Mooley
TK Veteran
Stephen Ireland insists he will not be feeling envious should the Republic of Ireland qualify for the 2010 World Cup without him.
Ireland has not played for his national side since making a controversial exit from the squad before their Euro 2008 qualifier with the Czech Republic.
The Manchester City midfielder fabricated a family tragedy in order to return from international duty to be with his girlfriend, who had suffered a miscarriage.
But even two years on from the incident, the 23-year-old insists that he is not planning on making a return to international football under present manager Giovanni Trapattoni.
"I never enjoyed my time playing for Ireland," Ireland told the Daily Mail.
"I will watch the game but I don't feel guilty ever. No manager would sway my decision now. Even if they get to the World Cup, there's not a part of me that will think: 'That could have been me'.
"They haven't tried properly to get me back. It's just lip service. Trapattoni rang me during the summer but it was more about him covering his back and having a press conference where he could say: 'I've made the effort, I've spoken to Stephen, blah-blah'."
Ireland also launched an attack on the Republic's selection policy, claiming that players from capital city Dublin were favoured over those from his own city of Cork.
"Even now, I know for a fact the whole Irish set-up is exactly the same," he added in The Guardian.
"They pick all the Dublin lads, one or two Cork lads, and the Cork lads are thrown on the back seat and that's basically it.
"It's just wrong. It's not fair because a lot of great players go other ways because of it.
"Even when I was younger, I didn't want to go training there. I was looking for excuses but I had to go because I wasn't cross-channel at the time so I thought it was important for my career to go."
Plank.
Ireland has not played for his national side since making a controversial exit from the squad before their Euro 2008 qualifier with the Czech Republic.
The Manchester City midfielder fabricated a family tragedy in order to return from international duty to be with his girlfriend, who had suffered a miscarriage.
But even two years on from the incident, the 23-year-old insists that he is not planning on making a return to international football under present manager Giovanni Trapattoni.
"I never enjoyed my time playing for Ireland," Ireland told the Daily Mail.
"I will watch the game but I don't feel guilty ever. No manager would sway my decision now. Even if they get to the World Cup, there's not a part of me that will think: 'That could have been me'.
"They haven't tried properly to get me back. It's just lip service. Trapattoni rang me during the summer but it was more about him covering his back and having a press conference where he could say: 'I've made the effort, I've spoken to Stephen, blah-blah'."
Ireland also launched an attack on the Republic's selection policy, claiming that players from capital city Dublin were favoured over those from his own city of Cork.
"Even now, I know for a fact the whole Irish set-up is exactly the same," he added in The Guardian.
"They pick all the Dublin lads, one or two Cork lads, and the Cork lads are thrown on the back seat and that's basically it.
"It's just wrong. It's not fair because a lot of great players go other ways because of it.
"Even when I was younger, I didn't want to go training there. I was looking for excuses but I had to go because I wasn't cross-channel at the time so I thought it was important for my career to go."
Plank.
