Will Manchester United 'Roo' the day?

So much in the news over the last 48 hours about Wayne Rooney, it would be a sin not to add my two pence!!

I’ll start by saying that for me, the whole sordid saga is actually more about a very uneasy ménage à trios!

Now that I have your attention – that is somewhat misleading, but only somewhat.  Hey, we all know sex sells!  The uneasy threesome I am in fact thinking about include : Fan vs Sport vs Business – in no particular order.

The bare essentials of the debate begin with the news that Wayne Rooney wants to leave Manchester United. What follows is moral, obsessive, indignant outrage – pretty much across the board, save for the more business focussed of reporters.  Speculation, of which there is PLENTY so far, is that the move will be across Manchester …………………… red to blue.   Man U to Man Citeh!

The Manager is “bemused” (actually, on TV he just looks pissed off) but you never really can tell with Sir Alex!  He says “ the door is always open, nothing is certain, he and Rooney AREN’T at logger-heads, he’s very surprised” etc. etc.
Roo says “he’s not injured, he wants to play, he hasn’t missed a training session” .
Translation : Roo’s on the bench because he couldn’t hit a barn door with a cow right now, so bad is the goal drought!  Or, his sulky, whinging, annoying little attitude, a carry over from his spectacular display at the world cup in June is giving him some additional cooler time – remember, this is Sir Alex he’s shadow boxing with, OR …………. and this is the bit the red-tops over here are milking for all it’s worth  - His kinky capers and ‘three is not a crowd extravaganzas’  are too much negative publicity for the club – ergo, get some perspective on the bench mucky boy.

However you’ve heard it, or view it, his form is pretty diabolical right now,  his general behaviour is stupid and annoying and and and – oh, I’m not a Manchester United Fan, I should put that out there.

And so begins the debate – arm chair, professional pundits and any others welcome!!

“Football is a business” – an opinion guaranteed to really work up a football fan!  General fan take on this is “All the big money and big business is destroying the beautiful game”.
“Wayne is just looking after his financial interests” – um, the man has more money than God!  He’s also a fairly simple bloke from what we’ve seen, in more ways than one.  Cue here – 'His advisors' (and oh what a motley crew they must be) are looking after their …………….. oh, I mean HIS interests !
“Wayne isn’t afraid of Fergie, he just wants to play” – well, we all know what happens to those players that take THE Manager  “No one player is bigger than the club” Ferguson on.  History indicates that he can’t win this one – he should google Sir Alex vs Beckham or Sir Alex vs Van Nistelrooy for a quick heads up here!
“During the World Cup in South Africa, Wayne saw how much other players were being offered from Real, Citeh, Barca etc. etc.” – WHAT?! and now HE wants a bigger salary? – LOL, I mean literally, laugh out loud.  Greedy git!  His form is so poor; it’s almost painful to watch him trying to score!  All the negative publicity his shambolic personal life is generating can’t be a positive thing for the rest of his team mates and well, he knows that the club has huge debt and a bigger salary is HIGHLY unlikely. Cue ………….. The advice he’s getting from his 'Advisors' is not free or cheap I surmise!!
“Manchester United is a brand and will go on and on and on – with or without Wayne Rooney” – Good point, but as a Liverpool fan, all I can say here is ……………………………… watch those Yanks of yours very carefully !!
“He should be ashamed of himself – he should want to stay at Man U for the glory and honour of playing for such a club” – well, lots to gloat about to be sure, some of the legends of the game have been, still are and will still play in the shirt, but Sir Alex is not getting any younger and ………… there’s those Yanks again!  Actually, less than a year ago, he publicly said he’d play out his career at Manchester United.  I guess that was before, before ………………… just before!

And so, back to the ménage à trios!

Business first - the Yanks, the advisors and the Roo are in it for the money. Man U prints money all around the world and will probably continue to do so for eons.  Manchester United is a brand.  Sadly yes, it’s not just about the beautiful game anymore.

It’s also a Sport and Wayne is a sportsman.  He’s not playing how, when and if he’d like to. He’s also not playing well.  He has ,however, been playing as a professional since he was a teen and  he has many more good years in him yet.  Perhaps he’s worried (read 'advisors') about where his club will go thinking debt, Fergie, etc.  There are other great clubs out there.  Plus, if the focus is on his transfer rather than his extra marital game playing – it’s about the sport again then isn’t it?

And then the Fans!  No, it’s no mistake that the fans are last ……………..it’s a reality, no matter the club!  – “Rooney is under surveillance by the police right now as there are legitimate fears for his safety”!   Seriously!  Imagine being at the first game Rooney plays in ‘the light blue shirt’ …………………… headline material indeed!  Roo didn’t like the fans in South Africa in June; he’s CERTAINLY not going to like them again no matter where he goes, but most especially if he trades red for blue. I suspect that with these fans, the feeling is completely mutual!

And so it goes on.  Will he stay, or will he go?………………………….. well, time will tell.  Who wins here? His Agent wins.  The Business wins.  The red tops, broadsheets and other media cashing in on the specuation win.  As for the rest, I think the fans lose, the game loses, integrity loses, Roo loses credibility, popularity and perhaps legend value in the long run – but maybe, just maybe Wayne Rooney doesn't lose the lesson - Three is usually a crowd!

Over and Out !

Choices

Since I waited so long to post an update ………………….something I’ve been advised time and time again is unforgivably bad practice, a long break that is, not Blogging ……………………….. anyway, I had hoped for the subject matter to be fun and quirky or at least inspirational.  True to form, however, it’s more a moral conundrum or my own internal debate at least – it is, however, inspired, if that makes a difference!

The subject matter today people, “the right to die” – VERY uplifting I hear you shriek!

What sparked this initial detailed brain turmoil for me was the inquest into the death of a young Barrister in Chelsea in May 2006.  Without going into vast amounts of detail, essentially, this very drunk alcoholic and desperate man was “eliminated” (I’m being very careful about my choice of words here)by policeman who had surrounded his residence after he’d fired a couple of rounds of his own shotgun during the day.  After a 5 hour stand-off, during which time he was refused conversations with his wife and a friend, he was shot 5 times by police.

The death was finally declared “lawful” today after many months of debate and discussion!

This man was refused access to his wife and a close friend during the stand-off because negotiators “feared he was suicidal and that he wanted to say goodbye” – which they wanted to prevent ………………….. Why, so they could shoot him instead?  Oversimplified, of course, but at what point does ANYONE have the right to decide that murder (defined as the pre-meditated act of taking someone’s life) is / was a more acceptable option than a potential suicide?

Move on to the law in the UK which views assisted suicide as a moral crime, punishable with a long prison sentence.  I see today, in one of the UK’s more reputable newspapers, that “a group of leading doctors, who endorse assisted dying for the terminally ill, will this week launch an unprecedented campaign to change the law on the right to die”.  Said law dates back to 1961 and the group will be chaired by Dr Ann McPherson – who is also dying of pancreatic cancer!

SUCH a complicated topic and with so many points of view!

I really understand the fear of a whole pile of “Dr Shipmans” popping up out of the woodwork as well as loads of evil cruel family members offing the grand-parents or annoyingly ill older people and all of that needs to be taken into consideration when looking at anything as controversial as “the right to die”.  But please, let’s not forget the dignity and above all, the choice and wishes, of the terminally ill.  I am also VERY uncomfortable with Government or any elected or non-elected body making MORAL decisions on behalf of the public!  Not every person, terminally ill or not , will want to or will try to take their own life – but it really SHOULD  be an individual choice!

I personally am not bound by any set of rules which makes suicide a mortal sin.  I also know first-hand the terrible painful gut-wrenching loss of honouring the wishes of a loved one who elects to die quickly and with dignity – a decision I will never regret, however disturbing and devastating.

The key here, i believe, is choice.  As humans, one of our greatest assets as well as possibly one of our heaviest burdens is cognitive thought.  It gives us the desire to make choices – good ones, bad ones, right or wrong, the ability to learn and to reason is tied to our need to make choices – I believe that completely.  So, there is no right answer here, just perhaps a better one, a choice.

I know I’d like my final decision to be exactly that, mine!

Happy Birthday Mom – you were inspired!!

TGIF

PS - looking forward to some feedback, please comment !