Spend a little time visiting one or two of the many Villa fan forums, and you'll realise that Stephen Ireland continues to divide opinion and provoke debate. Once an enigma, always an enigma.
Take last Saturday's breathtaking 3-2 home loss to Manchester United: Ireland was either the architect of everything good about Aston Villa's play or a disinterested figure going through the motions. When it comes to Ireland, there is no middle ground. He is either to your taste or not, and approaching partway through his third season at Villa, there is still a sizeable percentage of fans who would gladly ship him out the door tomorrow given the chance.
However, it seems Ireland does have one significant admirer in his camp, manager Paul Lambert. Having shuffled his midfield pack the first part of the season, Lambert is now drawing firm conclusions about the players at his disposal. And one is that Ireland has an important role to play. How else to explain that Villa's best performances have all occurred with Ireland in the side, or that Lambert has now crafted a formation which puts the midfielder in the perfect position to draw the best out of him?
The trust of the manager -- it is crucial, especially for a player of Ireland's style, an attacking midfield playmaker who can be ineffectual at times, the type some managers will not entertain. Ireland has experience in that. His first Villa season was almost a total non-event. He was signed in peculiar circumstances and never really recovered. Arriving as part of the deal which took James Milner to Manchester City, it was never really clear whether then-manager Martin O'Neill approved the signing or not, for he left so abruptly.
From that point, Ireland looked lost. His league debut for Villa was disastrous, a 6-0 defeat at Newcastle. O'Neill's successor, Gerard Houllier, was no fan - Ireland was soon dropped, and then completely frozen out. By the January transfer window, it was made obvious Ireland was free to leave. Newcastle took him on loan. He barely played there, either.
For Villa fans, it was easy to forget he was part of the squad at all. Alex McLeish, Ireland's third Villa manager (if you include caretaker manager Kevin McDonald), at least re-integrated the player back into the fold, recognising he could ill afford to snub such talent.
Ireland showed glimpses of his ability, and the standout game of the campaign remains the 3-1 victory at Chelsea on New Year's Eve 2011 when Ireland scored his only league goal with Villa. But as the season wound on, and Villa's form deserted them, Ireland was on the periphery too often.
Under Lambert, Ireland looks comfortable and happy. The season hasn't gone perfectly - breaking a wrist at Southampton disrupted a positive start. But if anything, Villa's second-half collapse proved his influence (they led 1-0 when Ireland went off and lost, 4-1). But it's telling the midfielder is beginning to finally settle in a system that prioritizes ball retention.
Against United, his intelligent use of the ball stood out. It was Ireland's vision that opened up the opposition defence, playing in Gabby Agbonlahor to sweep across for Andreas Weimann's second goal. Ireland might have scored himself in the first half, had Weimann's inexperience not betrayed him with a poor pass.
Saturday, Ireland returns to his former club, Manchester City, no doubt eager to prove he did not peak during his time there. The memories of him at City are still vivid and probably serve to infuriate some Villa fans, who are frustrated as they demand to see Ireland as that player again - the swashbuckling, brash midfielder who scored spectacular goals.
In the 2008-09 season, Ireland scored 13 times. He was explosive and exciting and, after being named City's Player of the Year that season, one of the outstanding young prospects in the Premier League. When Roberto Mancini replaced Mark Hughes as manager in December 2009, the City revolution started big time, and Ireland found himself on the outside, looking in.
He was rather swiftly and, maybe unfairly, swept aside by the new wave of superstar City were able to attract, and months later he was sacrificed to land Milner. Far from a confident, buzzing young player, Villa got a confused and hurt one, and it's taken time for Ireland to rebuild himself.
So much has changed at Manchester City, and for City, that I don't expect Ireland to spend much time renewing friendships before the match; he didn't share dressing room oxygen with Dzeko, Aguero, Tevez, Balotelli, Silva and many of the top, top players.
But things have changed for Stephen Ireland, too. No longer is he the outsider at Aston Villa, but an integral part of the on-field development of the club. Having turned 26 in August, the best chapter of his career could easily be ahead of him.