LONDON — Thick, greedy, mercenary, unfaithful to his wife, photographed urinating and smoking outside a bar, has brought Manchester United into disrepute by his off-field actions, injured and hopelessly out of form; Wayne Rooney's resume for the second half of 2011 is surely one that even he must look at with shame. That, of course, pre-supposes he cares.
It takes years for a player to build up a reputation but days in which to lose it. Rooney has lost it big time, going from hero to below zero at United. It is difficult to think of another player whose popularity has dropped so much in so little time. We have all made mistakes in our life but Rooney could hardly have committed more this year, though it would be wrong to underestimate him.
His advisers, effectively agent Paul Stretford, told United in August — before the hotel hookers and public disagreement about Rooney's ankle injury hit the public domain — that his client would not be signing a new contract (his current deal expires in 2012) and wanted to leave United. No reason was given but it is not rocket science. It's money. Nothing else, money.