The Official Raheem Sterling Thread (Part 412)

[FanchesterCity]

Aidy Ward using the recent LFC tactic of turning the fans against the player to his advantage to make sure he gets sterling out. Contrapasso.

 

I don't know that that's an LFC tactic, but I do think you're right that it's designed to stir up antagonism and force through a move. It's just very unprofessional of any representative to act this way. All he needed to say was 'Liverpool are a great club, but not the only great club, and my client ultimately has to consider his own career first and foremost' - that would have been fine, but the moment he starts slagging off various parties, it undermines his credibility, and it's doing his client absolutely no favours at all.

However, who knows who is instructing Ward? there's always a chance he's being instructed to engineer this.

[xerxes]

How can any club sit down sensibly with a young talented player when you have a moron like that acting as the go-between?

 

As an aside, there was a very good interview with Nigel Adkins the other day, and he offered a very interesting insight into young players these days...

 

He was explaining that (often) when a young player signs for a big club, the parents give up their jobs within weeks, and brothers and sisters all join in on the bandwaggon. Not that it's wrong per se, but all of a sudden, that player is the earner for an entire family. Before you know it, an agent isn't representing the footballer, but the entire family, and that's where the complications arise.

 

We all know there are hangers on etc, but I'd never really thought of the parents and brothers and sisters being part of that group (unwittingly or otherwise), but they are aren't they (in some cases)?

Anelka was famous for his family retinue.

 

The Sterling story is not just about an agent who has set up on his own and wants to make a name for himself. Sterling’s personal ties are in London, Chelsea and Arsenal were always going to be waiting if he came good, Man City can offer cash, CL and honours tilts.

 

Brendan is billed as someone who is good with developing talent, but for whatever reason, his pull with Sterling is insufficient. Maybe Brendan lacks the medals, experience, or both, to convince Sterling, perhaps no-one could have kept him and the lure of cash and honours elsewhere is just too great?

 

My guess is that Ward and sterling would not be burning their bridges so spectacularly unless there was a firm better option waiting.

[Rotpeter]

He's overcooking it though, he doesn't seem to care that some fans want to lynch the kid.

Yeah, definitely "Nil Points" for subtlety.

 

When you look at the shit Gerrard and Suarez have taken though, it's clear players get immune to that shit pretty quickly.

[thompsonsnose]

Somebody posted how we were happy to leave him on £35k a week last season.

And now hes biting us on the ass. I agree.

We should have tied him up to 5 years on £80k or so, last season.

Now,he needs to be shot out a canon for £40mill.

[an tha]

The club just needs to say nothing and ensure that people don't break that - we gain the moral high ground then.

 

The sooner Sterling is gone the better.

[Denny Crane]

He could have just bitten someone and made us feel better about ourselves...

 

Sterlings agent is a top troll, this has the capacity to surpass rubbing hands-gate.

[Redder Lurtz]

Absolute fucking cunt of a man. Who the fuck does he think he is? I'd pay to watch Carra knock him on his fat scrounging arse.

 

Take your scratty little free lunch of a player and both of you get the fuck out of our club you nobody.

 

Does this arsewipe represent any more of our players? He needs banning from the club, the poisonous fucking scrotebag..

 

 

 

 

But hitting back today, Ward told the Standard he “didn’t care” about the club or its image, dismissed criticism by former players as “irrelevant” and branded Liverpool legend and Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher “a knob”.

He said: “I don’t care about the PR of the club and the club situation. I don’t care.

“He is definitely not signing. He’s not signing for £700, £800, £900 thousand a week. He is not signing.

“My job is to make sure I do the best with them (my clients). If people say I am bad at my job, or they are badly advised it does not matter.”

[FanchesterCity]

Somebody posted how we were happy to leave him on £35k a week last season.

And now hes biting us on the ass. I agree.

We should have tied him up to 5 years on £80k or so, last season.

Now,he needs to be shot out a canon for £40mill.

 

Would it have helped though? once a player 'turns' you're faced with paying him a fortune to sit on the sidelines, or cash in on him anyway?

 

Maybe it's just plain old ego eating away at him, knowing Sturridge is on more, and yet hardly playing. If you let something like that get into your head, it can eat away at you, and cause a lot of resentment (as happens in many normal workplaces). You feel the club values someone else more than you, and you can't see past that.

 

The trouble with that sort of player (and there's plenty of them) is that it wouldn't be long before they looked at players at other clubs and still felt resentment... they're just 'never happy' and it's part of their disposition.

[El Dangerous]

Fuck it, I'm selling him on Football Manager.

[Dr. J]

If this twat wants to associate with people like Ward then he needs to be sold off as soon as possible before this disease infects the club.

 

Out.

[an tha]

This is the "best" part....

 

But in an extraordinary attack on one of the club’s most respected former players, Ward said: “Carragher is a knob. Everybody knows it. Any of the criticism from current pundits or ex-Liverpool players - none of them things matter to me. It is not relevant.”

He said their criticism would be the same if Sterling stayed and then left in two years’ time when his contract expires, the only difference being the club would receive less money in transfer fees.

[Russ Atmosphere]

Sterling's next club can't cry when Aidy next needs a bigger house.

[Rotpeter]

I don't know that that's an LFC tactic, but I do think you're right that it's designed to stir up antagonism and force through a move. It's just very unprofessional of any representative to act this way. All he needed to say was 'Liverpool are a great club, but not the only great club, and my client ultimately has to consider his own career first and foremost' - that would have been fine, but the moment he starts slagging off various parties, it undermines his credibility, and it's doing his client absolutely no favours at all.

However, who knows who is instructing Ward? there's always a chance he's being instructed to engineer this.

In the recent past we've backstabbed players so that our narrative of their departure prevails. The antithesis of the liverpool way. It's a brave new world and the boundaries defining professionalism have moved and we helped move them, so I don't have a whole lot of sympathy when someone comes along and does the same to us.

 

He's ensuring the option of making Sterling sit out his contract is off the table.

[Dr Nowt]

I tend to think it may be quite amusing to watch where this goes from here.

 

I'm a long way from FSG's biggest fan, but they may well not be the people to pull this shit on.

 

Aidy Ward may very well have succeeded in killing his fledgling agency stone dead.  Why would anyone else who hasn't been with him since they were a kid sign up with him now?

 

Ironically, he at least shares that common ground with us.

[Herp McDerp]

Denying it now, the spineless twat.

[billypilgrimnz]

My favorite part: "Ward said Sterling would not move to Real Madrid, Barcelona or Bayern Munich..."

 

In other news, I just want to confirm that I don't intend to shag Kate Upton, Penelope Cruz or Charlize Theron.....

[Dr Nowt]

Said it off record and got his arse handed to him by a tabloid hack, didn't he.

[Rotpeter]

I tend to think it may be quite amusing to watch where this goes from here.

 

I'm a long way from FSG's biggest fans, but they may well not be the people to pull this shit on.

 

Aidy Ward may very well have succeeded in killing his fledgling agency stone dead.  Why would anyone else who hasn't been with him since they were a kid sign up with him now?

 

Ironically, he at least shares that common ground with us.

If Ward gets Sterling out of Liverpool this year, onto a bigger contract, to a club where he is surrounded by better players, playing a higher level of football, they'd be forming a queue wouldn't they?

[Babb'sBurstNad]

The funny thing is this kind of fallout is exactly the type of tactic many prospective clubs won't want to be dealing with. 

[Denny Crane]

 

Aidy Ward may very well have succeeded in killing his fledgling agency stone dead.  Why would anyone else who hasn't been with him since they were a kid sign up with him now?

 

 

 

I get the feeling acting with class and honesty are not the most sought after traits in an agent. In fact he must be loving all this free publicity I bet his phone has never been busier.

 

Balotellis/Zlatan/Pogba agent said this a while back

 

This time, Raiola has also sullied the name of revered Dutchman Cruyff, and Marca reports that he said of the pairing: “Cruyff and Guardiola should go to a mental hospital together, shut up, and sit down to play cards.”

 

We got Raiola to look forward to looking to get a loan for Mario with us paying 90% of his wages yet.

[an tha]

Stolen but sod it, it's a belter....

 

It's all Jimmy Hill's fault he scrapped the £20 maximum wage

[Hades]

Raheem Sterling leaving doesn't scare me.

 

Us having money to spend does.

 

Can we apply for a  transfer ban?

[xerxes]

We shouldn't over react.

 

With Sterling and Gerrard,our two top goal scorers off, Brendan can now rely on Mario, Lallana and Lambert to come good.

[dobbalina]

Calling Carragher a knob is out of order. I'd imagine a few people wouldn't mind a little chat with Mr Ward next time he shows his face on Merseyside.

[FanchesterCity]

The funny thing is this kind of fallout is exactly the type of tactic many prospective clubs won't want to be dealing with. 

 

You'd think so, but Tevez / Adebayour / Zlatan / Bellamy / Anelka etc never seemed to struggle to find new clubs.