The Milner Novela... Final episode page 296

[Chris Smith]

He doesn't have to be unhappy to be tempted by what Man City have to offer.

It's possible but it would go against all that we've learned about Milner as a person to believe that his sole motivation is money.

See I've never quite bought into that.

He might not be as big a twat as Ashley Cole and the other bling merchants, but he was quite open about the fact that part of the reason he left Newcastle is that he wanted parity with their top earners and they wouldn't bend.

He was a popular player there, playing in front of big crowds et.c. But he came to us primarily because we'd pay him more. The situation at the time of the respective clubs and the idea that there might be more stability here perhaps also played a part, true.

But we're not his boyhood club (who he also left to progress his career, lets not forget) and he's already moved at least once for money.

Lets not kid ourselves that he's hugely different from most footballers. On interview he sounds as monosyllabic as the rest. He's probably just less flash and less ostentatious than most of the other dickheads in the England squad, so looks better in contrast.

You're wrong.

From The Observer, I read this article on my way down to Wembley.

Monday mornings in the staff room at Horsforth school in Leeds invariably involve animated analysis of an old boy's latest weekend television appearance.

"We love talking about James Milner," Steven Weeks, the head of maths, says. "Everybody's thrilled by his achievements with Aston Villa and England; some of my colleagues have even kept bits of his old work."

It is nearly eight years since Milner swapped the classroom for the local football team where, almost immediately, Terry Venables catapulted the 16-year-old into the Leeds United first team – the manager later described it as a rare high point of his spell at Elland Road. At the time Milner's father, Peter, a quantity surveyor, and his mother, Lesley, an estate agent, feared the boy might be wasting 11 GCSEs while Weeks lamented the loss of one of Horsforth's brighter mathematical brains. "I'd have loved James to stay on and do A level, he was extremely able," he says. "But I accept his football taking him a little further than maths might have done."

Full article

[KevinGage]

I don't see how any of that could contradict the notion that he is primarily in the game to earn as much as he can.

Because he has 11 GCSE's he's likely to be less selfish/ more loyal to us? It's an interesting theory.

I hope you hold onto that belief for as long as he's with us, and don't have your heart broken if/when he finally does decide to depart.

[Chris Smith]

I don't see how any of that could contradict the notion that he is primarily in the game to earn as much as he can.

Because he has 11 GCSE's he's likely to be less selfish/ more loyal to us? It's an interesting theory.

I hope you hold onto that belief for as long as he's with us, and don't have your heart broken if/when he finally does decide to depart.

It was your assertion that he's not "hugely different from most footballers" that I was taking issue with when that article shows that people who have known him for for most of his life say exactly the oposite. Then again you've picked up up that in "interview he sounds as monosyllabic as the rest" so you probably know best.

Edit: I'm quite resigned to the idea that he will most likely leave so I'm not quite sure what your last paragraph was all about.

[KevinGage]

I don't see how any of that could contradict the notion that he is primarily in the game to earn as much as he can.

Because he has 11 GCSE's he's likely to be less selfish/ more loyal to us? It's an interesting theory.

I hope you hold onto that belief for as long as he's with us, and don't have your heart broken if/when he finally does decide to depart.

It was your assertion that he's not "hugely different from most footballers" that I was taking issue with when that article shows that people who have known him for for most of his life say exactly the oposite. Then again you've picked up up that in "interview he sounds as monosyllabic as the rest" so you probably know best.

Edit: I'm quite resigned to the idea that he will most likely leave so I'm not quite sure what your last paragraph was all about.

Well I don't know about what he gets up to in his private life, or his family background. So I'll bow to your knowledge on that one. It's obviously an area of interest for you.

I just find it very hard to see Milner as some shining beacon of truth and nobility in modern football when he left his previous club because he wanted more money.

He might have 11 GCSE's, but he hardly comes across as Peter Ustinov either. Maybe he's very smart but likes to dumb it down for the cameras whenever a mic is pushed in front of him to just blend in?

[eastie]

He's a footballer doing a job and if he can treble his wage and go to a club with £100s of millions to spend of course he will go, wouldn't we all?

I will wish him well, he will be one of englAnds greats in the future but sadly not with us.

[Chris Smith]

I don't see how any of that could contradict the notion that he is primarily in the game to earn as much as he can.

Because he has 11 GCSE's he's likely to be less selfish/ more loyal to us? It's an interesting theory.

I hope you hold onto that belief for as long as he's with us, and don't have your heart broken if/when he finally does decide to depart.

It was your assertion that he's not "hugely different from most footballers" that I was taking issue with when that article shows that people who have known him for for most of his life say exactly the oposite. Then again you've picked up up that in "interview he sounds as monosyllabic as the rest" so you probably know best.

Edit: I'm quite resigned to the idea that he will most likely leave so I'm not quite sure what your last paragraph was all about.

Well I don't know about what he gets up to in his private life, or his family background. So I'll bow to your knowledge on that one. It's obviously an area of interest for you.

I just find it very hard to see Milner as some shining beacon of truth and nobility in modern football when he left his previous club because he wanted more money.

He might have 11 GCSE's, but he hardly comes across as Peter Ustinov either. Maybe he's very smart but likes to dumb it down for the cameras whenever a mic is pushed in front of him to just blend in?

No, you're right how a man comes across on a TV interview is a far better indication of his character than what people who have know and worked with him all his life have to say.

There's a large gulf between your hyperbolic guff about shining beacons and being a decent bloke and surely he left his previous club because they were a complete shambles and had shafted him once before over a proposed move to us.

Do you always judge people as stereotypes rather than individuals?

[Dave]

If we get £25-£30m plus for this sponsorship deal, which is quite feasible

You reckon we're getting close to £10m per season? I'd be astonished if it were close to that.

I reckon £5m-£7m per year over 4 or 5 years is reasonable.

The OS says the deal is over 3 years. So £15m over 3 years is still a nice amount of money to play with and if it brings in another James Collins (or similar) each summer then it's certainly useful.

But it's hardly the realm of pushing forward with our new-found financial muscle.

[KevinGage]

I can see you feel strongly about this one Chris, so lets just agree to disagree shall we?

After all, your high horse must be absolutely knackered at this stage with the regular back breaking run outs it has to endure.

When I hear Jimmy talk he sounds as bland and monosyllabic as Michael Owen, Rooney and co. So forgive me if that forms part of my conclusion and his previous track record in the game forms the other.

A conclusion based on what he actually says and what he has done to date in his football career? I guess it is kind of odd when you think about it.

[peter w]

I take your point Kev, but I don't think Milner wanted to sign for us back in 200(7?) from newcastle because he was then being offered better money.

[Risso]

Nobody in their right mind would turn down that sort of money.  He's going to a club that finished above us, and in quite possibly will continue to do so for the forseeable future.  If we get upwards of £25m for him, it'd be sad to see him go, but if the money is spent well, it could be hugely beneficial.  Like Everton last year, I'd say be glad that we've got the opportunity to get City to pay way over the odds for a player who just isn't worth that sort of money.

Spurs have shown that you can sell some of your better players, and still progress.  That's not to say that I'd want us to make a habit of it, but it won't be the end of the club if Milner does go.

[Chris Smith]

I can see you feel strongly about this one Chris, so lets just agree to disagree shall we?

After all, your high horse must be absolutely knackered at this stage with the regular back breaking run outs it has to endure.

When I hear Jimmy talk he sounds as bland and monosyllabic as Michael Owen, Rooney and co. So forgive me if that forms part of my conclusion and his previous track record in the game forms the other.

A conclusion based on what he actually says and what he has done to date in his football career? I guess it is kind of odd when you think about it.

Can you point me in the direction of where it says anywhere that he left Newcastle for money? The only mention I've ever seen of that is from your posts here.

McGuire suspects the centre will prove his best position. "People have consistently written James off, they've said he wasn't quick enough to go past people and his final ball wasn't good enough but he's kept proving them wrong," he says.

"In central midfield he's spotting openings people thought he didn't have the vision to see but a lot of his development in the last year or so has been down to playing for Martin O'Neill at Aston Villa. A few clubs were interested in James but I was desperate to get him into Villa, I knew Martin would give him extraordinary confidence."

[KevinGage]

Milner: I was undervalued at Newcastle and had to leave

Aston Villa new boy James Milner has revealed that he decided to leave Newcastle because he felt undervalued.

Milner handed in a transfer request last week last week after becoming frustrated at Newcastle's failure to offer him a new contract which he felt would reflect his worth.

Villa moved swiftly to agree a fee for the England Under-21 international and confirmed on Friday they had signed him on a four-year deal.

Milner is happy to have joined Villa but insists that Newcastle could have done more to keep him.

He said: "I enjoyed every minute at Newcastle. It was a fantastic club. I enjoyed working with the manager and they are a great bunch of lads.

"But I knew offers had come in over the summer and the club had turned them down and the valuation of me wasn't reflected in the deal I was on.

"Speaking to them, I felt it was the right thing to put in a transfer request to show how I felt, seeing as they didn't think they were on the same wavelength as me and they then made the decision to sell me.

What that article doesn't mention is that he had only signed a new, improved four year deal the summer previous.

So it was good enough for him in 2007 to sign on the dotted line and commit his long-term future (I'm guessing on pretty decent wages), but by the time bids came in for him in 2008 he effectively felt he should be in line for even more kerching.

Nowt wrong with that. Grab it whilst you can, et.c. If he had underperformed at the club his bargaining position wouldn't have been as strong.

I'm not out to demonize the lad. Loyalty is a scarce commodity in football at the best of times. If he'd turned in performances similar to Heskey standard last year for example, there would be plenty saying get rid. It's a two-way street, and all that. I just find it amusing and somewhat perplexing that people continuously make him out to be something he's not.

[Chris Smith]

Milner: I was undervalued at Newcastle and had to leave

Aston Villa new boy James Milner has revealed that he decided to leave Newcastle because he felt undervalued.

Milner handed in a transfer request last week last week after becoming frustrated at Newcastle's failure to offer him a new contract which he felt would reflect his worth.

Villa moved swiftly to agree a fee for the England Under-21 international and confirmed on Friday they had signed him on a four-year deal.

Milner is happy to have joined Villa but insists that Newcastle could have done more to keep him.

He said: "I enjoyed every minute at Newcastle. It was a fantastic club. I enjoyed working with the manager and they are a great bunch of lads.

"But I knew offers had come in over the summer and the club had turned them down and the valuation of me wasn't reflected in the deal I was on.

"Speaking to them, I felt it was the right thing to put in a transfer request to show how I felt, seeing as they didn't think they were on the same wavelength as me and they then made the decision to sell me.

What that article doesn't mention is that he had only signed a new, improved four year deal the summer previous.

So it was good enough for him in 2007 to sign on the dotted line and commit his long-term future (I'm guessing on pretty decent wages), but by the time bids came in for him in 2008 he effectively felt he should be in line for even more kerching.

Nowt wrong with that. Grab it whilst you can, et.c. If he had underperformed at the club his bargaining position wouldn't have been as strong.

I'm not out to demonize the lad. Loyalty is a scarce commodity in football at the best of times. If he'd turned in performances similar to Heskey standard last year for example, there would be plenty saying get rid. It's a two-way street, and all that. I just find it amusing and somewhat perplexing that people continuously make him out to be something he's not.

That's just what you are doing by refusing to see that he probably isn't the moron you implied he was initially.

I think you misinterpreting what he saying. Their "valuation of me wasn't reflected in the deal I was on" reads to me that they had turned down bids as they were asking for the kind of fee that was inconsitent with the money they were paying him. That he handed in a transfer request, thus forfeiting his contract being paid up by them, suggests that he's no Gareth Barry.

[KevinGage]

As always Chris, you'll see what you want to see.

[Rudy Can't Fail]

Milner wanted to be paid in line with other first teamers, Newcastle refused.