So he’s publicly apologized, finally. Is everyone happy now, can the masses move on from their state of disbelief and malcontent as it pertains to the Rooney saga? Many just want it to end, many say it already did, and some would argue many already have (moved on), and that eyes have long since turned to matters on the pitch, which is reason why Rooney’s late-ish apology to those who adore him means so little.
Wayne Rooney’s Public Apology To Manchester United Fans Means Little
Wayne Rooney has publicly apologized to Manchester United fans concerning his potential transfer, but just how important that apology is remains a question not worth asking.
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After all, Rooney’s public offering of remorse comes some three weeks after he signed a deal that made him the highest paid player ever at Manchester United. Nothing like good timing, right?
Now that Wayne Rooney has admitted he handled matters concerning his potential transfer away from United erroneously, what really changes for supporters and for a striker so ridiculously out of form he celebrated scoring a penalty as if United had lifted the Champions League trophy?
The answer: absolutely nothing, or, at best, very little.
While a patchwork United side sit level on points with league leaders Chelsea (the more important of the two matters), Rooney's vague admission of guilt seems more forced and broad than a detailed confession of sins past and present. Rooney said:
“I feel like I have apologized to the fans, but everyone keeps saying that I haven’t and, if that is the case, then I apologise for my side of things”.
Rooney has managed to muck things up on and off the field for the past six months and all his fans get when the dust settles is a forehead-scrunching ‘my side of things’? Further proof that this canned concession means naught.
Many United fans, charged by the belief that Rooney was contemplating a move to rivals Manchester City, branded Rooney as 'traitorous' in anticipation of a move that was never to happen. With Spain's La Liga the more viable move yet still somehow unrealistic and screaming of desperation, wasn't Rooney's signature on a United letter head always the likely outcome in this silly little saga for more money? Petulant behavior aside, Rooney didn't need to say sorry to anyone, besides maybe his family, he just needs to prove himself to those who lost faith in him with his skills and abilities on the pitch.
If Rooney himself is to be believed, a City move was in fact never a possibility but more likely a story planted into the hearts and minds of United supporters, Sir Alex Ferguson and (Chief Executive) David Gill by his agent Paul Stretford in order to leverage the kind of money Rooney wished to earn from United.
“Everyone is saying that I was definitely going to Man City. Believe me, if I had gone, it wouldn’t have been in England”.
So while the length of time it took Rooney to publicly apologize to fans the world over wasn’t appropriately timed, his admission of guilt should be enough to see those last few haters over the finish line of forgiveness. United fans would never have subjected Rooney to a torrent of hate, vitriol and abuse upon his return to Old Trafford because of the ridiculously obvious fact that he remains a United player.
Glorification of footballers, especially Rooney, doesn’t change with your socks, nor with the seasons. The Rooney saga of October-November, 2010, in the grand scheme of his career, will play out over time as nothing more than a blip upon the Rooney radar.
Vague and ill-timed public apologies or not, United fans, whether they know it or wish to admit it, will always be concerned with one and only one variable: Rooney’s performance on the pitch - there, and not some press release, is where the language of Rooney will continue to be spoken in clear voice to United fans.
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