What a pisser!

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http://www.petitiononline.com/savesven/petition.html

Shame that.  An article I was reading sounded like he was being bullied, which isn't too clever.  You'd have thought Dunney would have stuck up for him.

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up, charm, top, down, strange, bottom

I read something which said that 'a source close to the player' said that he is scared to play for his country.  WTF that is supposed to mean I'm not sure.

Keeper of the heretic's fork of doom.

I guess he could be scared of his teammates, or the reaction from the crowd. It would be better if he could resolve it obviously .

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up, charm, top, down, strange, bottom

He has had a problem with the ROI set up for a while.  He was in the U-17 team when Brian Kerr was manager.  They were playing a few games in Ireland when Man City's youth team were going for a trophy.  The national team's requirements came before the club.  The ROI played in Cork and Kerr led Ireland to believe he would play.  He wasn't even on the bench and was told to watch from the stands.  He asked Kerr if he could go back to Manchester instead.  Kerr kicked him out of the squad and told him he would never play for any Irish team again.

Kerr became the manager of the first team and Ireland never figured in any of his squads.  Ireland only got back in again when Staunton took over.

There are rumours that other players held Ireland down and pulled at his new hair.

Also, his withdrawal from the squad caused front page news for about a week. 

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http://www.petitiononline.com/savesven/petition.html

Keeper of the heretic's fork of doom.

The press reaction to his withdrawal from the squad was over the top.  Stories about the ROI team and players will often make the front pages of the Irish Press.  It then gets heavy coverage on radio talk shows and TV.  More than in England.  The musical I, Keano has been running for years in Dublin.  A comedy show built mainly around football personalities Apres Match has been on and off TV and stage for over 10 years now.

The scrutiny of Irish players is very high and he may not want the hassle. 

He has clashed with the FAI several times over the years.  Temp manager Don Givens took it upon himself to slag off Ireland a few times over the last few months (saying he should pull himself together, he shouldn't expect people to grovel and criticising his superman goal celebration). 

There are also stories that the other ROI players weren't impressed with his lies and the average Irish fan sees him as a basket case (his choice in car bling and his bebo page didn't help).  Irish fans are very fickle and the team attracts a lot of fairweather "Ole, Ole" idiots. He doesn't get this sort of attention at City.  Also, the national team has come in for unprecedented abuse during the Staunton era.  The fans booed the team off the pitch at most games and the media were having a field day. 

He may see it aas a simple choice of stay out of the squad and avoid the scrutiny or rejoin the squad and go through a lot of crap with the Irish media, other players, the FAI and the fans.

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http://www.petitiononline.com/savesven/petition.html

Keeper of the heretic's fork of doom.

It is funny the way the public attitude to the team has changed over the years.  During Jack Charlton's reign the team and manager could do no wrong.  Anyone who slagged them was attacked (Dunphy had a long lasting vendetta against Big Jack and Mick McCarthy).

As we failed to get to finals and the team started palying badly the fans and media have turned on the FAI and the players.  Politicians get involved.  Bertie Ahern actullay offered to take time out to intervene when Mick kicked Knacker Keane out of the world cup.  Bertie was heavily involved in the Good Friday agreement at the time.  The FAI is a shambles.  It is full of blazers protecting their own interests and not taking any responsibility for any balls ups.

I want Stephen Ireland to play.  He is without a doubt one of our best players and right now we are veryshort on quality.  However, I won't blame him if he walks away.

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http://www.petitiononline.com/savesven/petition.html

That's the world game for you, not just for the Irish.

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