IT MAY be less than two years since Stephen Ireland was Manchester City’s Player of the Year and there was much consternation when the Corkman lost out to Ashley Young for the PFA’s Young Player award but Aston Villa fans will clearly be happy enough to see the 24 year-old go if, as appeared increasingly likely, the midfielder joins Newcastle United on loan this week until the end of the season.

The extent of the local disillusionment with the Irishman was made apparent yesterday when the result of a poll conducted amongst some 1,500 Villa supporters was published by local paper, the Birmingham Mail. In it, Ireland runs away with “Most Disappointing Villa Player this season” award with an impressive 41.7 per cent of the vote.

Richard Dunne, as it happens, makes it an Irish one-two with the big central defender, whose future at the club has also been a source of some speculation over the past few months, getting the nod from 33.1 per cent of the respondents.

Dunne, though, has at least been back in the team of late and playing significantly better than he did at the start of the campaign, but Ireland’s Villa career looks likely to be over with Newcastle keen to sign him as long as they can get Villa to pay what they reckon is an acceptable percentage of his €84,000 a week salary.

Ireland, it seems, would move to St James’ Park until the end of the season with the terms on which Newcastle could make the move permanent at that stage also under discussion yesterday.

The midfielder will be happy at the prospect of being given the chance to rediscover the sort of form he showed at Manchester City under Mark Hughes.

At the time he was widely talked about as one of the brightest prospects in the Premier League and his performances caused Republic of Ireland manager Giovanni Trapattoni persistent difficulties as the Italian was repeatedly questioned by the media about his efforts to persuade the player to end his self-imposed international exile. It’s been quite some time since anybody asked the manager about him.

Trapattoni, meanwhile, might be intrigued by the suggestion yesterday Tottenham are following his lead and stepping up the pressure on Robbie Keane to move on. Trapattoni said on Monday the 30-year-old would not be an automatic choice for competitive games anymore if he does not find a new club before the end of the transfer window.

It has been reported Spurs are hinting that with Steven Pienaar and possibly Jonathan Woodgate to accommodate he might not even make the list of players Tottenham submit to the Premier League for the second half of the campaign, raising the prospect of even more time on the sidelines for the Dubliner.

“It is quite possible Harry Redknapp won’t even have room in their 25 for Robbie Keane,” ESPN Soccernet quoted a “very well placed source” as saying yesterday. “If that is the case,” the source is reported to have continued, “Spurs might want to sell the player rather than loan him out, but they won’t want a player on his salary, not even in their squad.”

West Ham continue to pursue Keane but with their offer of terms for a loan deal turned down, they continue to hold out against the up-front permanent deal that Spurs are anxious to complete.

Apparently the clubs are not that far apart in negotiations regarding an arrangement that would involve the striker moving to Upton Park until the end of the campaign, at which stage a permanent deal could be completed with the size of the fee dependent on whether Avram Grant’s side stay up. West Ham, however, apparently want Keane’s contribution over the next five months to be taken into account when the figure is to be settled on and this, it is said, remains a stumbling block.

A move within London certainly appears to be what Keane is holding out for if Birmingham City acting chairman Peter Pannu is to be believed. Answering Keane’s claim that the club’s talk of signing him had been no more than a publicity stunt, he said over the weekend: “This was not a publicity stunt and I was disappointed that the player should say that. Keane had spoken extensively with our captain (Stephen Carr) and had no interest in coming to the Midlands as he feels his place is in London somewhere. All parties concerned, including our captain, were involved to make it happen. Unfortunately, upon further reflection in Hong Kong (where the club’s owners are based), I was requested to pull out of the deal as it is not financially viable to do it.”

Former Celtic and Leeds United midfielder Michael Doyle has joined Sheffield United from Coventry on a free transfer. The 29-year-old, who played seven minutes for the Irish senior team when he came on against the Netherlands in 2004, is reunited with Micky Adams, under whom he played during a spell at Coventry previously.