The Fergie/Rooney Plan – A Win Win for Everybody

When I’m a little confused about something, I tend to squint my eyes a bit, look up and off into the distance, and try and work out what’s been going on.

There might be a little nod if I’m starting to work it out, or a little shake of the head if I’m a bit stuck. Does anyone else do that?

The events of the past week or so involving Wayne Rooney have been a bit bizarre, and I’ve been doing a lot of that eye squinting, looking into the distance stuff. Personally, I smell a rat.

Only days after Sir Alex Ferguson advised the world Wayne Rooney wanted to leave United because he believed the Club lacked ambition, in a way that he’s never expressed himself before (i.e., open, honest and with a hint of a quiver in his lower lip), the player signs a five year deal worth £250,000 a week making him the highest paid player in the Premier League. Does that seem odd to anyone else?

One day it becomes public knowledge that Rooney wants out, the next day Sir Alex holds a press conference with tears in his eyes explaining that Rooney believes the Club has lost its ambition, the next day Rooney and his agent meet with United’s owners, and then the next day Rooney’s the highest paid player in the Premier League and Fergie has £80million pounds at his disposal to sign some of the world’s best players.

This sequence of events seems a bit too convenient to me for Fergie and Rooney.

Is it possible that Fergie and Rooney hatched a plan to pressure the Glazers into giving both of them exactly what they want? After all, within days of that now famous press conference with Sir Alex, both Rooney and the manager have got exactly what they want, big fat pay cheques and a transfer window war chest.

Let’s face it, Fergie hasn’t exactly been setting the world on fire in the transfer market in recent seasons. Of course, it must be said, United have always tried to develop their own players as much as they can. British players such as the Nevilles, Beckham, Giggs, Scholes, O’Shea, Brown, the list goes on, have all come through the United system. They’ve always picked up top quality foreign youngsters to nurture as well such as Ronaldo, Nani, Fabio, Rafael, Macheda, Obertan…again the list goes on. But when they’ve needed to they’ve always had the power to go out and sign top class talent for top dollar. In recent times these have included Ferdinand (£30million), Berbatov (£30million), even Rooney himself (another £30million).

But when I say recent, I mean pre-Glazers. Over the past two years the list of recruits looks a little different. Michael Owen was once a great player but he’s clearly past his prime, and Antonio Valencia is a handy player but hardly world class.

This may sound far fetched, but could it be that Rooney approached Fergie a couple of months ago and admitted he felt the Club lacked ambition and was thinking of leaving? Fergie agreed and the two of them hatched a plan to put pressure on the Glazers to give them both exactly what they want? After all, who were the big winners out of all of this and what damage has really been done?

Rooney has become the highest paid player in the Premier League, has assurances from Fergie that he’ll be at the helm for at least another two seasons, and there’s £80million for the manager to spend at season’s end.

Fergie’s kept his best player, is seen as a genius in the eyes of the fans and media for persuading Rooney to stay with his press conference and behind the scenes wheeling and dealing, and he has £80million to spend.

Yes, some fans will despise Rooney for “asking” to leave United, as proven by the humorous banners displayed at United’s Champions League Game against Bursaspor mid-week. But I’m sure a lot of fans (myself included) think he (possible in partnership with Fergie) has played the owners beautifully to get them to spend big and make United the invincible force they once were sooner rather than later.

If this is the case, then I tip my hat to them both. Well played Rooney and Fergie, well played…

Cactus Chris Couch

Cactus’ Reality Check for Liverpool Fans

Can someone please explain to me why former Liverpool owners George Gillett and Tom Hicks are seen in the eyes of every Liverpool fan as the enemy, and their new American owners as some sorts of Knights in shining armour?

I’d love for someone to explain that one to me because I just can’t see it. Surely their anger should be aimed in the direction of a certain former manager?

Here’s the way I see it. Hicks and Gillett bought the Club three years ago and made a few promises they shouldn’t have, namely to build a new stadium in Stanley Park and not saddle the Club with any debt.

OK, these two things didn’t happen, but I reckon they were just the words of some excited new owners. I doubt they truly meant to lie to Liverpool’s fans. So instead of investing in a new stadium and paying off debt, they gave money to Rafa Benitez at an astonishing rate only to see their former manager waste it just as quickly.

This was their only real mistake, trusting Benitez to deliver. Benitez bought so many players who just weren’t good enough it was astonishing.

Yet Liverpool fans believed he was some sort of footballing genius, even after he left for Inter Milan. Benitez left Liverpool with a mountain of debt that couldn’t be serviced well enough, and a team that is at best average, and at worst a side that will finish in the bottom six. The two owners backed the manager with wads of cash, the manager produces a crap team, and it’s the owners who are vilified? Defies belief really.

I’ve got a news flash for all Liverpool fans. Every club in the Premier League is in debt in some way or another, not just yours. What makes some clubs run better than others is their ability to service that debt. The only crime Hicks and Gillett committed was backing a manager Liverpool fans seemed to love.

And now Liverpool fans believe these new American owners are in it for the right reasons and will make Liverpool the best club in the world once again. What a joke!

Do Liverpool fans honestly believe a consortium of businessmen from America have the best interests of the fans at heart? If they didn’t see an enormous profit to be made, do you really think they’d be interested? It’s not as if the directors of the New England Sports Ventures company were die hard Liverpool fans as kids with a Liverpool backpack they wore to school every day with a Liverpool pencil case and Liverpool lunch box. I bet they don’t even know all of the words to “You’ll Never Walk Alone”!

Get used to a few more years of shattered dreams all you Liverpool fans because there is a lot of work to be done to undo the damage caused by Benitez.

And another thing, for people to suggest the results on the pitch are because of what’s been going on in the club’s boardroom is an insult to anyone with two brain cells to rub together. Do you honestly believe that once those over paid prima donna’s Liverpool fans call players put on the famous red shirt they’re thinking about Gillett and Hicks? Of course not, and if they are, they should be shown the door immediately. What an insult to the loyal and passionate Reds fans who pay their hard earned coin to go to Anfield if these players are performing badly because of what is going on off the field. If Liverpool’s players start playing like world beaters now the Hicks and Gillett are gone, I’d be ashamed of them if I were a Liverpool fan.

The truth is Roy Hodgson inherited a poor team who relied on a couple of world class players to get results, and he is going to need A LOT of time to get Liverpool near the top of the tree again. And if he gets the boot within two years for not winning a trophy, the new Americans in charge of the club should be ashamed of themselves, for it was someone else who put this club on the downward spiral to the Championship long before Hodgson arrived, and it wasn’t Gillett and Hicks!

Cactus Chris Couch

What's Happening to Me?

I never thought the words would escape my lips, but GO GERMANY!

Sure they smashed the Socceroos 4-0 that essentially made the task of progressing beyond the group phase nigh on impossible, but the way they go about their football is exactly what this World Cup has needed. This tournament has been boring at times, especially during the early games, but the Germans have played a brand of football that has converted even this critic into a real fan.

I must admit I’ll be supporting Uruguay to win the World Cup given I drew them in the office sweep (it’s true, my support can be bought for a mere $300), but if they don’t win it my efforts on the vuvuzela in the early hours of the morning, despite the protestations of my neighbours, will be aimed in the direction of the Germans.

Normally pragmatic, taking no risks, and wearing teams down rather than tearing them apart, this German team is more Brazil than brick wall. Maybe it’s got something to do with the team’s mix. They’re more like a club side than a national team with their combination of Polish, Turkish, Tunisian, Ghanaian, Nigerian, Brazilian, Bosnian, and Spanish blood running through their veins, not to mention the new-age Germans in their ranks. I haven’t seen this much mixed blood since the legendary George Best was bedding super models from the four corners of the globe.

Heck, they even look cool!

Gone are the days of the daggy German with their mullets, skivvy’s and moustaches, and in are the cool haircuts and designer clothes. Although it must be said Thomas Mueller is still channelling the trends of East Germans past with his dodgy hair-do! He really does need to visit a hardresser pronto, and while he’s at it he should drop in to McDonalds and eat a few cheeseburgers. A couple of more kilos on his bones wouldn’t go astray. After all, there’s a reason Maradona mistook him for a ballboy at a press conference a few months back. But there’s no doubting his talent, along with the other members of this German squad.

And how about the sight of the coach Joachim Loew and his assistants on the substitutes bench in a classic black suit with long sleeved V-neck shirt underneath? That was almost as surprising as the brand of football the team are playing. The coach should definitely join Mueller on his excursion to the local barber, but he’s certainly got his team playing in a way that has surprised everyone. Perhaps that’s the reason why they have performed so well at this World Cup, their opponents thought they’d be they’re old boring self.

Next it will emerge they’re all Facebook and Twitter experts they’re so modern!

The Germans have joined the rest of us in the 21^st century and I for one couldn’t be happier. This funky, trendy, cutting edge country has my support even beyond this World Cup, and surprisingly enough I don’t even think I’ll be embarrassed to admit it…maybe.

Cactus Chris Couch