STEPHEN IRELAND’S Newcastle United debut could be delayed a little longer after the on-loan midfielder suffered an injury scare yesterday.
The 24-year-old has returned to training after recovering from the knee injury which has kept him out since December 6, only to suffer a thigh strain which threatens his involvement in tomorrow’s Premier League visit of Everton.
The Magpies should find out the extent of the damage today.
It is a frustration for manager Alan Pardew as he looks to rehabilitate Ireland’s career and is compounded by Joey Barton’s struggle to overcome a similar problem picked up last week.
“With Joey out of the side we were looking to Stephen perhaps stepping in there, so he’s trained this week with a view to that,” Pardew revealed. “His knee’s fine, he just had a little thigh strain so if I’m honest, I’m a bit cloudy as to how serious that is until tomorrow.
“He just felt his thigh a little bit and it’s almost the same as Joey Barton did last week. I don’t even know who’s favourite of those two. It’s 50-50 both of them.”
Barton tweaked his thigh in training late last week and – believing he had recovered – again in the warm-up for Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Bolton Wanderers, prompting a late reshuffle. Ireland joined on loan from Aston Villa on January 31, but is yet to pull on a black-and-white shirt.
Pardew has talked to Ireland in an attempt to get to the heart of the problems which have stalled his career for 18 months. He has come to the conclusion that, after working so hard on the Irishman’s body, Newcastle must now work on his mind.
Ireland comes across as a complex character, and although Pardew shied away from describing him in those terms, he struggled to categorise his only January addition.
The midfielder has struggled to produce his best form for managers – Manchester City’s Roberto Mancini and Villa’s Gérard Houllier – who have appeared lukewarm to his talent.
He has not played internationally since a bizarre episode which saw him withdraw from a crucial Euro 2008 qualifier after his girlfriend rang manager Steve Staunton to report the death of his grandmother. Ireland changed his story twice, then admitted his girlfriend suffered a miscarriage. He has so far declined to return to the national set-up.
Pardew, though, does believe in Ireland.
“He’s a player who’s got a lot of talent, and if I can harness it, he’ll be very important for us,” said Pardew, who insisted Newcastle “haven’t really crossed the bridge” of considering a permanent deal.
“I have talked to him about what’s happened to him (at City and Villa) but I
don’t think it’s for me to say. He has privately talked about it and I understand where he is. I’ve got a good connection with him and I feel that’s growing as I work with him.
“Technically he’s a very, very good player and therefore it’s about getting him right.
“I wouldn’t say he’s complicated, I would say he’s emotional, he perhaps wears his heart on his sleeve more than most players. Most professional footballers have got a hardness to them, a kind of, ‘I’m brilliant, let me get on with it’ attitude. He’s not quite like that.
“He’s a little bit more about the emotion of the place, the emotion of him, how he feels. He’s not the only one, I know a lot of players like that. He’s somebody you have to think about when you manage him.
“I don’t think it’s even so much a case of putting your arm around his shoulder. He likes to feel he’s important. He’s very important for us if he starts playing well.
“We brought him to try and see if we can get some of that magic (he showed at City two years ago).”
