"From the moment we arrived back for pre-season the manager has been drumming it in to us about how we had to be better and mentally stronger this season.

"He said we had to have a better attitude and he was right.

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With the opening weekend of the 2009/10 Premier League season now in the books, we can now look back and see who came out winners after the first round of action and who disappointed. Here are the opening weekend's winners and losers.

Winners Arsenal

Arsene Wenger's side has been heavily tipped as the side most likely to miss out on the top four this season, but an emphatic 6-1 win over Everton on Saturday sent a loud and clear message to the rest of the Premiership.

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Emmanuel Adebayor opened his City account within three minutes, Stephen Ireland put a second away late on and Mark Hughes opens the season with a win at his former club.

Don't forget to check out Online Football Manager!

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It's not often that another team in England, let alone in Manchester, hogs the headlines more than Manchester United. But it's not often that a British team gets bought over by an Abu Dhabi investment group, although football clubs are starting to replace private islands and super-yachts as the new playthings for the filthy rich.

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Gareth Barry and co enjoy a sing-song for an esteemed audience Apologies for the atrocious quality of this video, but it is worth posting regardless. Manchester City took time out from their pre-season tour to South Africa to pay a visit to a national legend. The Citizens popped round to see Nelson Mandela and wish him [. Click to continue reading...

Say what you will about the obscene amount of money being spent by Manchester City this summer, but you have to admit that there's a certain perverse pleasure in watching someone build a real-life club lineup in much the same way that most regular joes would create their starting XI in a video game.

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Well this isn't a shocking development either, but a bit of a mild surprise. Its a good move for both Barry and Man City, a bad move for Aston Villa obviously, but what choice did they really have? Mark Hughes is showing that he is a shrewd manager as adding a player like Gareth Barry, who is so versatile, yet also such a stabilizing force in midfield provides the platform for players like Robinho, Jo (assuming he returns), or anyone else that is added. Click to continue reading...

"I never had any doubts about staying. Regardless, I was going to be here, and hopefully for the remainder of my career. I don't see why not. I really want to become a hero here, to hopefully achieve things.

"I'm settled here - I love the club, I love the fans, and I don't see what's going to make me leave this club.

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Contract extensions, and contracts in general, are a funny beast. They can take off the pressure (when it comes to employment, or renewing an apartment lease, perhaps) or pile on the pressure - when you sign on the dotted line and agree to marry a Ukrainian bride you've never met before.
Luckily for studs Stephen Ireland and Fernando Torres, they are focusing less today on smuggling in mail order brides from Brazil to exercise off the pitch and more on finalizing contract extensions with their respective clubs Manchester City and Liverpool, to continue sweating on the field. Click to continue reading...

Our last funny feeling friday of the season - City's Martin Petrov. One of my favorite studs in 2007-2008 is finally back from a long injury layoff.
He's owned by only 2% of fantasy managers, but could combine with Ireland to put a few past Bolton in Robinho and Bellamy's absence this weekend. Click to continue reading...

Stephen Ireland has capped a superb season by being named as City's Player of the Year by the Official Supporters Club.The 22-year-old midfielder has scored 13 times in all competitions for the Blues this season, but he has been won huge acclaim for his influential contribution throughout a gruelling season.

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When Mark Hughes agreed to replace Sven Goran Eriksson last summer, no doubt he knew things would be interesting at Manchester City, it very rarely isn't in the sky blue half of Manchester, but I doubt he'd have expected anything like the events that ultimately played out. What with the takeover and the crazy final day of the summer transfer window, with City making 10 bids of over £15 million for players, it was probably the maddest 24 hours the City faithful could remember in years.

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So it would seem:

"We're nowhere, to be honest," he said. "We're still a long way off. Talks have barely started and I don't know what's going to happen or if I'm going to sign or not sign. It's out of my hands right now. It's up to the club, not me. But we're way off at the moment and it's getting to the stage now where I don't know if I'm going to be signing or not.

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With the season all but wrapped up, preparations are well under way for the AANP End of Season Awards. ‘Twas good of ‘Arry then, to produce a late contender for the Worst Half-Time Team-Talk of the Season gong, because whatever he said between 3.45 and 4.00pm yesterday, brought about a pretty stunning regression.

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Man United and Man City met at Old Trafford today in what was a clash of two in-form sides. It was expected to be a fairly tight, hotly contested affair with little margin for error. It turned out quite different, in a match in which Carlos Tevez made a huge statement towards Alex Ferguson regarding his future at the club.

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In the hullabaloo of the Champions League and debating whether or not we'll beat Barcelona in Rome, we all seem to have let this little gem slip under the radar. I feel a little guilty for neglecting the prospect of such a huge match for the prospect of a match a few weeks away.

For you see, tomorrow at 13.

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Roy Keane has spoken about the continuing saga regarding Stephen Ireland's self inflicted exile from the Ireland international squad and the criticism of Trapattoni regarding Andy Reid's exclusion from the squad during the present World Cup qualifying campaign.
"I remember hearing about Brian Clough trying to get Archie Gemmill to sign for Forest – he slept on his sofa. Click to continue reading...

As we near the end of what has been and still is an exciting season in the EPL, the various gongs and awards are being given out. As usual, they create plenty of controversy, particularly in the case of Ryan Giggs, who was named Footballer of the Year despite only starting 12 league games this season.

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