The Strange and Sad Case of Stephen Ireland

It isn’t easy being a celebrity in the spotlight. Trust me, I know. Every day I walk down the street and have to deal with people asking if I am the guy who sits in front of a computer for 12 hours a day writing grammatically incorrect drivel about soccer. What a burden. It is even more difficult when you are a well known person undergoing a mental breakdown in front of the world’s cameras. It is enough to make you forget to wear panties. Again.

I have no inside information into the state of Stephen Ireland’s undergarments, but as an amateur psychologist I do know that the Manchester City player’s head isn’t in the right place at the moment.

After the very public Grannygate last week in which Ireland begged off international duties with the Republic of Ireland by first claiming his maternal grandmother had died and then his other grandmother, when in fact he wanted to leave because his girlfriend had suffered a miscarriage, today we learn that he refers to himself as Daddy Dick and that he isn’t too keen about his profession.

City officials are paying little attention to a statement by Ireland on the Bebo social networking website under the name ‘Daddy Dick’, in which he claimed ‘football is shit’ and asked ‘why did I get stuck doin(g) it’.

So let’s see. The guy is dealing with the pain of a miscarriage. He has been ridiculed in public because of his ridiculous lies. His own coach thinks he needs psychological help and he has come out saying he doesn’t especially like playing football. What is City to do?

Well, play him this weekend, of course.

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Category: English Premier League, World Football