Ireland's working job interview.

Newcastle United fans have yet to see anything of Stephen Ireland in a competitive match due to various injuries since his arrival from Aston Villa at the end of January.

Whether or not Ireland is fit enough to finally make his black and white bow at Stoke in nine days time remains to be seen, but even if he doesn't feature I would imagine that, barring another injury setback of course, Stephen Ireland will more than likely be fit to feature in the home game against Wolves at the start of April.

The signature of Ireland is one of those baffling ones though, well in my opinion it is anyway. Here we have a player who has been out of sorts for some time and plays in a position where we are already well stocked, but on the other hand he is a player who has the potential to be one of the best players in that well stocked position should he manage to regain the kind of form that once earned him the Player of the Season award at Manchester City.

I speculated yesterday about just what it could mean if Ireland was to make his move permanent, and the suspicious/paranoid part of me is starting to believe that with all the stuff going on with Joey Barton's contract at the minute we could very well be lining up the 24-year-old as a replacement for a soon to be departed Joey Barton.

Pardew's words that I have plucked from The Daily Mail this morning only reinforce my views that the move that I am thinking of could be a possibility.

"He is under a little bit of pressure because there aren't many games left, but when you've got a player of Stephen's character, I don't think that is a bad thing," said Pardew. "He's still got time to impress me because I still think there is a chance of something permanent here for Stephen. Things at Villa aren't going too well. But I want to have a good look at him before he goes back."

So there is a possibility of a permanent transfer then, which to be honest is not the most surprising piece of news around as most would have already guessed that we would at least have half an eye on making the deal permanent should Ireland impress. The guy clearly wants out of Villa, and they don't want him and want to shift some of the big earners to balance the books. 2+2 etc etc.

Getting the best out of Ireland will be an important factor when it comes to decision time over his future. If he shows no interest and carries on in this vein or poor form and self misery then I doubt he will be signed. But if Pardew can coax some form back into the player then we could have a very good asset on our hands for the final few weeks of the season. Fortunately, Pardew believes that he knows how to get the best out of Stephen Ireland.

Pardew continued by talking of his ability to be able to get the best of Ireland before moving on to the disappointment of the former Manchester City lad's latest injury:

"He's a really nice guy, he's fitted in well. I don't think he needs an arm around the shoulder as such, but he needs our full attention. You can't let him drift. He needs to know he is important and that he could be here. If he doesn't feel important he doesn't play his best"

"We knew when we took him we knew he was injured but this thigh strain, like anything when you've been out for a long time, you pick up these little injuries. Because of Joey's injury situation, may be we forced him back too early and I think we're at fault a little bit because he's picked up a thigh strain which is unfortunate for him."

So what do you make of this then? At the end of the day it's good that Ireland will have to earn a move to NUFC because if he has earned it then it will mean that he has performed well for us in the final few games of the season, and that should bode well for the future as an in-form Stephen Ireland can be a very valuable player indeed.

It would also make business sense for the club if they were to do what I think they may do and replace Barton. Both are similar players who would command similar wage packets so there would be no loss to be made there, but Ireland is five years younger than Barton and has more footballing miles left in his tank. If somebody offered you a newer car for the same price as your old one wouldn't you be interested?

The ideal scenario would be that we tie down Joey Barton AND sign a rejuvenated Stephen Ireland, but unfortunately we don't live in an ideal world and the arrival of Ireland would more than likely spell the end of one or more current players at the club.

Which players they would be remains to be seen however.