The Wayne Rooney Saga
Everybody knew by now the Wayne Rooney saga. I'm not talking about his visits to prostitutes. Briefly, Sir Alex Ferguson grounded him citing an ankle injury as the reason for his omission from Manchester United's line-up for a few games. May be Sir Alex wanted to merely protect him from the hounding media circus but Rooney on a period of poor form openly said that he has no problem with his ankle defying what Sir Alex has said. Welcome to Wayne's world.
Sir Alex
Rule number one - Nobody messes with Sir Alex Ferguson. Rule number two - If you don't agree, refer to rule number one. Jaap Stam was a solid defender but he wrote something in his book that Sir Alex did not like, he was quickly shipped out. Before him was Paul Ince who ruled the midfield. David Beckahm was the Golden Boy there but after his fallout due to his celebrity lifestyle, he was offloaded. Ruud van Nistelrooy was top scorer par excellence but he made one comment after Cristiano Ronaldo joined that Beckham was the best as his excellent crosses made it so much easier for him to score lots of goals and he was promptly gotten rid of. Roy Keane thug of a captain himself who was like the second man to Sir Alex suffered the same fate when he commented about the team. Don't you think by now Rooney should be out in no time but instead the whole saga was quickly resolved after such drama.
Wayne Rooney
Rooney defied Sir Alex and even commented that Manchester United no longer command interests from other top players and cannot be a top team when no new big name players were added. He wanted to kow his future and ambitions are aligned. There was report that his team mates were unhappy with him. What will happen to you when you said this in your company? All your management and colleagues will be so pissed with you that there is no chance for you to retract. In all this turmoil he never said he wanted to leave Manchester United. He further added that Sir Alex is a genius. Sir Alex responded that Rooney could still stay at United if he wanted to and cited how many trophies he, Sir Alex has won for the club. What were they doing and who were they talking to? You and me? Nooooooo!
Media Frenzy
The media frenzy went to work overtime. Some quarters called Rooney stupid. Others reported of death threat to Rooney and the unhappiness of his teammates. There were also reports that Sir Alex triumphed over Rooney. There was speculation of Real Madrid, Chelsea and Manchester City bidding for him. Finally, the outcome reported was Rooney got his salary doubled from 90,000 pounds to 180,000 pounds per week after meeting with the management and with the American owners not only confirming Rooney's new salary but also more money for Sir Alex to spent. The players have all forgiven Rooney and he has apologised.
The Real Deal
The fact is Sir Alex will allow no one not even Pele let alone Rooney to do things like that and get away with it not to mention a pay increase by double. To me, all these were like a staged stunt. Yes Rooney was due a new negotiation and Sir Alex needs commitment from the American owners to pledge more money for Rooney and for buying new players. Manchester United today is not as rich as just before. Moreover, they have not be playing too well leaking goals and not scoring enough. There is tremendous pressure on them. The tabloids are only talking about Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester City and lesser and lesser about Manchester United. Sir Alex is a wily old fox and cunning enough to pull the rabbit from the hat. This was genius at work. Free publicity with Manchester United back in the news, promises of money for top players, Rooney got his salary doubled, the players accepted Rooney back so easily and all is well again. All is forgiven and Sir Alex is smiling. The Red Devils are back! What a great publicity stunt that yielded so many positive results for the club. Bravo Sir Alex! I read you.
The Master of The Game.
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