Stephen Ireland has hit out at Aston Villa boss Gerard Houllier, Republic of Ireland manager Giovanni Trapattoni and a host of other targets.
Midfielder Ireland, on loan at Newcastle United from Villa, is in contention to make his Magpies debut in Saturday’s home game with Everton in the Premier League, though a fresh thigh strain could yet prolong his spell out of first-team action.
Whether he plays or not, he has added to his controversial reputation after making a series of stinging remarks on a variety of topics after doing an interview with France’s So Foot magazine.
Ireland, who barely got a kick after joining Villa - having been frozen out at Manchester City, has of course not played for his country since his lie-ridden escape from the Euro 2008 qualifier with the Czech Republic, and he insists he never will again, taking the time to have a go at Trapattoni to aid that cause.
“I won’t come back,” the Cork native told the magazine. “I feel nothing for the national team. I don’t feel at all guilty when they lose and when they win I never say ‘oh dear, I could have been there’.
“Even if Ireland had qualified for the World Cup I wouldn’t have gone. People are calling for me to return, but I only ever played five games guys!
“International soccer doesn’t interest me. Going away for three days to play in Andorra – I’ve got better things to do.
“Also, when you’re Irish you know you’ll never win the World Cup. Even when I played for the youth teams, I got fed up at having to go away. Everyone else was from Dublin and I came from Cork. I had to get the train on my own, pay for a taxi, there was no hotel, no food. The organisation was amateurish.”
On Italian Trapattoni, who once met with the player in an attempt to entice him back into the green shirt, he raged on: “I’ve never seen anyone so arrogant.
“I met him once. He was taking calls every two minutes and made me hang around for 15 minutes in his office.
“In the end, he said, ‘if you want to play then come, if not, it’s no problem’. He did that mainly so the press would leave him in peace. Foreign coaches, they’re no good.”
Ireland then chose to add to his unpopular image in his home nation and city by insulting Cork and offering little sympathy for Ireland’s less than healthy economic state.
“Ireland is reaping what it sowed,” he went on. “We built blocks of flats just for the sake of it and now there’s no one inside them. It cost huge amounts of money and nobody is in a position to pay.
“But I don’t care about Ireland. I don’t know if I’ll go back one day. Live in Cork? I might as well shoot myself. I prefer Los Angeles.”
He then went on to rail against City boss Roberto Mancini, Houllier and the city of Birmingham, going on to say: “Mancini never liked me. He’s doing everything wrong. He got rid of everyone at the club – even the cook left. The family club I spent nine years with exists no more.
“What happens when Mancini goes? He takes his 50 recruits with him. Also, since he’s been there City matches are incredibly dull.
“After 15 matches on the bench Houllier told me to stay at home.
“I trained during the week and on Fridays he told me, 'no point you coming, you are not in the team'.
"Yet I was the best player in training. It was my team that won in every session. One of the few times he played me, we drew 0-0 at Chelsea and I ended up man-of-the-match.
"Apparently that didn't matter to him. I was stuck with being paid for doing nothing at all. I was left to myself. I had to pay out of my own pocket for medical treatment. Can you believe that?"
"Houllier asked me to come and live in Birmingham because it was taking me 75 minutes to come to training. But there were 15 players in the same position as me. Some came from London and took more than two hours, but he only asked me to move.
“Birmingham is a c**p city and I wasn't going to make the effort, especially as I wasn't playing. Might as well be in Manchester if I had to stay home on match days.
"I don't bear Houllier any grudges, it wasn't him who chose me after all.
"I just want to play and have a manager who really wants me for once.
"I have no idea at the moment who I will be playing for next season. My future is unclear."
Midfielder Ireland, on loan at Newcastle United from Villa, is in contention to make his Magpies debut in Saturday’s home game with Everton in the Premier League, though a fresh thigh strain could yet prolong his spell out of first-team action.
Whether he plays or not, he has added to his controversial reputation after making a series of stinging remarks on a variety of topics after doing an interview with France’s So Foot magazine.
Ireland, who barely got a kick after joining Villa - having been frozen out at Manchester City, has of course not played for his country since his lie-ridden escape from the Euro 2008 qualifier with the Czech Republic, and he insists he never will again, taking the time to have a go at Trapattoni to aid that cause.
“I won’t come back,” the Cork native told the magazine. “I feel nothing for the national team. I don’t feel at all guilty when they lose and when they win I never say ‘oh dear, I could have been there’.
“Even if Ireland had qualified for the World Cup I wouldn’t have gone. People are calling for me to return, but I only ever played five games guys!
“International soccer doesn’t interest me. Going away for three days to play in Andorra – I’ve got better things to do.
“Also, when you’re Irish you know you’ll never win the World Cup. Even when I played for the youth teams, I got fed up at having to go away. Everyone else was from Dublin and I came from Cork. I had to get the train on my own, pay for a taxi, there was no hotel, no food. The organisation was amateurish.”
On Italian Trapattoni, who once met with the player in an attempt to entice him back into the green shirt, he raged on: “I’ve never seen anyone so arrogant.
“I met him once. He was taking calls every two minutes and made me hang around for 15 minutes in his office.
“In the end, he said, ‘if you want to play then come, if not, it’s no problem’. He did that mainly so the press would leave him in peace. Foreign coaches, they’re no good.”
Ireland then chose to add to his unpopular image in his home nation and city by insulting Cork and offering little sympathy for Ireland’s less than healthy economic state.
“Ireland is reaping what it sowed,” he went on. “We built blocks of flats just for the sake of it and now there’s no one inside them. It cost huge amounts of money and nobody is in a position to pay.
“But I don’t care about Ireland. I don’t know if I’ll go back one day. Live in Cork? I might as well shoot myself. I prefer Los Angeles.”
He then went on to rail against City boss Roberto Mancini, Houllier and the city of Birmingham, going on to say: “Mancini never liked me. He’s doing everything wrong. He got rid of everyone at the club – even the cook left. The family club I spent nine years with exists no more.
“What happens when Mancini goes? He takes his 50 recruits with him. Also, since he’s been there City matches are incredibly dull.
“After 15 matches on the bench Houllier told me to stay at home.
“I trained during the week and on Fridays he told me, 'no point you coming, you are not in the team'.
"Yet I was the best player in training. It was my team that won in every session. One of the few times he played me, we drew 0-0 at Chelsea and I ended up man-of-the-match.
"Apparently that didn't matter to him. I was stuck with being paid for doing nothing at all. I was left to myself. I had to pay out of my own pocket for medical treatment. Can you believe that?"
"Houllier asked me to come and live in Birmingham because it was taking me 75 minutes to come to training. But there were 15 players in the same position as me. Some came from London and took more than two hours, but he only asked me to move.
“Birmingham is a c**p city and I wasn't going to make the effort, especially as I wasn't playing. Might as well be in Manchester if I had to stay home on match days.
"I don't bear Houllier any grudges, it wasn't him who chose me after all.
"I just want to play and have a manager who really wants me for once.
"I have no idea at the moment who I will be playing for next season. My future is unclear."
Unless they're all guzzling probiotic yogurt drinks instead of alcohol.
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