Update: Stephen Ireland Blasts Manchester City

[Macmoish]

BBC

James Milner completes his transfer to Manchester City

Milner, 24, scored in Aston Villa's 3-0 win over West Ham United on Saturday

England midfielder James Milner has completed his move to Manchester City from Aston Villa on a five-year deal.

City have also announced that Stephen Ireland has moved to Villa Park as part of the deal, reportedly worth £26m.

Milner, 24, will not be able to play in City's Europa League game at FC Timisoara but is available for Monday's Premier League visit of Liverpool.

"He can improve and be a great player for Manchester City for a long time," said manager Roberto Mancini.

Milner, who scored in Villa's 3-0 opening day Premier League victory against West Ham United, passed a medical on Tuesday before completing the move on Wednesday after paying visits to the City of Manchester Stadium and the club's Carrington training ground.

City did not say how much it paid for Milner, but an outlay of more than £25m would take the club's spending to almost £150m since May.

Milner - the current Professional Footballers' Association young player of the year - joins Yaya Toure, David Silva, Jerome Boateng, Aleksandar Kolarov and Mario Balotelli in moving to Eastlands this summer.

"I am very happy to have James with us, everybody knows we have admired him for some time," added Mancini.

We have a very strong squad, and this signing is a very important one for us

City manager Roberto Mancini
"He is an excellent midfielder, who can play in a number of positions.

"This is important for the team, and I am looking forward to seeing him play for us. We have a very strong squad, and this signing is a very important one for us.

"James he is already a very good player, who has proved he can play at the very top level. But he is also young and a good character, I think he can also improve and be a great player for a long time."

Having come through the ranks as a teenager, Ireland spent eight years at City in which he made 142 starts and scoring 23 goals.

He was the club's player of the year for the 2008-2009 season, although the Irishman did not feature frequently last season.

"I hope things go well for Stevie at Villa," stated Mancini. "He is also a very good player, and he has played a big part in City's history.

"I think he will enjoy the change of being at another club, and I hope he does well for Aston Villa."

newsvote.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/m/man_city/8918222.stm

[Lonegunmen]

Wow, a lot of money and how do you keep so many players happy that supposedly want to play? unless like us City adopt a 2-7-1 formation

[Macmoish]

Guardian Stuart James guardian.co.uk, Friday 20 August 2010

Stephen Ireland blasts Manchester City after leaving for Aston Villa
• Mancini 'doesn't have a relationship with players'
• Milner 'in for a big shock' when he gets to Eastlands


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 has signed – he is believed to have picked up a little more than half the £2m 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 £10,000 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 on Sunday 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 actually 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 homegrown 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. I think that's the way he is."

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 No1, 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. "I can understand why James Milner has gone there but I can tell him that I'm very happy to leave there and come here," he said. "Some people have used the phrase that I've been forced out. I couldn't be more happy to be forced to come here, to a club like Aston Villa."

www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/aug/20/manchester-city-stephen-ireland

[Lonegunmen]

I've always rated Ireland. home grown and knows about fans etc. Must be a bitch to be at a club described like he has....oh hang on, I support one don't I? With maybe a better manager here.