Retired footballer and former Manchester City man Stephen Ireland is currently being roasted for what people online are calling an “incredibly deluded” interview as he reflected on his career and the players he believed he got the better of.
Stephen Ireland spent five years at Man City and was still part of the first squads that played under Sheikh Mansour following the 2008 takeover, but ultimately left the club in 2010 before they won their first Premier League title and began to hit the heights we know them for today.
The one-time Irish international was a good servant for the club and by no means a bad player at all, winning City’s Player of the Year award in 2008/09 after registering 13 goals, the same number of assists and even earning a PFA Young Player of the Year nomination at the age of 22.
However, now 36 and mentoring young footballing talents in his home country, it seems the ex-pro may have overestimated his abilities in many football fans’ eyes, as he made quite a few bold claims in a recent interview about the best players he played against.
As you can see, the same man who was once exiled from playing for the Republic of Ireland for over a decade claimed that despite playing against “a lot of huge names”, he believed that they “never really got the better of [him]”.
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Explaining himself further, he admitted that while he’d come across some “incredible players” in his 245 English top-flight appearances, there wasn’t a single time he faced an opponent and “thought ‘Wow, these are incredible’.”
When the interviewer obviously asks for names, Ireland barely blinks before answering, “Steven Gerrard, for example; Frank Lampard — every time I played against them I’ve got the better of them… even Paul Scholes… I’ve never had a game where I thought ‘God, I’m out of my depth’, that was never the case.”
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So, you know, just some of the greatest-ever midfielders to grace the game. No biggie.
Naturally, the interview has received quite the reaction, with people commenting, “Who knew the answer to the Scholes/Lampard/Gerrard debate would have been Stephen Ireland”, “what planet is he living on?” and “the world remembers Stephen Ireland very different to how [he] remembers himself then”.
As well as being called “deluded” by several, one person also noted how Ireland “was also subbed after an hour in Chelsea’s 6-0 drubbing of Man City at the Bridge in 2007, in which Frank Lampard got 2 assists.”
Ireland went on to praise his former teammates Shaun Wright-Phillips, Robinho and Vincent Kompany as some of the best he ever shared the pitch but judging by his comments, there’s only one player who ever lived up to Stephen Ireland’s extremely high standards… Stephen Ireland.
Derelict Manchester office block to become ‘vital’ accommodation for homeless families
Emily Sergeant
A derelict former office block in Manchester is set to become vital accommodation for homeless families in the region.
Manchester City Council has announced that, subject to planning approval, new temporary accommodation for dozens of homeless families will be created on the site of a derelict former office block in south Manchester, off Nell Lane in Chorlton.
The Council acquired the 1.1 acre site last month with the support of the Government’s Local Authority Housing Fund.
The initiative – which is part of wider plans to boost the city’s stock of quality temporary accommodation – will see self-contained two-bedroom accommodation created for around 55 homeless families built where former NHS offices, Mauldeth House, currently stand.
Mauldeth House has been empty for several years now at this point, and had become somewhat of a ‘blight’ on the neighbourhood, attracting anti-social behaviour along the way and being targeted by squatters – but with the plans for the new accommodation, this could change for the better.
The site, and therefore the new accommodation, is said to be ‘ideally located’ for families, as it’s close to shops, schools, public transport, leisure facilities, and Chorlton Park.
The new accommodation will see families supported by a specialist team based on site to help them move on as quickly as possible into permanent settled tenancies, which is, of course, the long-term goal for many.
The Mauldeth House initiative is cited as being one example of the Council’s drive to increase its temporary accommodation stock across the city to reduce the number of out-of-area placements.
Other successful examples of this initiative include Mariana House in Whalley Range, and The Poplars in Rusholme.
It also comes after it was announced last month that homeless children in Greater Manchester, particularly those who are placed in temporary accommodation out of area for their school, will now get free bus travel to and from school.
“Mauldeth House is a great example of how we can put derelict properties to good use to benefit those experiencing homelessness, as well as making our neighbourhood look better,” explained Deputy Council Leader, Cllr Joanna Midgley.
“We are tackling homelessness on many fronts, the most important one being prevention, but we also need an increased supply of good quality temporary accommodation within the city so that if people do become homeless they are not uprooted from their social support networks.
“One of the ways we are doing this is through the innovative use of existing sites whether they are council owned or we are able to acquire them, as in the case of Mauldeth House.”
Featured Image – Manchester City Council
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Bolton woman who falsely accused 10 men of raping her has been jailed
Emily Sergeant
A woman from Bolton who falsely accused 10 different men of raping her over a six-year period has now been jailed.
Stacey Sharples, 31 from Farnworth in Bolton, pleaded guilty of 10 counts of perverting the course of justice in relation to reports against 10 separate men at Bolton Crown Court earlier last month (2 February 2026), before appearing in court again this week to be sentenced.
The investigation into Sharples was launched after the arrests and questioning of almost all these men, and following the pursuing of all relevant lines of enquiry, which consistently revealed evidence contrary to what had been disclosed by Sharples.
Greater Manchester Police (GMP) says investigations of this nature are ‘extremely rare’ and the decision to pursue Sharples as a suspect was ‘not one taken lightly’.
“However, it is our duty to act in the public interest and on the evidence and information we uncover and receive, which in this case demonstrated a continuous, wilful making of false allegations, knowing full well the consequences for each of the men involved,” GMP said in a statement following Sharples’ sentencing.
Of the allegations Sharples pleaded guilty to – of which were made over a six-year period between 2013 and 2019 – most of the men were arrested and spent time in custody, with some also undertaking intimate examinations, and almost all spending periods of time on police bail or released under investigation.
Statements from the men accused by Stacey Sharples / Credit: GMP
GMP says there’s ‘no doubt’ the reports and arrests have had an impact on these men, their sense of self and relationships, their wider networks, and how they move forward with their lives.
False accounts also undermine those who have genuinely experienced sexual violence.
Police say it also affects the confidence in the criminal justice system, and that the time spent investigating Sharples’ reports could have been put towards investigating ‘genuine reports of sexual offences’ instead.
Sharples has been sentenced to four-and-a-half years in prison this week after pleading guilty to making false rape allegations.
Speaking following Sharples’ sentencing this week, Detective Sergeant Steven Gilliland, who investigated this case, said: “We took the allegations made by Stacey Sharples seriously, explored all lines of enquiry and swiftly made arrests or interviewed of all the men she accused.
“We gave her multiple opportunities to provide further explanation or information to us, after interviews with the men and subsequent evidence uncovered didn’t align with her first recollection, as we understand that trauma can impact how victims and survivors recount their experiences.
“Ultimately, as the evidence continued to demonstrate that the reports were untrue, coupled with the desire for justice from some of the men who had been falsely accused, it was right that we followed the evidence and pursued the individual who had actually committed a criminal offence.”
Danny Jones -
2nd May 2023 
