Steven Ireland - A good or bad potential target?

Out-of-favour Aston Villa midfielder, Stephen Ireland, is said to be attracting the interest of Newcastle as they weigh up a loan deal for the 24-year-old.

All the local rags, as well as some national rags, are suggesting that there is definite interest and that a deal could be concluded before the weekend.

Ireland is on huge wages, and when you consider that he hasn't actually done a lot, apart from be very good in one season, you would have to question whether or not this would be a good move. I mean there is a reason why he has hardly featured and why he has been told he can leave a struggling Villa side surely?

His attitude is questionable, after all, this is a player who lied about the death of his grandmother, several times, just so he could recieve permission to leave the Ireland squad. The rumour was that his girlfriend at the time had a miscarriage and that was the reason he wanted to leave, although there are also rumours suggesting that he didn't actually have a girlfriend at the time. Hmmmmm.

Ireland is known for flashing his cash aswell and once bought his mrs a Bentley with specially embroidered 'love heart' seats. There is just no need, but then again, if you have the money then why not?

I just think that any interest in Ireland would be very risky if it came off. I mean, yes he has had one good season, but really he has done nothing sice that. You could always try and coax that level of performance out of the 24-year-old again, but it would be a massive financial risk.

Of course you could argue that everything is a financial risk, but I personally don't like what I've heard about his attitude, which makes the risk greater when you consider that one of the redeeming qualities of our team at the moment is their fantastic attitude. Could one bad apple spoil the bunch?

Mind you, on the flipside of that, Hatem Ben Arfa is known to be temperamental, and he seems keen to be here. Perhaps a change of scenery could revitalise Ireland? Maybe a second club in six months could be what he needs to get his career back on track?

As you can see, I'm not overly keen on this move, but if it did come off I would give him a chance, much like I give everyone a chance. One thing is pretty certain though, and that is that Ireland would need to patient as, let's face it, the form of our players, and the lack of form for Ireland, would probably mean that he would be on the bench to start with anyway.

What d'ya reckon?