"You're Too Good to be Here"
Former Aston Villa midfielder Stephen Ireland has made a shocking revelation about his time at the club. The ex-Premier League star claims that his manager at the time, Alex McLeish, told him he was too good for Aston Villa and even promised to recommend him to Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson. Ireland opened up about the incident in an interview with Ladbrokes Fanzone.
A New Lease of Life
Ireland joined Aston Villa after spending five years at Manchester City. However, manager Gerard Houllier did not want to sign him and refused to play him. He demanded that Ireland work harder. When Houllier left in 2011 and was replaced by McLeish, Ireland's fortunes changed.
"You're Too Good to be Here"
Ireland recalled his conversation with McLeish: "At which point the manager told me I should probably look at moving on, because of my style of play. His exact words were 'you're too good to be here. You're playing balls around the corner, doing things first time, that the lads just aren't on the same wavelength as you. You're going to jeopardize the team losing the ball.'" Ireland was left puzzled when McLeish concluded the chat by saying, "I'm going to give Sir Alex a call for you."
No Man Utd Move, But Villa Success
Despite McLeish's promise, Ireland did not end up moving to Manchester United. Instead, he stayed at Aston Villa for the 2011/12 season. It turned out to be a successful campaign for Ireland as he won the supporters' player of the season award and helped the club narrowly avoid relegation by two points.
Strange Loan Spell at Newcastle
Ireland also spoke about his loan spell at Newcastle in 2011, which he described as bizarre. He claimed that as part of the loan agreement with Villa, there was a clause restricting him to just four appearances for Newcastle. Each time he played, it would cost the club an extra £50,000. Manager Alan Pardew chose not to play him more than twice in order to save the club money.
After leaving Aston Villa, Ireland went on to spend five years at Stoke before retiring at Bolton in 2018.
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