I agree agents are a problem, however their rise has come about as football changed into big business. The owners of the clubs have brought the position about themselves not the players or their agents who are only taking advantage of the money available. The Glazers and their like are not in it for the love of the clubs/sport but for themselves and the quicker supporters realise it the better.
As for Rooney he seems to come out of this remarkably well in my opinion. All he has to do is score a couple of goals and all will be forgiven if it hasn't been already.

Well time will tell, but somehow I doubt if things will ever be the same again for Roo, even if he does score a few goals and get some fans back behind him again.
The gutter tabloids are gunning for him big time today, with full front page spreads, one about big trouble and broken glasses flying in his family life.
Another tracking his every move during his present holiday in a 2,000 quid a night hotel, even with details of his excessive food, drink and entertainment bills, while his poor fans back home are supposedly having to scratch and struggle to keep their heads above the water.
This in addition to the sordid details of his recent sexual escapades, his loss of form both for England and Man U., plus all the embarrassment and upset caused by his more recent actions.
It seems to be developing into a long running soap opera, with the media having got their teeth sunk well in, and baying for more blood.
Well, as they say, he's made his own bed, now he's going to have to lye in it.

...and no, I don't buy the the gutter tabloids, or any other for that matter.
Those two front pages were conspicuously displayed on a couple of news stands I walked past this morning.

The press survives on bad news, nobody is interested in good news. Footballers are an easy target, they are not usually the cleverest of people.

Best, Gazza and hundreds of lesser-known celebrities have provided entertainment for the masses over the years, I’ve just thought of Rodney Marsh and his Tsunami comment.

‘Clough liked a bung’, so do most of the ones around today, or Graham, I’ve just thought of him. That Harry likes a bung is legend.

Arsene is going out of fashion, he’s far too serious. We should get Venables back, he liked a bung as well, that’s why he fell out with the Apprentice man, Sugar.

I don't think Mourinho took any bungs, but his dry sense of humour is sorely missed in the prem., not to mention the saga of his disappearing Yorkie.
He was always one step ahead of everybody else,...for instance he was interviewed about the Rooney affair a few days ago, when everyone else was arguing and wondering which club Roo would move to next.
Jose said the situation simply does not arise, because for certain he will be staying at Man U., and sure enough the very next day he was proved exactly right.

Interesting challenge match the other day between the freed Peruvian miners and the Peruvian govt.
Not sure how serious it was, but the winners were supposed to move into the Presidential Palace and the losers were to go down the mine.
Not sure how much the govt.bunged the ref., but suffice to say that the miners have to go back down the mine and the govt.ministers back to the palace.......ah well, some things never change.

Yep .... it must be tough to be used like that and end up getting £250k a week. I'd be gutted and soooooo embarrased

When I was a young boy newly arrived in Scotland, I asked my stepfather to take me to watch a player play whose photograph had seen in a book he had bought me as a Christmas present. He flew across the room and punched me in the face. In my innocence, I had picked the wrong colours.

Years of fighting followed. It seeped into my bones. I can’t get rid of the stupidity. I sit in the bath and sing my heart out about some battles from hundreds of years ago in a country I wasn’t even born in.

That’s football for you. It gets to you. That’s why I love watching Spain play. I don’t know the songs and just enjoy the football.

And Bubbles ain’t a bad song. Apart from Millwall, we don’t hate anyone. We don’t like Gerard, but he’s only got himself to blame for that.

I forgot to mention, the next time Rooney comes to Upton Park, he's going to get some stick. The songs are already in place and they're not nice.

Trouble with football is that once you choose a team, you are generally stuck with them for the rest of your life, even if they're a bunch of plonkers.
You can change your car,change your house,even change the Mrs, but the club you first declared allegiance to, you are stuck with for ever, for better or for worse.

Looks like Man U have a new starlet in the form of the brilliant Mexican Hernandez, who looks more than capable of filling Rooneys boots.
I expect from the next close season onwards the club will grab the first decent offer they receive for Rooney, as I think he will become a fast depreciating asset fairly soon.

Yes, it's a curse.

I started supporting Manchester United in 1968 after listening to them play Benfica in the European Cup Final. It was an exciting match. Since then they have not always been a brilliant team, but people tend to forget relegation
and the bad times and just take the mickey about you only supporting them because they are a top team, or why do I support them when I am from the midlands.

If you aint got football supporters in your family when you are young then it's all about what grabs your imagination, and thats what did it for me.

I'm not sure about Rooney. I'm not sure I agree with what you say about him, but he has to get his head together and realise that he will become one of the unliked if he doesnt pull it together for the team

Heh, I often get these things wrong, but at least I called this one correctly.
I agree that Hernandez is a good prospect - he looked good in the WC, and Fergie doesn't often get signings wrong. He could end up being the modern day Denis Law.

Snap.
Yo tambien, Stevie,
It just amazes me that the rest of the football world, Mourinho excepted and all of the media, couldn't see that there was little alternative in the short term.
However I see a big question mark about him in the longer term.

Looks to me like he's swinging the lead, and Fergie hasn't got much choice but to go along with it and cover up for him.
First Fergie said Roo had an injured ankle and Roo said he hadn't.
Now despite the press release, I think the boot is on the other foot and Roo is enjoying life in the Sun, rather than facing the music back in the UK.
About the only injury he's likely to get, is through falling of his sunbed.
However,the longer he messes about, the more he'll lose match fitness.

There seems to be a touch of George Best about this.
He used to gallivant off down to Majorca whenever he felt like it, and leave his team-mates to get on with it.

http://msnsport.skysports.com/story/...473965,00.html

What facts bring you to this conclusion? Are the physio's wrong then?
As we know, Fergy is well known for letting players dictate to him

There are times when financial considerations and the club's best interests dictate. A major falling out would be extremely costly for the club.
If this occured on top of everything else, Roo would be unlikely to play again for Utd,and it could be next close season before he was moved on, by which time his value could drop considerably,in addition to the loss of him from the side in the meantime.
Fergie is wise enough to go with the flow and pour oil on troubled waters, rather than let things deteriorate any further.
He may lose his cool occasionally in the changing room, but generally he is both diplomatic and crafty regarding his dealings with players.
I doubt if its only coincidence,the number of times his players have developed groin strain just before a meaningless international match, or that he tries to shield his players in other ways from England duty.
Oh, and the occasions when the opinion of the club's physio is strangely not quite the same as that of the England physio.

Fair point .... but then you're saying it's your opinion, not something based on any hard fact?

You see, Rooney wants to play. He always has. He gets seriously p!ssed when he's substituted and has be known to strop when not picked. It's a little strange to think that he's just swinging the lead. Also Fergy needs him to play right now, and I'm guessing the last thing anyone there wants is for him to be off for another three weeks, unless he really is injured