It’s Ireland’s call, but troubled Stephen entitled to some space

MINUTES before the media gathered at Gannon Park in Malahide yesterday for a post-training briefing from Steve Staunton, the news broke via the Manchester City website that Stephen Ireland had withdrawn from the Irish squad.

Minutes later, the Irish manager was facing the press, responding thoughtfully and generously to the latest sensational development in the star-crossed career of the young Cobh footballer.

However, the breaking news would not have seemed quite so sensational to the Irish manager, who had known for some days that it might be coming and finally had it confirmed for him by the player on Monday.

Last week, Staunton travelled to City’s Carrington training ground to see Ireland, aware that the player was going through some personal difficulties despite his positive displays on the pitch for his club. First, Staunton spoke with City captain and Irish international Richard Dunne about his team mate and then Ireland himself joined the Irish manager and Sven Goran Eriksson in the City manager’s office for a lengthy heart to heart. In the course of that meeting, Ireland confessed to his reluctance to join up with the Irish squad and both Staunton and Eriksson attempted to persuade him otherwise. Ireland was advised to sleep on it but on Monday, in a phone call to Staunton, he finally confirmed that it was his wish to pull out of the squad.

Beyond his statement that he felt he couldn’t “do justice” to his country’s call, it’s not entirely clear why he has chosen this course of action. Understandably, the 21-year-old is said to feel embarrassed about the lies he told to cover up his withdrawal from the Irish squad ahead of last month’s game in Prague, and it may be that he felt he would endure heightened public and media scrutiny in the course of a trip home. A more practical reason, it emerged yesterday, is that he is currently receiving counselling in Manchester for what a source there describes as “psychological issues”. Indeed, it’s understood Sven Goran Eriksson personally arranged for a counsellor from the US to make contact with the troubled player.

It wasn’t only Steve Staunton who, quite naturally, hoped one of his best players would be available for the games against Germany and Cyprus.

Within a week of arriving at Manchester City, Eriksson had identified the Cobh man as an exceptional talent and the manager has subsequently taken a close personal interest in his development. Eriksson, the former manager of England, wants Ireland to gain as much international experience as possible, and he was described as “mustard keen” that the player would feature against group leaders Germany on Saturday. Hence, Eriksson’s statement yesterday expressing “disappointment” that the player felt he could not join up with the Irish squad. Added one club source: “We feel as frustrated as Steve Staunton does.”

In the end, as Staunton acknowledged yesterday: “Only Stevie can deal with his troubles.” The sports pages are not the place for amateur psychology but I can’t have been the only one who noticed perhaps the strangest aspect of the so-called “Grannygate” affair was not that Ireland told lies but that the lies he told were wholly unsustainable, as if at some level he was almost determined to bring things to a head and even be found out. Notwithstanding the personal trauma of his girlfriend’s miscarriage, his actions in Bratislava and in subsequent days, clearly bespoke a troubled mind, and his latest decision indicates that he is still grappling with the fall-out.

The pity is Ireland, you suspect, would be welcomed with open arms at Croke Park after a campaign which saw him claim four goals. Football fans are never more forgiving than when things go right on the pitch.

While Ireland’s credibility was damaged last month, he is still entitled to the space he needs to sort himself out. If he can overcome his problems and escape the sense of permanent crisis which seems to assail him, there is no reason that he shouldn’t prosper as the gifted footballer he is for club and country.

But this is about more than football now. It’s about a young man’s peace of mind and we can only hope he finds it with the same unruffled assurance he brings to the field of play.