Over and out

So that's that, then. It looks as though an ankle injury sustained on Saturday will mean that the sum total of Stephen Ireland's contribution to our season will have been two fleeting excursions off the bench. He came close to scoring in both, but they were substitute appearances all the same. A shame it's worked out this way - I really thought (well, hoped, at least) that we might be able to give him a suitable platform to resurrect a career which is already ailing at the age of just 24.

The injury leaves Ireland in a sorry situation - unlikely to net the move he (and we) might have wished for, and unwanted by the parent club to which he'll be forced to return for treatment (and the reception he gets will be frosty given he's made very clear that the feeling's mutual).

Still, if it's any consolation, come the end of the season we'll probably have seen more of him in a black and white shirt than Dan Gosling...