Henry Winter: on the Rooney situation.

[Louder]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/footba ... tball.html

Possibly the most revered ( self-important ) of 'football journo's' around ?

I'm not one for getting too serious on this forum, although I will defend aspects of the club that I feel are getting overly criticised. Or, as others suggest, I'm a WUM or troll.

Henry Winter claims that the end result to the Rooney drama was a 'Victory for Football'. I don't like what I've seen, heard or read of the fella and this statement hasn't changed my opinion.
Supposedly the end result was the 'best for everyone' suggesting that a recession hit society scandalised by one mans greed, should be 'relieved' ? . The fat f*cker signed a £250 000 a week deal !!! ( Huge relief for me )
Supposedly, credit goes to Ferguson for 'Winning back his star' ( He bought him back )
A claim that this was a victory for Ferguson because fatman must now 'prove his worth' ( he can sit on the bench, until the end of the season earning £££ a week and still leave )
'Rooney highlighted, however unwittingly, supporter concern about the clubs ambition'. Oh really. He's just plunged the club into even more debt with his demands as well as force the club to MAKE signings, adding to the financial problems. ( The club may well have been skuttled in the long term, by the precious Wayne and his greed. )
' A victory of sorts for football and everyone' ?????? I feel no sense of victory at f*cking all. This saga has left me feeling even more disheartened with the direction of football. Rooney got what he wanted, more money, regardless of the inevitable trouble that he has caused for HIS club. If united had any financial issues before this started, they are in a world of sh*t now. But I'm a Gooner so what do I care
It did cross my mind that this article was written by someone who wants to stay on the right side of a bully that will deny all access to anyone who doesn't tow the line. Proving Winter to be even more of a nobber.

All this leads me to my final point ( that may well be labelled 'tinter ). I feel comfortable with the way The Arsenal is being run, by both the Board and Arsene. I'm confident that if this situation has arisen with us, the club would not have been so desperate and the player would be out the door. OR AT LEAST I HOPE HE WOULD

' A victory for football' - I think (and hope) NOT !!!

[LDB]

While i wouldn't call it a victory for football i certainly dont understand all this over-reaction. Rooney's wages dont take a penny out of my pocket - he is employed by a private company that make a hell of a lot of money selling tat with his name on it. Good luck to him, the capitalist system is all about value and this guy is a highly valuable asset.

I think too much of our political culture is based on jealousy for what other people have rather then appreciation for what we have - or what we can aspire to have. But thats a different story

Bottom line is that all this hand-wringing about modern football is only because its happened to man united. It happens to every club all the time and nobody blinks an eye. When it happens to manure its suddenly a disgrace.

[olgitgooner]

Not so much a "victory for football" as a reward for blackmail.

The front page of one tabloid says that Rooney will be paid £250,000 a week.

That's an obscene amount for any footballer.

I'm sure this will do wonders for building team morale.

£700million in debt, and they are spending extra money on an existing player and commiting themselves to spending extra money on new signings.

[topgoon]

Wayne Rooney blah the blah blah blah

WHO CARES

[Louder]

Wayne Rooney blah the blah blah blah

WHO CARES

The point I was trying to make wasn't really about Wayne rooney.

[topgoon]

Wayne Rooney blah the blah blah blah

WHO CARES

The point I was trying to make wasn't really about Wayne rooney.

Not a dig at you Louder I'm just sick of the coverage it got, you have to admit it was OTT even by our usual fickle media's standards.

Overpaid granny shagger and greedy tosser agent use media to screw a few extra shillings out of carpet-bagger yankee doodle dandy owners and alcoholic tight-fisted Glaswegian.It's the end of the story, move on (not you Louder)

[Pilly]

While i wouldn't call it a victory for football i certainly dont understand all this over-reaction. Rooney's wages dont take a penny out of my pocket - he is employed by a private company that make a hell of a lot of money selling tat with his name on it. Good luck to him, the capitalist system is all about value and this guy is a highly valuable asset.

I think too much of our political culture is based on jealousy for what other people have rather then appreciation for what we have - or what we can aspire to have. But thats a different story

Bottom line is that all this hand-wringing about modern football is only because its happened to man united. It happens to every club all the time and nobody blinks an eye. When it happens to manure its suddenly a disgrace.

Great post!

As a society we're very quick to blame the little man whilst ignoring the cause of the problem. Like it or not English premiership football is purely a profit driven business these days. This is not something that premiership footballers as individuals have created and is rather a symptom of the rampant capitalist world we live in.

Can you really blame Rooney for wanting as close to his market value as he can get when Man U only pay him a fraction of what he's worth to them?!

[olgitgooner]

While i wouldn't call it a victory for football i certainly dont understand all this over-reaction. Rooney's wages dont take a penny out of my pocket - he is employed by a private company that make a hell of a lot of money selling tat with his name on it. Good luck to him, the capitalist system is all about value and this guy is a highly valuable asset.

I think too much of our political culture is based on jealousy for what other people have rather then appreciation for what we have - or what we can aspire to have. But thats a different story

Bottom line is that all this hand-wringing about modern football is only because its happened to man united. It happens to every club all the time and nobody blinks an eye. When it happens to manure its suddenly a disgrace.

Great post!

As a society we're very quick to blame the little man whilst ignoring the cause of the problem. Like it or not English premiership football is purely a profit driven business these days. This is not something that premiership footballers as individuals have created and is rather a symptom of the rampant capitalist world we live in.

Can you really blame Rooney for wanting as close to his market value as he can get when Man U only pay him a fraction of what he's worth to them?!

If £13million+ per year is only a fraction of his worth to the club, then I wonder what his actual value is?

Any economists out there?

[frankbutcher]

While i wouldn't call it a victory for football i certainly dont understand all this over-reaction. Rooney's wages dont take a penny out of my pocket - he is employed by a private company that make a hell of a lot of money selling tat with his name on it. Good luck to him, the capitalist system is all about value and this guy is a highly valuable asset.

I think too much of our political culture is based on jealousy for what other people have rather then appreciation for what we have - or what we can aspire to have. But thats a different story

Bottom line is that all this hand-wringing about modern football is only because its happened to man united. It happens to every club all the time and nobody blinks an eye. When it happens to manure its suddenly a disgrace.

Great post!

As a society we're very quick to blame the little man whilst ignoring the cause of the problem. Like it or not English premiership football is purely a profit driven business these days. This is not something that premiership footballers as individuals have created and is rather a symptom of the rampant capitalist world we live in.

Can you really blame Rooney for wanting as close to his market value as he can get when Man U only pay him a fraction of what he's worth to them?!

If £13million+ per year is only a fraction of his worth to the club, then I wonder what his actual value is?

Any economists out there?

You'd need to work out several things.

1 - How much profit they earn solely from Rooney in terms of shirt sales with his name on it.
2 - Rooney's part in getting the team as high in the table as possible - i.e if they lose him, do they not win the league / not come in the top 4? Champs League money pot is divvied out depending on where you finish in the league, so there would be a real cost if his absence means they say finish 2nd, instead of 1st (You'd never be able to prove whether Rooney was the reason or not anyway).
3 - Rooney's value as part of the Man United brand. He simply reinforces United for what they are - winners.

All in all, I reckon he probably is worth the money. If you look at the rest of the squad, he's by far and away the most well known player (all round the world). Once Scholes. Giggs, Neville and VDS leave, he will be the team's talisman.

Saying that, if anything it should be Sir Alex that is on £13m + a year. The guy has made a Club that was probably worth £50m, into a Billion pound empire.

[Pilly]

While i wouldn't call it a victory for football i certainly dont understand all this over-reaction. Rooney's wages dont take a penny out of my pocket - he is employed by a private company that make a hell of a lot of money selling tat with his name on it. Good luck to him, the capitalist system is all about value and this guy is a highly valuable asset.

I think too much of our political culture is based on jealousy for what other people have rather then appreciation for what we have - or what we can aspire to have. But thats a different story

Bottom line is that all this hand-wringing about modern football is only because its happened to man united. It happens to every club all the time and nobody blinks an eye. When it happens to manure its suddenly a disgrace.

Great post!

As a society we're very quick to blame the little man whilst ignoring the cause of the problem. Like it or not English premiership football is purely a profit driven business these days. This is not something that premiership footballers as individuals have created and is rather a symptom of the rampant capitalist world we live in.

Can you really blame Rooney for wanting as close to his market value as he can get when Man U only pay him a fraction of what he's worth to them?!

If £13million+ per year is only a fraction of his worth to the club, then I wonder what his actual value is?

Any economists out there?

You'd need to work out several things.

1 - How much profit they earn solely from Rooney in terms of shirt sales with his name on it.
2 - Rooney's part in getting the team as high in the table as possible - i.e if they lose him, do they not win the league / not come in the top 4? Champs League money pot is divvied out depending on where you finish in the league, so there would be a real cost if his absence means they say finish 2nd, instead of 1st (You'd never be able to prove whether Rooney was the reason or not anyway).
3 - Rooney's value as part of the Man United brand. He simply reinforces United for what they are - winners.

All in all, I reckon he probably is worth the money. If you look at the rest of the squad, he's by far and away the most well known player (all round the world). Once Scholes. Giggs, Neville and VDS leave, he will be the team's talisman.

Saying that, if anything it should be Sir Alex that is on £13m + a year. The guy has made a Club that was probably worth £50m, into a Billion pound empire.

You also have to take into account all the lunch boxes, posters, pens, pencil cases, t shirts, DVDs, key rings, etc. etc.

[1989]

Not so much a "victory for football" as a reward for blackmail.

The front page of one tabloid says that Rooney will be paid £250,000 a week.

That's an obscene amount for any footballer.

I'm sure this will do wonders for building team morale.

£700million in debt, and they are spending extra money on an existing player and commiting themselves to spending extra money on new signings.

800 actually.

[QuartzGooner]

I think Henry Winter has put a certain angle on the story which I disagree with.

Primarily it was a phyrric victory for Rooney who got himself a lot more money, but lost the love of the fans.

Winter is a very good writer, but this was not a very good article in my opinion.

[Pilly]

Not so much a "victory for football" as a reward for blackmail.

The front page of one tabloid says that Rooney will be paid £250,000 a week.

That's an obscene amount for any footballer.

I'm sure this will do wonders for building team morale.

£700million in debt, and they are spending extra money on an existing player and commiting themselves to spending extra money on new signings.

800 actually.

Regardless of how much money Man U are in debt they make a huge amount of money from Rooney's image.

In fact, he's only paid a fraction of the money they make from him.

Also, united's debt should be taken with a very liberal pinch of salt.

[olgitgooner]

Not so much a "victory for football" as a reward for blackmail.

The front page of one tabloid says that Rooney will be paid £250,000 a week.

That's an obscene amount for any footballer.

I'm sure this will do wonders for building team morale.

£700million in debt, and they are spending extra money on an existing player and commiting themselves to spending extra money on new signings.

800 actually.

Regardless of how much money Man U are in debt they make a huge amount of money from Rooney's image.

In fact, he's only paid a fraction of the money they make from him.

Also, united's debt should be taken with a very liberal pinch of salt.

Well there is no point in paying an employee if you don't profit from it. But what sort of "fraction" do you think he's being paid?

There are a lot of factors to consider. How do you arrive at a figure which is his true value to the club?

Tricky one.

United's debt is, indeed, a different issue. But why should £800million of debt be taken with a pinch of salt?

At a guess the club is mortgaged to about 80% of it's true value. And the debt is increasing year on year.

I expect there are a few oil sheiks around who would like to take over the ownership and clear the debts. But when the debts reach one billion pounds it might deter them from buying a very expensive plaything. Especially if they think the new UEFA financial rules will actually bite with real teeth.

[SteveO 35]

A victory for greedy agents, advisors and players and no-one else.

Winter normally offers some decent insight with his reports but not this time. At a time when the country is still on a knife edge and facing the prospect of 3m unemployed, and when Cameron talks about a "Big Society" with cuts that are based on fairness..........

....we get a shocking example of how disloyalty, a lack of all respect for family, friends and colleagues suddenly brings the reward of a bumper pay deal with a 5 year guarantee. And all this from a man who berated the lack of loyalty of Ing-er-lund fans who had spent thousands travelling to South Africa to watch his insipid efforts.

I'd started to respect the guy for his performances last season. In the space of three months he has shown what a nasty, despicable piece of shit he really is and the unfortunate message to everyone is "It Pays".

We could do without Winter and the like calling this a Victory for Football - I think he too has misjudged the mood of the average fan