Newcastle United's on-loan Aston Villa midfielder Stephen Ireland has branded Birmingham a "rubbish town".

Ireland remains upset with how he was treated by Villa manager Gerard Houllier.

He told So Foot: "One day though, Houllier asked me to come and live in Birmingham. I live in Manchester, and it took me an hour and a quarter to get to training.

"Birmingham is a rubbish town as it is, but on top of that I wasn't playing, so I wasn't going to make that effort."