Paul Stretford: The Devil Will Collect His Due Part 2

Having friends on both sides of the law and the transfer divideplayers and coachesmeans the uncomfortable issue of a conflict of interest is always around Stretford and his transfer dealings. As ProActive receives fees from every transfer brokered for any of its players, many managers who work for a buying or selling club also turn out to be a shareholder in ProActive and therefore profit doubly. A good example would be the fallout in February 2003, after Aston Villas chairman Doug Ellis fired his manager John Gregory for being too friendly with Stretford. Nevertheless, informed by Stretford that even Gregorys successor, the old school Graham Taylor, was involved with ProActive and that everybody did it, Ellis finally decided to sell up. A younger, more realistic chairman like Danny Levy at Spurs, knows that Stretford has a client list of more than 270 players and after having problems keeping good players out of the clutches of Manchester United, he finally hired someone ProActive trusted, Harry Redknapp.

Stretfords most brilliant bit of business, however, was the stealing of the Everton Boy Wonder Wayne Rooney from the XB Agency. Streetwise as ever, Stretford gained an advantage over the Kids original handler, Peter McIntosh, by having his old friends from the Duresses crew introduce him to members of Rooneys neighborhood mates The Crocky Crew. Soon Stretford was made aware that Rooney wanted a lot more money than Everton were prepared to give. With McIntosh advising Rooney to be cautious and wait patiently, Stretford stepped in, promised a move to Manchester United, and then promptly delivered.

Since the court case Stretford has resigned as a board member at ProActive, and, although he remains president of the company, he also claims that he no longer represents any player but Wayne Rooney. The latest rumors have Wayne following Carlos Tevez to join Manchester City and receiving ! the sta ggering amount of 250,000 per week (which will, Im sure, make Tevez throw his greatest jealous hissy fit ever!). Three things make this rumor viable. One being the staggering amount of money, which even the likes of Real Madrid, Chelsea and Barcelona may balk at; and, two, the fact that Rooneys wife, Coleen, wants to remain close to Rosie, her 12-year-old baby sister who suffers from Rett Syndrome, a brain disorder. Thirdly, Brian Marwood, the City football administrator, has a long-standing relationship with Stretford which goes back to his player days. Marwood is also particularly well liked by Wazza himself from his days as an executive at Nike when he took the boy to Madison Square Garden and introduced him to the N.B.A. and New York Knicks basketball. Indeed this vice of flying to New York on days off to watch Knicks b-ball has become one of the expensive Wazza habits Sir Alex disapproves of.

Its impossible to know the whole truth about Rooneys broken relationship with Sir Alex Ferguson. What seems to have really affected Wayne is less a personal confrontation over his predilection for prostitutes and the consequent humiliation of his wife, Coleen. Instead, there seems to have been no confrontation, just the Gaffers bad decision to call up Rooneys parents looking for their input which somehow seems to have really set the lad off and was perceived as a sort of stab in the back.

According to various writers at The Guardian, however, Rooney was pretty vocal before and during the World Cup to his colleagues in the England squad andat Manchester United about his clubs lack of world-class signings and the conjecture that they really are broke. It all sounds very calculated to me, however. You can gussy it up in make-up, lipstick and 10 stiletto heels to obscure the truth using all kinds of sophistry, but, in the end, Wayne Rooney wants to be the worlds highest paid footballer and Stretford willl have his 25%.

As a United fan, I would be far happier if Wazza joined Real Madrid or anot! her cont inental club. Should he join City, however, I can see the same semi-sectarian hooligan street wars of the sixties and seventies breaking out all over again. The fans will be upset!!! Paul Stretford ought to also have the moxy to know that, no matter how much money and power he owns, he is inviting a lot of scrutiny to be placed on his business practices at a time when the public undergoes some very hard times because of the economy. The only fruit from a metal tree will be iron filings.

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