Tony Leen and Vincent Hogan joined Joe Molloy for Off the Ball's Sunday Paper Review.
It's almost 10 years since Stephen Ireland had an acrimonious end to his international career and left the Irish camp in 2007. Originally he said his grandmother had died but a different family issue had occurred.
He went into international exile and has remained there ever since. Both Giovanni Trapattoni and Martin O'Neill have unsuccessfully tried to get the midfielder to return to the international scene.
However, in a recent interview, Ireland has suggested people have been writing off both his club and international career.
Speaking to Joe Molloy, Vincent Hogan said: "In many ways I think the way Paul Rowan starts this piece is very valid. Stephen Ireland is coming back from roughly the same injury that Seamus Coleman has.
"We know how loved and revered Seamus Coleman is. The Irish captain, a guy who just conducts himself in a way that you'd be proud of...and Ireland, it's nearly ten years since he came up with that story of his grandmother dying under the teve Staunton management and became, kind of really, quite a reviled figure in Irish soccer circles.
"And yet there was always this debate going on which has long since ceased although he's throwing it out there that he might come back to Ireland. His career has just plateaued and faded really quite sadly and yet he's a really interesting footballer because he's like nobody else we have maybe Wes Hoolahan is the closest we'd have to someone like Stephen Ireland.
"This guy who can play between the lines, who can pick a pass, who has a beautifully fluid way of playing and I remember when he came through first, you're thinking 'this is a really interesting, exciting player and he could really change the way the team plays down the line and then that blew up.
"Rather than talking about what he could be as a footballer, we were looking at these Range Rovers with pink rims and it was just so easy to parody him," he added.
The full discussion can be heard here:
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