Rumours that Wayne Rooney is nearing an exit is gathering momentum with reports suggesting the player – his dodgy representatives that is – has already told Manchester United that he won’t be signing a contract extension. The tune was different after the World Cup, with both club and the puppet masters saying Rooney would sign.
Yours truly used to love Wayne Rooney. Really. Ever since he scored that goal against Arsenal for Everton we knew this boy was United material. When he finally arrived at Old Trafford he scored a hat trick on his début and went on to form a formidable partnership with first Ruud van Nistelrooy, then Carlos Tevez, Cristiano Ronaldo and Dimitar Berbatov.
That seems ages ago to be honest.
Rooney had a marvelous season last year and even though he had an unfortunate injury against Bayern Munich in March, it was always asking a lot to expect a similar level of performance forever, each and every season.
On the other hand, even a niggling ankle injury and plenty of negative press shouldn’t render a United player this bad. Rooney’s positioning, touch, speed, aggression and shooting have all disappeared this season, with just one moment of brilliance to recall – a magnificent pass that Berbatov wasted after a few minutes of play against Bolton Wanderers.
This season, Rooney wasn’t even include in United’s squad for away games against Valencia and Sunderland. He shouldn’t have played as a substitute against West Bromwich Albion last weekend. He was that poor.
United fans couldn’t care less about Rooney’s non-efficient World Cup; countries mean nothing while United means everything but everybody saw how badly he played.
Rooney’s form is there for all to see. This isn’t just some dip in form; it is actually a former world-class footballer playing like an overweight Sunday league striker! Form is temporary and class permanent they say but Roy Keane, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Eric Cantona nor Cristian Ronaldo played – let’s be honest – like shit for six months straight.
Is Rooney now worth £200,000 a week? Nobody is but even if United was still the richest – for sake of argument, let’s forget the Glazer debt – should the club then pay a formerly excellent player that much? Many supporters will say no.
When Ryan Giggs had a contract dispute with the club – around the beginning of the noughties – he literally played like the rest of his career depended on it. Is it too much to ask a player seeking a raise to actually defend it on the pitch?
They say that News of the World knew of Rooney’s infidelity months before the World Cup but ‘saved’ the story until afterwards. Then surely Rooney should have gone to his mentor, Sir Alex Ferguson and told him of his troubles. After all, Sir Alex Ferguson hasn’t had a problem with his players cheating on their partners or sleeping with prostitutes in the past.
What broke the relationship then?
Perhaps then the Gaffer is mad at his player for not letting him know that a story was about to explode in the press?
Maybe, Sir Alex is willing to cut his former protégé loose for other reasons as well. Rooney denying the ankle problem and thus contradicting his manager publicly. The fact that Rooney loves a fag and some ‘proper’ English food isn’t really what top sportsmen should, while the player sees little problem in having a drink or two. Is Ferguson fed up with Rooney not taking proper care of himself off the pitch too?
Whatever the reasons, as it stands, United has no choice but to cut Rooney loose. Let City pay his reported demands of £200,000 a week. He’s not worth it, even if the club wasn’t saddled with Glazer’s debt.
United face a major issue the coming months; if the club has decided to cash in on Rooney, it cannot happen until the January transfer window and that’s potentially three more months of internal conflict. Right now, Rooney does barely merits a place on the bench!
One thing is certain: no matter what your opinion of the striker is, there’s no way he’ll become ‘the next Sir Bobby Charlton’ as some of us thought he would, all those years ago.
i have been syaing for 3 years or so that he isnt the same player he was when we first signed him and he was actually massively overrated (on par with messi?? you must be joking!). He used to play free, inventive football, never putting a foot wrong, as if he was born with this perfect footballing brain. then a couple of ankle injuries later and that started to go. his touch has grown increasingly wayward, and only shows flashes of brialliance (which to be honest makes it more frustrating because you kknow he can still do it) last year he scored an immense amount of goals, but most were due to valencia putting inch perfect crosses on his head every 5 minutes. his overall play was still erratic.
i think i would still rather he stayed instead of cashing in on him, although if we did and IF we then reinvested in a pretty average squad then fine, could make us a better team. if we sell and dont reinvest then we are def fucked!
I agree with you, Messi is so much better footballer than rooney and as you say, Rooney really over-performed last season. But I got a good kick out of watching Shrek roaming the field and rampaging with Milan! Everything has to come to an end..
El Blanco Pele? Best player produced in this country since George Best? OK.
Still don’t want him to go but if he wants 150 a week plus, then he can fuck off.
@Dave
I totally agree. Last year he won so many plaudits but it wasn’t like he was skinning people left, right and centre, scoring from outside the box, performing bicycles etc. He played like a solid striker, getting on the end of things. Occasionally he had perfect all-round games e.g. Arsenal, Milan. But more often than not his overall game was just frustrating, and has been since Ronaldo’s rise.
Maybe it started with that first WC injury prior to 2006. That’s when the pressure mounted on him — get our saviour back to full fitness — and he couldn’t cope. These days he tries to play the cultured role, but he doesn’t have the technique. He was dynamic those first few seasons, but there is absolutely no dynamism in his game at all anymore. He’s not a Xavi, he’s not an Iniesta, he’s not a Messi — but he could have been a Rooney i.e. totally fearless, strong, battle-hardened and unique. You always felt he would believe in himself.
That Rooney doesn’t exist anymore. So get rid of him and buy talent that’s hungry for Utd. Rooney’s not worth the money.
I should add that previously we were inclined to forget his faults because he was our beloved prodigal son. We just WANTED him to succeed more than believed he would. We would have backed him no matter what, hence why the fans called for him on Saturday despite him showing no form at all and contradicting SAF in public.
its fergie who destroyed the player rooney used to be via constant lone striker shiftfs, left right wing shifts, spending 90 minutes man marking shite fullbacks, playing him through injury, he’s gone from the most talented english player in decades to this fergie creation, a slightly more creative rvn, and now with this tiff, fergies constant shite about how hed have seen gazzA on the straight n narrow no longer washes looking at the way he’s ruined rooney, hed have turned gzza into a holding mid or left winger or summat
and then dropped him after he got drunk and beat up his wife
and then kicked him out after he wore them fake tits after euro 96
those fake tits were class
Good article. I agree with this in general and am pleasantly surprised that you havent laid the blame for this at SAFs door.
yeah i agree that playing him left wing and second fiddle to ronaldo may have ruined the old rooney but there is a reason for that, ronaldo was/is better in almost every aspect. but yeah, fergie has def contributed to the decline in that sense.
hmmph, i don’t want the cunt to go. if he gets his head straight and life sorted, he can be superb. even for his own sake, with a rocky marriage and a little son, he needs to sort this shit out and become more like scholes. i still think he will stay, purely because there aren’t too many places he can go. i hope it works out well.
In my own opinion Wayne Rooney should grow up and handle the situation. He is no longer a 19 yr old kid, this kind negative publicity has happened to footballers in the past and they have gotten over it. He is a celebrity, he should be able to handle such intense media scrutiny.
He should concentrate on his football and ignore the media. He is a tough lad or so i thought,i use to likehis mental attitude,his hunger for success,but lately i really dont know whats up with him. He really struggles, he struggled when Tevez was around,he also struggled to keep up with cr7.
he should make amends with Fergie and move on.
Fergie has really tried for the boy, through thick and thin Fergie has stood by him. He shouldn’t turn his back on utd when he is needed most.
so he wants to go then.
swap deal involving Kaka would be immense, but unlikely. prob just sell him for 20M and have to have macheda up front ….
Well he’s off.. let’s see where.. to kiss the City badge?!
Frankly it all disgusts me.. especially Keane saying effectively ‘take the money’ he fails to realise that football is unlike any other transaction, based on emotional drivers such as loyalty, passion, pride, heritage.. if supporters walked like Rooney will, where would they be?!
Must be difficult to live on £90k a week and no doubt the extra few quid will come in handy for some cigs and whatever else he fancies!
Sign up the Blackpool squad.. at least they showed some spunk against the mancs…
The ungratefull little fucker. Hopefully he’ll play again in a red shirt so we can get a chance to let him know how we feel about him. After all he’s shown how he feels about us. Disgusting, ugly, greedy, hooker shagging cunt!!
That stupid scottish cunt has done the same with him as he did with RVN. Grind the cunt to a stand still then fuck him off. Rooney owed United fuck all. The club cream in £80 million for Ronaldo and do what? Spunk some of it on no marks like Obertan and Valencia. Let Tevez walk away and bring in Owen?
What the fuck is going on FFS.
Exactly. Make Rooney look the cunt when the club is responsible for a serious decline and SAF cocksmoking the Glazers is fucking insulting in the extreme.
Some of you are way off the mark. This isn’t Fergie’s fault, he is probably more surprised than anybody that Rooney has decided to go. This was Rooney’s decision, though my opinion is that he’s been heavily influenced by those around him.
I must say I’m completely bemused by Rooney’s desire to leave, especially after claiming in November he wanted to stay at United for life.
I hope Rooney has the decency to come out and say why he wants to go. He owes an explanation to the club, the fans, and especially Ferguson – who has protected, defended and nurtured the boy the moment he joined.
Jay, Rooney is a cunt though – he wants out.
You act as if we are bottom of league and out of all competitions – the club is in decline yes, but six more points and you would all be having a wank – and those points could have come if that dirty cancerous Rooney was upfront in summer and we fucked him out, so that mecheda, hernandez, bebe could get a run – and dare I say it Owen too.
it’s not as simple as its the Ginger Cunts fault blah blah blah …
FFs what a Drama Lama
Its football Danni grow fucking up Rooneys wants out such is life aint the first and wont be the last either.
I agree with most of what this article has to say. Just one thing, as far as moments of brilliance go this season, I think his assist for the first goal in the Community Shield is up there with his very few best moments this season. Remember him cutting over towards Valencia’s right wing position to receive a brilliant pass from Scholes and cutting it back first time to setup Valencia to score?
Good comment, I completely forgot that one. That was “the old Rooney”.
what you banging on about! yep it’s football but that was one of the most important press conferences in modern British football, for the club, and for SAF – he looked completely shocked. headline news around the world! bring out the Chivas, Fergie is gonna get fucked tonight!!
One of the most important press conferences maybe, Fergal used that to make Rooney look a right cunt to which I must say Respect Sir Alex and until Rooney comes out and states his reason for wanting away i´ll take the speculation with a pinch of salt because we don’t know apart from United´s take.
Whatever the reason he wants out the reaction here, on the Caf etc are laughable we all bitch about RAWK but all these forums are in full RAWK modus just now.
Rooney is now saying that he will go to Man City to partner Tevez. Like I said, money talks! I can tell you that SAF and the GLAZERS are not at all upset that Rooney wants out. What! Man City making a bid for 50 million! I would be smiling all the way to the bank because he is not worth 50 million, juat an average player.
Thats waht we said about Tevez not being worth 25 mill. Look at Tevez now. If Rooney showed the same grit and passion Tevez is showing at City now, it would be a sad day to see him go.
Fact is, Rooney has been below par and seems disinterested in football and in the United cause of late.
i would he rather leave than make a mockery of the United badge and cause with his half arsed displays on the pitch.
United is forever.
Haha, Rooney “overperformed” last season, apparently
I like the way some fans are desperately trying to cover up the fact we’re losing a top player… our best player on his day
Honestly, you’d think we’d sold fucking Kevin Davies when read some of these replies, and the replies on the Caf
no fucking way he over-performed, ffs. if anything he under-performed.
wtf is a “pinchbeck”…sounds like a fucking yank word..
fuck it off…its a fucking shite yank word…ffs….this is UTD not Pittsburg fucking steelers
If it is, it’s one I’ve never heard. When I read it, I just assumed it was a reference to some Brit TV show I hadn’t seen.
thanks…i’ve edited accordingly
http://www.worldwidewords.org/weirdwords/ww-pin1.htm
no idea why they call em selves that tho
The guy that wrote the article is called “Ingar”…
“Yank” my cock, ffs…
Alfonso / Captain – fake gold, something tawdry. Seems a fine word in the context. Ingar is Norwegian.
Shite word, should have used shite like fools gold…Pinchbeck…ffs…..pseudo Scandinavian Yank cunt…oh and Alf….shut the fuck up you yank cunt!!
“Pinchbeck” Yank Luton Dosser No Value Poor immitation Spike Cunt
When I first read it I thought… no doubt, that’s a daft name some Stoke cunt invented for taking a shit.
“Excuse me, I’m off for a pinchbeck”.
Cap the Pinchbeck King of Stoke…nice
You two…hilarious
in that case your posts are pinchbeck you rodeo going, m&m eating, bugle blowing bedfordshire cuntbeck pinchbeck cockBECK slinging fucKbeck
CUNT!!!
Cap excels himself