Wayne Rooney saga ends with nobody smiling but him
Did no-one think of Stan Collymore in all of this?
Not content with being a wasted talent, famous – on the pitch at least – for only the three England caps and a refusal to move from to Merseyside from Cannock when he was Liverpool’s record signing, these days Collymore, in between stints on reality TV shows and in failed Hollywood sequels, is carving out a somewhat promising career in the media. Well, people keep employing him anyway.
Busy with punditry stints on both radio and TV, it was with some confidence that Collymore announced to his followers on Twitter that Wayne Rooney was signing for Manchester City, and that he “will take anyone’s money” that the deal will happen because “Fergie could not stop Rooney going to City BECAUSE CITY WILL MAKE AN OFFER THEY CANT REFUSE!”
Oh.
Today’s pictures of a smiling Rooney shaking hands with Sir Alex Ferguson, fresh from signing a new contract that doubles his wages from £90,000 a week to £180,000 a week – yes, £180,000 – are unlikely to have gone down well in the Collymore household. They haven’t really gone down well anywhere else either though.
Sheikh Mansour, Roberto Mancini and Manchester City – surely Rooney’s most likely destination should he have chosen to leave – would simply have crumpled up the money-spinning contract that was just waiting for the forward’s signature and reopened the “Big Book of Famous Players We’d Like To Sign” (Torres this time? Kaká again?) Sure, the next one won’t cause as much fuss as this one would have done, but there will be other days and other contract negotiations to disrupt.
Ferguson, by so clearly unveiling his feelings – perhaps for the first time in his marathon tenure – made clear just how important Rooney is to his team, handing a crucial advantage to the forward – and agent Paul Stretford – in the contract talks. At the moment, Ferguson and United need Rooney more than he needs them.
And what of the supporters? There were a minority who backed the forward following his thinly-veiled attack on the hated Glazer family, the owners of the club, during what everyone thought was Rooney’s swansong speech, but what do they now think of the man who, with the stroke of a pen, has gone from labelling United as a club in decline to becoming the highest-paid player in their history in just two days?
“I'm sure the fans over the last week have felt let down by what they've read and seen,” read Rooney’s statement today, one perhaps written on used £50 notes. “But my position was from concern over the future. The fans have been brilliant with me since I arrived and it's up to me through my performances to win them over again.”
And that’s just the thing, he will.
His first goal, his first good performance – and he will eventually produce one – will be met with the adulation of the Old Trafford faithful.
The events of the past week will have created a wedge between him and the more cynical United supporters that may never be truly mended, but you get that feeling that Rooney doesn’t care about that.
Those supporters will continue to admirably campaign to rid United of their real problem, the Glazers and the crippling debts that they have amassed in their five year reign. They thought that Rooney cared about that too, but it appears not.
He’ll be happy with his week’s work – work that he now earns a lot more money for than he used to.
Not a good week for modern football then, but maybe Wayne’s got it right, perhaps we should all be happy.
He has set Collymore’s media career back a few years after all.
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