Loyalty, or the lack of it, has a funny way of biting you back in the behind.
Back in 2004, when Manchester United fans – me included – were celebrating the arrival of wonderkid Wayne Rooney, a Liverpool-supporter friend of mine made a remark that, at the time, seemed a little cryptic and tinged with jealousy.
“He wore a T-shirt that said ‘Once a Blue, always a Blue’, and yet he still left Everton,” he said.
Now, I have no choice but to bite the bullet and agree with him regarding Rooney’s back-stabbing ways.
I’ve been a long-time admirer of the England striker and his passion for the game has been a constant inspiration to fans the world over. By no means an angel off the field, his hard-running, badge-kissing celebrations and play-till-you-drop spirit made him a fan favourite throughout his past six years at Old Trafford.
But his reason for wanting to quit the club, pardon my French, stinks to high heaven.
Rooney’s declaration that “for me, it’s all about winning trophies” and his waning confidence in “the continued ability of the club to attract top players” is complete hogwash.
His bitterness is not something that developed overnight. After all, this is a player who just had the most prolific season of his career in the 2009/10 season.
If he was feeling so disgruntled about the club’s inability to attract top players, he should have just issued a “come-and-get-me plea” in the summer, saving the team and its fans the ongoing emotional turmoil right in the middle of the season.
The “ankle-gate” fiasco in which Rooney and his manager Sir Alex Ferguson both give contradicting accounts of the striker’s fitness in recent week? Mere smokescreen.
Watch Ferguson as he strings his one-time club darling out to dry in front of the British media pack.
