This backlash on Ireland is dumb.

[Dave Gray]

Sorry for being inarticulate, but this is more classic fan over-reaction and "dumb" is the only word I can find for it.

I'm not a fan on Ireland, and I certainly understand frustration with his decisions and this team.  But this newfound increase in the hatred of Ireland at this point isn't justified, in my opinion.  The reason I say this is because this is the same guy as before -- why are we pissed now?  Because of Manning and Flynn?  It sounded like we were never in the driver's seat for Manning and we have no idea why we didn't go after Flynn -- maybe they didn't like what they saw.  The guy has 2 NFL starts.  Maybe he's another Scott Mitchell.  I can't honestly believe that so many of us are upset about missing out on a guy that none of us seemed too high on to begin with.

Let's look at what he's done recently:
- Got rid of Marshall, a guy most of us were fed up with to begin with and who is in legal trouble AGAIN.
- Picked up Matt Moore, where most of us were bent, and he played above expectations.

I am not ridding Ireland of blame.  He deserves a lot of it.  But why now?  Because of Manning?  Of Flynn?  Please...

It just doesn't make sense to get all pissed off at this point, before we draft or even snap one football.

Fans have the right to protest, but it doesn't mean they're not idiots for doing so.  There is so much that we don't know.  Ireland probably blows, but this is nothing new.  The perception that he's incompetant will be his undoing (even though he very well might be incompetant.)  Those protesting, however, are only adding to the perception and making it harder for this team to perform.

[VegasATO]

Well I think fans have just reached their breaking point. If this was his first week on the job, I think you'd have a good point. But we've been waiting for him to do something smart for years now. Instead, it's looking like more of the same...

[Dave Gray]

What exactly wasn't smart?

Not getting Manning?  Ireland can't MAKE him sign here.
Not getting Flynn?  What if Flynn sucks?  It seems the fanbase is divided at best (and I'd argue that most weren't very high on Flynn).
Dumping Marshall?  Every hated the guy and he's a scumbag on top of it who may miss games.  You want to build your franchise around that?

We have an image problem right now.  (Among other things.)  Getting rid of troublemakers like Marshall will help that image.  Protesting our own practice facility will hurt that image.

[Doc-phin]

I am certainly willing to wait for the draft and/or some sort of explaination before I go too far with the criticism.

He has made a lot of moves that make sense and a few that don't.  Gerrard doesn't make sense only because I can't see him as a west coast QB.  Otherwise its a one year contract and we needed another vet on the roster anyway.

[CF DolFan]

What exactly wasn't smart?

Not getting Manning?  Ireland can't MAKE him sign here.
Not getting Flynn?  What if Flynn sucks?  It seems the fanbase is divided at best (and I'd argue that most weren't very high on Flynn).
Dumping Marshall?  Every hated the guy and he's a scumbag on top of it who may miss games.  You want to build your franchise around that?

We have an image problem right now.  (Among other things.)  Getting rid of troublemakers like Marshall will help that image.  Protesting our own practice facility will hurt that image.

I agree we have an image problem but getting rid of Marshal doesn't help that. Getting rid of Ireland does. Right or wrong it's the only thing that could possibly bring about the fastest change in image across the league and by fans. People have been calling for his head for some time now. This isn't new... Just ramped up because we all wanted a QB. We missed out on any chance of an upgrade even after being promised. You can't have it both ways.

[EKnight]

To be fair though, Miami didn't miss a chance to upgrade at QB. They missed a chance to upgrade with those specific players. Until snap one of game one, you can't pass blanket judgement on that. Who knows what will happen at the draft. -EK

[Brian]

We don't need to worry about a bunch of protesters hurting the dolphins image. The dolphins organization has already done that damage. It's been proven by quotes from players around the league. This isn't about Manning or Flynn. This is about sustained inept management of the Miami Dolphins over years both on and off the field across the organization. People are done.

[MixLovesThemPhins]

yup getting rid of marshal our best player, my man we are the laughing stock of the NFL right now, noone wans to play here, we've missed out on 2 coaches, numerous players, we have players for other teams saying this guy is the reason noone wants to play in miami, he over here asking dez about his mom being a whore, this guy is an ass who's
 in love with ex cowboy players

[Dave Gray]

^ And that's fair criticism, but he's taking flak for these moves now.  Once he was retained for this year, there's no point in losing your shit before the season.  He's here.  Let him do his thing and if you aren't happy with him, fire him at the end of the season.

[Brian]

^ And that's fair criticism, but he's taking flak for these moves now.  Once he was retained for this year, there's no point in losing your shit before the season.  He's here.  Let him do his thing and if you aren't happy with him, fire him at the end of the season.

That's what last year was for. Are we supposed to sit through another 0-7 start and be irrelevant 3 weeks into the season again? Obviously fans don't have control so that's really the only option but people were done with Ireland long before we missed on Manning and Flynn.

[MixLovesThemPhins]

i think right now it's to the point where these guys talk like we need this and we need that only to fail miserable at trying to get them and it really looks like this guy is the reason we're not getting anyone

when players start coming out and saying noone wants to play in Miami cause of Ireland, if thats what NFL players are thinking then when does the way they think change

[MixLovesThemPhins]

oh and alot of us were thinking this before these last couple of F ups

http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2012-01-01/sports/fl-fire-ireland-airplane-banner-0101_1_miami-dolphins-owner-general-manager-jeff-ireland-sun-life-stadium

[Spider-Dan]

What exactly wasn't smart?

Not getting Manning?  Ireland can't MAKE him sign here.

Why make a big show about going after Manning, and in the middle of it, trade away your only quality receiver?  If you know you plan to get rid of Marshall, why are you wasting time trying to court Manning?

Not getting Flynn?  What if Flynn sucks?  It seems the fanbase is divided at best (and I'd argue that most weren't very high on Flynn).

You can apply the "what if they suck?" argument to any inexperienced player.  Flynn is the first free agent QB with legitimate upside that Miami has had a shot at since Brees.  And Ireland lost out due to half-assing the offer.

Dumping Marshall?  Every hated the guy and he's a scumbag on top of it who may miss games.  You want to build your franchise around that?

Then why did Ireland trade two second-round picks for him?

Marshall was even more troubled when Miami traded for him.  The recent incident at the nightclub, after Miami had already been shopping him, was his first transgression since he arrived in Miami (and no, I don't count being a victim of domestic violence as a "transgression").

The fact that Ireland had NO BACKUP PLAN to replace him is just icing on the cake.  Similarly, his decision to lowball Flynn (when Flynn should have been the backup plan to missing on Manning) is perplexing.  Now Miami needs a franchise QB and a #1 WR from the draft, but is slotted about 3 picks too far back to get either one (much less both).  And that's to say nothing of the gaping hole at RT (which Ireland also whiffed on in FA, mind you).

We have an image problem right now.  (Among other things.)  Getting rid of troublemakers like Marshall will help that image.

The "image problem" that Miami has is of a loutish, incompetent GM.  Marshall was not the problem, and getting rid of him for a bag of peanuts and a pack of gum just exacerbated the REAL image problem: lack of quality leadership in the front office.

[JVides]

I concur with Dave.  The GM had a nice draft last year picking his own players for the first time since Parcells left.  Does anyone disagree with that statement?  He made decent FA moves in bringing in the likes of Reggie Bush (good), and others that weren't so good (Colombo).

I will not complain about Flynn.  He smells of Charlie Whitehurst, AJ Feeley, and every other backup QB that got a monster deal only to fall on his face with a new franchise.

It would be nice if there were a QB in Miami's range that could solve the age-old problem, but really, the only worse thing than not addressing the QB situation is addressing it with yet another guy who'll add to the list of starting QBs since Marino.

In my view, Ireland has three problems:  One, the "your mom's a prostitute" question, which obviously hurt his standing with his peers and with players(and maybe rightfully so).  Two, his boss forced him to play footsie with Jim Harbaugh while his friend, Tony Sparano, was still employed.  Three, he only addresses the media once a year, which means we don't know him, which makes it ever so easy to turn him into a caricature.

[EKnight]

He gets FAR too much grief about the prostitute question. He asked the guy what his dad did, and Bryant said, "he's a pimp." He asked him what his mom did and Bryant said, "she works for my dad." How is the follow-up question "Your mom works for your dad who is a pimp, so is she a prostitute?" not a logical question? It seems pretty fair to me. -EK