Rooney, is he on the slide?

[Titanic]

£60,000,000 transer fee and then £300,000 A WEEK in wages... on the slide??

 

[Langley]

Tevez has always given 100%, and he would always be my first choice, not sure about Rooney though, if his form does not improve, United will struggle to get the money back that they paid for him. There is obviously something very wrong there which is not coming out.

 

[Brovion]

Sadly there's more than a hint of George Best here. Best quit Utd for good at, what 27? (He'd walked out on them once before but had come back) and I think everybody would agree that that was the end of the major productive part of his career and the rest was just an embarrassment.

Rooney's 25. Those saying 'his best days are behind him' may get proved right, but it will be an absolute tragedy if the problems of drink, women, hangers-on and the pressures of fame do to Rooney what they did to Best.

 

[Lady Whistledown]

They won't get £60m for him because his contract is up within the year.

I just have an odd hunch that he might end up at Spurs. United would hate to sell him to City or to a lesser extent Chelsea, nobody else in this country could afford him & I can't see him going abroad. I just wonder if Spurs, especially with Champions League football on the table, might fancy a cheeky bid. Redknapp is already doing his usual thing of telling people how much he likes Rooney & how he couldn't afford him. Plus he's thick as thieves with Fergie, & United would see Spurs as less of a direct threat.

When the old shyster says that, he usually has the player signed by teatime.

 

[Northstander]

1. How much a influence have agents got on Rooney
2. Has the enemy insisted he leaves the club?
3. WTF is going on?

 

[Icy Gull]

£60,000,000 transer fee and then £300,000 A WEEK in wages... on the slide??

If his best playing days are behind him, yes on the slide. Money is not the issue as he already has an obscene amount which has no doubt had an influence on the loony he has become.

 

[Pavilionaire]

The only way I can see Rooney keeping everything together is if he joins City. He'll have his family, the wages, a club with "ambition", several England mates in the team and a chance to snub Sir Alex for dropping him.

I don't think he'd lose any sleep over pissing off half of Manchester. He's from Liverpool anyway, what does he care?

If, on the other hand, he goes abroad it will be a disaster. Beckham had the attributes to handle a career on the continent - the looks, the charm, the dedication, the professionalism. Rooney has none of those things plus he's seriously thick and lacks judgement in both his football and private life.

 

[Mtoto]

Very true about Beckham, much smarter than he is ever likely to get the credit for. Rooney at Real could end up as a horrible embarrassment on both sides.

Have been thinking about this from a betting point of view, because that's the sort of saddo I am and also because these sorts of markets are among the few where there can be some value to be had these days.

There are, clearly, only a very few possible destinations for Rooney at the best of times. But these aren't the best of times, and he hasn't shown any form at all for months. If anything, he's getting worse as it all gets on top of him.

Can't have Barca - new president is watching the money, and anyway, who will they drop to play him? Messi? Villa? Iniesta? Even if Villa is injured, Pedro's form has been miles ahead of Rooney's recently and he seems to be getting better all the time.

That seems to leave City, Real and Chelsea, and I don't think either of the last two are stupid enough to mess up their cashflow and wage structure on a player who could well be on the way down. Neither of them need him that much - makes more sense to wait and see if he can rediscover some form, with his price tag falling all the while. If he does, get him cheap. If not, never mind, because if he can't locate his mojo when he's desperate for a move, there's no guarantee he will once he's made good his escape.

City, though, probably are stupid, or at any rate needy, enough. They also have the "making a statement" factor to consider - that makes Rooney rather more valuable to them, whatever form he is in, than it does to anyone else. They also have money to burn. And Coleen can stay in the north-west.

Try as I might, I can't get City any bigger than 4-7, even allowing for the possibility that Rooney and Fergie will kiss and make up. Some is asking for 6-5 on Betfair. Yet William Hill still offer 13-8 according to Oddschecker. Time to raid the piggy-bank, I think.

 

[Gwylan]

Very true about Beckham, much smarter than he is ever likely to get the credit for. Rooney at Real could end up as a horrible embarrassment on both sides.

Have been thinking about this from a betting point of view, because that's the sort of saddo I am and also because these sorts of markets are among the few where there can be some value to be had these days.
...
Try as I might, I can't get City any bigger than 4-7, even allowing for the possibility that Rooney and Fergie will kiss and make up. Some is asking for 6-5 on Betfair. Yet William Hill still offer 13-8 according to Oddschecker. Time to raid the piggy-bank, I think.

You can get 80-1 on Tottenham. That's got to be worth a punt.
I'm having a crafty fiver on that

 

[NMH]

Bored with Utd, with fame and his missus. He's bored enough to want to try for something better on all counts, and it can only end in tears for souvinirs.

 

[Eric Potts]

He's off to Liverpool .
I'm sure I heard Roy Hodgson say " It looks like Waynes's coming " earlier , but then it started pissing down and I had to get an umbrella.

 

[Driver8]

he hasnt been the same since ferguson rushed him back from that ankle injury

obviously, he knew that the press knew about his private life during the world cup and that was playing on his mind. throw in the fact that he asked for his transfer in august and obviously hasn't played well since then, and i think he is just utterly fed up at united and therefore isnt showing his best for them - his best performances this season have, after all, come in and england shirt

the quicker he gets his move the better for all concerned

If his best performances have been in an England shirt he must have been really shit for Utd

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Looks like he's suffering from depression to me.

 

[NMH]

Sadly there's more than a hint of George Best here. Best quit Utd for good at, what 27? (He'd walked out on them once before but had come back) and I think everybody would agree that that was the end of the major productive part of his career and the rest was just an embarrassment.

Rooney's 25. Those saying 'his best days are behind him' may get proved right, but it will be an absolute tragedy if the problems of drink, women, hangers-on and the pressures of fame do to Rooney what they did to Best.

Sorry Tim, but calling a spoiled brat roughneck getting squillions for playing footy "a tragedy" is well ott. War and death = tragedy, but not some punk unable to handle megastardom!

 

[desprateseagull]

my bet is either chelski, or Liverpool- if the new guy there wants to get in favour with the fans, and pish off Everton into the bargain!

 

[Arthritic Toe]

I think Rooney will be pissed off because Michael Owen is there always pointing the finger. Owen is a "clean" character who doesn't resort to laddish behaviour, and I think that might get to oor Wayne.

Do you mean the Michael Owen with the massive gambling problem??

 

[Brovion]

Sorry Tim, but calling a spoiled brat roughneck getting squillions for playing footy "a tragedy" is well ott. War and death = tragedy, but not some punk unable to handle megastardom!

I hear what you're saying but I think there IS an element of human tragedy there. Not on a par with an African famine of course but look at the Rooney story so far: He came to our attention as a cheeky, precocious 16 year old Evertonian with HUGE potential, still riding his BMX bike with his mates after training and whose girlfriend missed his England debut because she was in her school play. Now he's a sullen, whoremonger in his mid-twenties moaning that eight million pounds a year for kicking a ball around isn't enough; also his best days may well be behind him and he may never fulfill his youthful potential to be one of the greatest England players of all time. Worse - he may well go off the rails and spiral down to be a sad figure in the Best/Gasgoine mould.

That last bit is obviously just speculation. Perhaps he'll sort himself out and this episode will be no more than a little hiccup, in which case - tragedy avoided. But if he DOES end up going down that route then all the squiilions in his bank won't disguise the fact that, yes, there is an element of human tragedy about his whole decent from teenage boy-wonder to embittered ex-pro. I'm sure Shakespeare could have done something with it.

 

[drew]

I think Rooney will be pissed off because Michael Owen is there always pointing the finger. Owen is a "clean" character who doesn't resort to laddish behaviour, and I think that might get to oor Wayne.

Do you mean the Michael Owen with the massive gambling problem??

Beat me to it. Didn't he also get several younger players hooked on gambling on England trips?

 

[Easy 10]

I just wonder if Spurs, especially with Champions League football on the table, might fancy a cheeky bid.

Rooney is already cup-tied.

Anyway, I seriously doubt Daniel Levy would smash the wage structure at that club to bring him in. 'Arry would do it without a twitch obviously (well, maybe a little one), but Levy is the one chairman who seems willing to tell him NO.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Rooney at Real could end up as a horrible embarrassment on both sides.

.

Wayne in Spain would mainly be a pain.