Summer transfer rumours, speculation and out-and-out b*ll*cks.

[eastie]

Probably more likely they will go for Dann as replacement with the money, he's a Liverpudlian isn't he?

I think this is precisely what will happen. With money being as tight as it appears up there, I think Moyes would spend any Jagielka money on a few players rather than one winger.

Isn't Dann a lifelong Liverpool fan?

I think he is.

so.   jamie carrager is a life long everton fan so thats not relevant


edit i cocked it up at the start

And Craig Gardiner is a life long (whoever he plays for now) fan.

being a fan of a club really means very little to the great majority of professional athletes or sports peeople. They are doing a job and getting paid for it. Take for example, the great Brian Little who's been loyal to a number of suitors over the course of his playing and managerial career. He's always said that once he's done he'll get a ticket on Holte so he can go back to following the club he loves. Ian Taylor's another good example. A player can't have loyalty because it's going to hurt their earnign potential in what is a short career. It's admirable though if good players can stay at a club for their entire career having also been a fan as a kid. It's very rare though.

agreed but brian little wasnt a villa fan as a kid , it was only when he joined us we got into his blood , his early years in durham were spent as a toon fan.

[Toronto Villa]

Probably more likely they will go for Dann as replacement with the money, he's a Liverpudlian isn't he?

I think this is precisely what will happen. With money being as tight as it appears up there, I think Moyes would spend any Jagielka money on a few players rather than one winger.

Isn't Dann a lifelong Liverpool fan?

I think he is.

so.   jamie carrager is a life long everton fan so thats not relevant


edit i cocked it up at the start

And Craig Gardiner is a life long (whoever he plays for now) fan.

being a fan of a club really means very little to the great majority of professional athletes or sports peeople. They are doing a job and getting paid for it. Take for example, the great Brian Little who's been loyal to a number of suitors over the course of his playing and managerial career. He's always said that once he's done he'll get a ticket on Holte so he can go back to following the club he loves. Ian Taylor's another good example. A player can't have loyalty because it's going to hurt their earnign potential in what is a short career. It's admirable though if good players can stay at a club for their entire career having also been a fan as a kid. It's very rare though.

agreed but brian little wasnt a villa fan as a kid , it was only when he joined us we got into his blood , his early years in durham were spent as a toon fan.

no fair enough. But the point being you can't let loyalties you've developed dictate your career. I agree about the Little thing, but it applies to someone like Ian Taylor, Stan Collymore or Craig Gardner. They are going to do what is best for their career while they have it. There was a picture recently shown with Rooney's boy in an Everton kit. Deep down I'll bet Rooney is still hardcore Everton, but he's never going to be as successful as he will be at Man U had he stayed there. Us fans really can't change our colours, players sometimes have to, even if it's on the surface.

[eastie]

yes its their job and career and they must make the best of it -totally agree , its very different loyalties for players than for fans.

[pedro25]

Don't get it, if I could play for Villa and earn £40k a week I would want nothing more, £60k per week and playing for Man U wouldn't be tempting.

[PeterWithe]

Liverpool have had a lot of good players who were boyhood Everton fans, Owen, Fowler, Rush, Gerrard, Carragher, McManaman.

As someone above said it means little, most of them are too busy playing every Saturday to grow into the kind of rabid fan who would turn down an opportunity of playing for a rival.

[Toronto Villa]

Don't get it, if I could play for Villa and earn £40k a week I would want nothing more, £60k per week and playing for Man U wouldn't be tempting.

we're fans. We're not meant to get it.

[pedro25]

Don't get it, if I could play for Villa and earn £40k a week I would want nothing more, £60k per week and playing for Man U wouldn't be tempting.

we're fans. We're not meant to get it.

But certain players like Rooney make out they are avid supporters of a particular club, they can't be, casual followers maybe but it you were a true fan playing regularly for your club I don't see why you would aspire for anything more, well unless maybe your a Morecambe fan or similar and were blessed with Messi skills.

[JJ-AV]

Don't get it, if I could play for Villa and earn £40k a week I would want nothing more, £60k per week and playing for Man U wouldn't be tempting.

Just don't agree with this, if you're a footballer the likeliness is you'd have been a footballer since the age of 11 or 12. So the part of our lives most of us spent idolising our heroes, watching the game and supporting the Villa, professionals spent playing football and improving their skills... Which would surely lead to them wanting to make the very best of it.

[pedro25]

Don't get it, if I could play for Villa and earn £40k a week I would want nothing more, £60k per week and playing for Man U wouldn't be tempting.

Just don't agree with this, if you're a footballer the likeliness is you'd have been a footballer since the age of 11 or 12. So the part of our lives most of us spent idolising our heroes, watching the game and supporting the Villa, professionals spent playing football and improving their skills... Which would surely lead to them wanting to make the very best of it.

So I don't know my own mind, what do you think my opinion on it is then?

[eastie]

sorry to say if i was playing for villa and man utd offered me £60000 a week id be off like a shot , i might accidentally head a corner into my own net though when the 2 clubs met.

i totally understand why rooney left everton for united and have no doubt that rooney is still very much an everton fan .

[Concrete John]

Don't get it, if I could play for Villa and earn £40k a week I would want nothing more, £60k per week and playing for Man U wouldn't be tempting.

I think the thing is that by taking the £60k at Man Utd you'd also be winning trophies and furthering your professional career.

That that's the key word - professional.  A footballer who's also a fan of the club they play for has two hats on whe it comes to making career decisions. 

[garyshawsknee]

Don't get it, if I could play for Villa and earn £40k a week I would want nothing more, £60k per week and playing for Man U wouldn't be tempting.

we're fans. We're not meant to get it.

But certain players like Rooney make out they are avid supporters of a particular club, they can't be, casual followers maybe but it you were a true fan playing regularly for your club I don't see why you would aspire for anything more, well unless maybe your a Morecambe fan or similar and were blessed with Messi skills.

But they want to prove themselves against the best players in Europe,this means the Champions league,something Rooney wouldnt be able to do at Everton. I do get your point though,maybe when he reaches his early 30s and won everything at Utd,Rooney will take a massive pay cut and re-join Everton on a free,but i doubt it.

[Dave]

Don't get it, if I could play for Villa and earn £40k a week I would want nothing more, £60k per week and playing for Man U wouldn't be tempting.

Which is a very noble sentiment. It's just rather easy to make when nobody's actually asking you to choose whether or not to turn down a million pounds per year just to play football somewhere else.

[taylorsworkrate]

If I was a footballer I'd want as much money as possible and would play for the club willing to pay me the most.

[eastie]

If I was a footballer I'd want as much money as possible and would play for the club willing to pay me the most.

id want to win as many trophies as possible and the money would therefore follow-as in rather play at this moment for man utd than man city.

money would not be as big a motivation as winning things and playing in the highest level matches, which naturally would mean big money in any case.