SOCCER:STEPHEN IRELAND last night lifted the lid on life at Manchester City with an astonishing attack on his former club. Ireland, who joined Aston Villa this week as part of the deal that took James Milner in the opposite direction, tore into everyone, from the manager Roberto Mancini to the club's "money-obsessed" young players, as he revealed the full extent of his anger at the way he has been treated.
The Irishman was prevented from discussing the details of the financial pay-off he received from City because of a confidentiality agreement – he is believed to have picked up a little more than half the €2.5 million he was demanding – but every other subject was considered fair game as he reeled off a list of complaints that painted a bleak picture of his final 12 months at City.
Ireland’s tirade included: warning James Milner he will get a shock if he thinks the grass is greener at City; claiming Mancini has no relationship with any of the players; insisting he is as good as if not better than any of the new signings, accusing City’s young players of wearing €13,000 watches and believing they are Premier League stars; describing City as a club where loyalty is no longer recognised; branding Mancini’s criticism of his attitude unfair because he was the “best player in training”.
It was a remarkable assault on City and will make for uncomfortable reading when the club’s officials, players and supporters wade though Ireland’s diatribe. The midfielder, who is expected to make his Villa debut at Newcastle tomorrow on his 24th birthday, spoke about City as if they were a club he could not wait to leave.
“I think Aston Villa got a really good deal,” he said. “I guess James Milner must think the grass is greener on the other side. He’s going to get a shock soon because it’s definitely not that way.
“I’ve really landed on my feet here. I think it’s a family club and one that will get the best out of me. I am shocked at how good it is. I’ve settled in so well, so fast. Even the young lads are so polite. I’m actually quite shocked with that. At City they’re not like that. They’re coming in with £10,000 watches on their wrists and walking around as if they have played 200 Premier League games.”
Ireland, who has a reputation for spending his own money quite lavishly, came through City’s youth system and spent nine years at the club, but he felt as though the service he gave them counted for nothing in the end. “I don’t think loyalty is much in anyone’s mind at Manchester City,” he said. “I felt like I would be next (to leave). A lot of players felt like that as well – the home-grown guys.”
The former City trainee said he had not spoken a word to Mancini before he left although he suggested there is little communication between the manager and his former team-mates full stop.
“He doesn’t really build relationships with players,” said Ireland. “He brought Patrick Vieira in and when I spoke to him about his relationship (with Mancini), he said he doesn’t really have one, and he’s worked for him for years.”
Ireland won the player of the year award at City in 2009 but he was a peripheral figure last season, in particular after Mancini replaced Mark Hughes in December. When asked about Ireland’s lack of action last season, the Italian implied the midfielder had an attitude problem, when he claimed he needed to “change his head”. Ireland remains deeply upset with those comments.
“I think that was really unfair, all the players know I was the first player into training and the last to leave,” he said. “I worked the hardest. With all the heart-rate monitors and tests, I was always number one, far ahead of everyone. You see the performance in training and I was practically always the best player in training. If (Mancini’s) standing there watching that, I don’t know how he doesn’t see that.”
Another wave of big names have arrived at Eastlands this summer but Ireland claimed he is as good as any of them. “I’m not really a highly self-confident person,” he said, with no hint of what was to come. “But I can honestly say Manchester City have tried to replace me for the last three or four seasons and it’s never happened. I can easily say I’ve got, if not more ability, as much ability as any player they have signed this year.”
Ireland described the way his time with City ended as “heartbreaking” but he is adamant he is heading in the right direction. He said: “Some people have used the phrase ‘I’ve been forced out’. I couldn’t be more happy to be forced to come here.”
Elsewhere, Massimo Moratti, the Internazionale president, has assured Roy Hodgson they have ended interest in Javier Mascherano and Dirk Kuyt, enabling Liverpool to offload the €22 million flop Alberto Aquilani on loan to Juventus. The Liverpool manager publicly challenged his former employer to meet the €31 million asking price for Mascherano on Wednesday.
Hodgson later tried to resolve the impasse with a call to Moratti, whom he worked under during two spells at the San Siro in the ’90s, and was informed the European champions would not be making an offer.
Representatives of both clubs had met previously to discuss the transfer of Mascherano, and Moratti also confirmed the Italian club will not pursue interest in Kuyt, despite the Dutch international’s agent claiming yesterday that a move remains possible. Hodgson has now discounted the possibility of Kuyt and Mascherano joining their former manager Rafael Benitez in Milan.
Barcelona’s sporting director, Andoni Zubizarreta, has already ruled out a renewed bid from the Spanish champions for Mascherano.
