Wayne & Coleen Rooney

Sport
101

Suppose the only way it could go up is as a result of a bidding war between two or three clubs.

Interesting in this that United fans are now saying Rooney is no big loss, but a lot of the anti United crowd who previously used say he was overrated are now saying he’s brilliant.

It’s some soap opera, you’d have to feel sorry for the Irish fellas who actually take following big business professional sport seriously. It’s becoming more and more ridiculous with all this talk of leveraged buy outs and the like among lads on their tea break in the biscuit factory.
Surely less and less people are going to start giving a fuck? Maybe I’m over estimating people’s intelligence but think a serious proportion of people will become fed up with the way the game is going.

I actually think a good proportion of United fans on the ground in Manchester will be swayed by Rooney’s assertion that he’s leaving cos the club is fucked. Fergie’s cosying up to the Glazers is very unpopular among the die hard, fanzine crowd over there and this could be the final straw.

Captainshan, are you not worried United are on a slide towards mediocrity at best, or are you buying the Fergie/Glazer line that there’s ‘no value out there so I’ll pay millions for watery young lads instead’?

102

Why would they be better off with a player that has said publicly that he wants to leave the club? :huh:

103

There is a decent possibility that he could buy out his own contract for 5 million or whatever it is being reported under the Webster ruling and join whoever he wants as well and leave United in a right spot of bother…No doubte he would pick up a fairly sizable signing on fee if this was the case…

Some contrast in the way Arsenal handled the Fabregas to barca ordeal over the summer compared as to how United have handled this

104

Ah but Shan, thats not the way it was prior to United not matching his ambitions. You said United will be stronger without Rooney, that is patently not true in the same way as they’re not stronger without Ronaldo.

And Gola, no one has doubted Rooney’s ability, his record speaks for itself. His desire to leave Man United just further shows the direction the Club is going in, and its not looking like they’ll be able to turn it around any time soon.

That would depend on a big Club breaking the unwritten agreement puke.

As for Cesc/Barcelona, I would put it down to Cesc more than anything, he handled it incredibly well and came out of it admirably.

105

Big clubs have a ‘gentleman’s agreement’ not to sign a player in this way. Could always break it I suppose but doubt it as would end up costing them all in the long run.

Fabregas story was completely different due to his history with Barca and the fact that he’s from there. Not like he just wanted out to anywhere at all, and especially not cross town rivals. The main suspicion driving United fans mad is that it’s all about money.

I’d actually nearly be inclined to believe Rooney that it’s more about ambition though. Reckon the club is only going one way.

106

I think that United will have to be forced to spend some cash as soon as January on the team. There is no doubt it isnt as good as 2 years ago but a couple of good signings in midfield could get United going. Ferguson has tried every combination of players he has avaliable but when it came to the big games against Chelsea last year they didnt have a chance of competing.

107

Loads and loads of people have doubted him. Not saying you now but I’ve lost count of the amount of times I’ve been told he was a fat, headless, new Gazza. There were definitely an awful lot of lads felt he was just hyped up by the English press.

108

If they don’t buy anyone of note then will you admit you were wrong? Or will it take the summer after that without big signings? The days of United as a big club are over unless they get rid of the Glazers I’d say.

109

Ill have to give it the end of the season to see what direction United are going in. Its always difficult enough to get world class players in January who are not cup tied for Europe.

110

I don’t rate Rooney at all. He’s been nothing better than average for around 5 years with the exception of a 4 or 5 month spell last season. Interesting point by gola about the hardcore support that genuinely protest against the club ownership (as opposed to the tards who wear the green and gold as a means of fitting in) and whether this will further fuel their ire. All this talk from Ferguson about there not being value for money in the market and them not needing to strengthen is a load of bollox. When Ferguson started doing that 18 months or so ago, I reckoned it was purely because he knew there wasn’t a quick fix to the situation but he didn’t want to rock the boat himself by publicly lambasting the owners and demanding funds for players. He basically backed his own ability to manage things, remain competitive in the short term, overtake Liverpool’s record of league wins and then leave an absolute mess for the person who assumes the role on his retirement. I don’t think he would have expected this to blow up his face though.

111

You think so gola? You’re right about it being a fiasco, don’t see it seriously affecting the league’s popularity though. More likely that people will adjust their expectations.

112

An open letter to Wayne from a Manchester United supporter on www.stretford-end.com:

Wayne,

Before you make the next move in this game of chess being played out with the media, think carefully.

Think about whether you really want to leave Manchester United.

We’re reading that “behind closed doors” you’re telling your team mates that you want to join City. Money is undoubtedly a factor, but the instigator is supposedly the breakdown in your relationship with Sir Alex Ferguson.

What has really caused this breakdown? Is it anything Sir Alex himself did, or is it his reaction to your own actions? If so, maybe, turning 25 this week should perhaps knock a bit of sense into you. You’re no longer able to blame your stubbornness on the belligerence of youth. Supporters can’t defend your indiscretions citing immaturity. And it’s because of this inability to defend you anymore that you seemingly are turning not only against the club but against the one person who has gone beyond the call of duty and at times sacrificed his own reputation to defend you.

You need to take responsibility one way or the other. Come out and say you want to stay, or that you want to leave.

We, the fans, will not only respect you a lot more, but we will know what’s going on, then. If you want to stay, then great. United supporters have a great tradition of rallying around heroes who have supposedly fallen off of their pedestal. Eric Cantona for Selhurst. Roy Keane and Rio Ferdinand for their contract “negotiation tactics”. You yourself, and Cristiano Ronaldo, in 2006 after the World Cup. Remember the way we took you both back in and supported you. We’re ready to back you.

If you want to leave, then be honest and say so, but a word of warning. Be honest with yourself. Blaming Sir Alex is putting the blame where it is least deserved. Even after your actions, he stood by you, and was giving you a break to sort out your life. He did that for your own good, for the benefit of your personal life, despite the effect your absence might have on the team. Attributing blame to anyone else is pure cowardice. If you want more money, if you really think being able to make a million pounds in a few weeks is not enough, when most of the world can only dream of that sum in a lifetime, then at least be honest enough to admit it. Don’t put the blame onto someone who has done everything to protect you and has helped you, sometimes in spite of yourself, achieve things in the game you could not have achieved anywhere else. You owe him so much, but the least you owe him is to not make him the villain in the piece. You owe it to him to publically state he has done everything to help you, but you want to leave.

But before you do that, think further still. Think of how you have done yourself no favours, and who else would go to such lengths to protect you. Who else would show the faith in you to come good. If you need an example, look at Paul Gascoigne. A player with the hopes and dreams of the country on his back, who struggled to cope, and whose career, then life, went to waste. A player who openly regrets turning his back on Sir Alex and United when he had the opportunity. Look at what happened to him without the right guidance and advice, and wonder if you really want to turn your back on all that you currently have? What good is money if your life goes to pot?

If you get your wish and you leave United, who will be there to help you next time – and, if this is your chosen path, and you’re absolving yourself of responsibility, then there will be a next time – you hit on hard times? There is no-one in any place that you think you will be able to go that will be able to protect you as much as Sir Alex does. And what effect will that have on your family? Once you leave the protection of United, you will be truly putting yourself in the goldfish bowl. Sure, you’ll be flavour of the month again for a short time. But when the initial furore wanes, and you find yourself in trouble again, the knives will be out, but you will have alienated those that matter in the game.

No-one at United wants you to leave. You’re part of the family. Even when Cristiano was getting the plaudits in 2007/08 and scoring the goals, we still recognised you as the heartbeat of the team. It was fitting that you scored the goal to crown us as World Champions. When you were booed by England fans and when the press panned you after South Africa and Germany, who were the fans backing you? After all your recent problems, who were the supporters still chanting your name for 70 minutes on Saturday, wanting your introduction, despite there clearly being something not right? We were. We stood by you, even though most of us disagreed with a passion with what you did. It went against what we believed as people, but we stood by you. Think about what you are doing to that relationship.

What happens to players after they leave United? Those who choose not to sign for us when they get the chance? Those who go on to bigger and better things are in a minority. Beckham? No. Ruud? No. Stam? No. Keane? No. Even Cristiano? Not at this stage. He’s learning the grass isn’t always greener, that other supporters aren’t quite as faithful or loyal as United supporters.

After all this, you still have a chance to put it right. You have two months before January, to put the rumours to rest. You can make a statement publically. You can do your talking on the pitch. Take that chance. Look at Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes. Look at Sir Bobby Charlton. Your chance to sit alongside them, to smash the goalscoring records, to notch this chapter as a minor hiccup, is in your hands. What does it matter, when you make as much money as you do, for an extra million here or there, when there is a chance of real footballing history? Stay at United and you will undoubtedly become our top scorer of all time. The top scorer of all time for the biggest club in the world? Surely that was one of things running through your mind in the playground?

If you come out now and state your desire to remain at United for the rest of your career – like you have in the past – then you will retain hero status before the press manage to wrestle it away from you in your silence.

But make no mistake, Wayne. United will move on with or without you. If you do move, it will be you who lives to regret it.

Emotional stuff.

113

Judging by the forum nobody saw the world class performance of United tonight without Rooney. :wink:

Impressed they got this banner done up so quickly. :clap:

114

Bandage any chance of putting all of that into one bullet point?

115

:lol: :lol:

116

Yes.

-> The grass won’t be greener, Wayne. And ‘Sir Alex’ won’t be there to hold your hand next time your life crumbles around you. Manchester United are great. Aw, this is too much - I need a cry. Wayne? Wayne?

117

I think Sir Alex put it best when he said that sometimes you are looking into the next field at a cow and you think that cow might be a better cow, but it doesn’t always turn out to be a better cow :blink:

118

Fergie “Sometimes you see a cow in a different field and you think that cow might better than the one you have but doesn’t always work out that way.” Take that Wayne. :lol:

119

Damm you beating me to it. :lol: It was well said Alex. What most of us were thinking. :clap:

120

:stuck_out_tongue: