No argument from me, red terror. Should be wrapping players in cotton wool right about now until the World Cup starts. But Rooney probably had it in his contract (w/ Nike) and Man U or Ferguson really didn't have any say over that - the article mentioned Ferguson banning blades after Keano broke a metatarsal while wearing them, but Rooney was wearing studs, so what do you do? But yes, the trial of the boots in real conditions was clearly ill-timed.
The article is ambiguous about whether it was Keane or Crouch who was wearing blades. I have to agree that the wearing of a new boot just weeks before the World Cup is madness - reminds me of Phil Mickelson's decision to switch club sponsor before the 2004 Ryder Cup - that was a money driven piece of madness too. Perhaps the most alarming thing for any England fan came at the end of the article. None of the listed players, apart from Beckham, returned before ten weeks. Anyone who saw Beckham play in the World Cup in 2002 will know that he was below par and risking further injury from playing. Sir Alex Ferguson is quite pissed off about the pressure being put on Rooney, Terry Butcher doesn't reckon Sven should pick him, but then, Terry's been shooting his mouth off about all sorts today. I had surgery to remove some torn cartilage in my knee six weeks ago today. The surgeon reckoned I could be running lightly after two to three weeks and back to full fitness by now. I was encouraged. I worked hard. In reality, I still needed a stick to walk after two weeks and have only started (very) light running in the last few days. I expect the surgeon knew that would be the case. My point (there is one, and I'm getting to it) is that when the doctor predicts a six week recovery period, he/she does so to encourage the patient. If they'd told me eight weeks, it would have taken me ten. If they'd told me ten, it would have taken me twelve. The doctors have told the UK he'll be ready in six weeks, but he will not. I just hope Sven realises that.
Yeah, the first time Rooney broke the same metatarsal, they told him 8, but it took him 14. And this guy is a young, strong, driven whippersnapper. This time, they've told him 6, and, at this rate, it'll be 12.
Thought I would dredge up a past life to maybe explain the whole Nike/Rooney/timing thing. We all know it's Nike's business to sell sports equipment and we also know they've been heavy on athlete sponsorship relationships from their inception. As with any relationship, there has to be a certain amount of trust involved or the affiliation can be short-lived and even acrimonious. Rooney trusted Nike to make a good product and certainly not one that would expose him to injury (which is still a theory). There is no way he or his advisors would think that a successful (some would even say respected) company would produce a product, have it endorsed by one of the highest profile athletes in the world and expect the product itself to be complicit in an injury. Rooney trusted Nike to provide a shoe that would at the very least protect him and at the most would improve his performance. Regarding the timing of all this, Nike did exactly what other companies do in rolling out a new product 4 to 8 weeks before a huge event, in this case the world's biggest sporting event. The marketing sluts are out to generate a buzz and that's what early roll-outs accomplish (we're talking about it, aren't we?). Our friend Mr. Blatter estimates there will be over 30 billion viewers throughout the tournament and Nike, Adidas and no telling how many other companies, see this as the perfect opportunity to show their stuff to the masses. I think this also explains why Nike chose the Chelsea game for Rooney to break out the new shoes. There was probably not a game in world football this past weekend that drew more viewers than Chelsea-United and Nike saw this as the perfect opportunity to introduce the new boot and generate sales. They're sales whores; that's what they and every company in the world do, they sell stuff. If it turns out that this boot really was to blame in not protecting Rooney's foot, Nike have a huge problem on their hands. There doesn't seem to be enough data on the padding issue at the moment to back up the claim. I'll take a wait-and-see stance to see just how responsible Nike is in all this. Just my two cents. And a couple more thrown in for good measure. JJ, glad to hear things are coming along for you now and I think you're right; no way Rooney plays in this World Cup.
Here's an interesting opinion from Craig Johnston that the boots are to blame but it has nothing to do with the padding.
Thanks for that, Texan - a good link in itself, but also reminded me to go and see who won the Liverpool vs. Everton '86 Cup Final charity replay on Monday. Another interesting article this morning in the Times about what England should do without Rooney (assuming that Sven has the sense to realise that he is 'without Rooney').
