Re: Cunt
[quote author=Rafiagra link=topic=34487.msg900436#msg900436 date=1246744253]
By CHRIS BASCOMBE, 04/07/2009
MICHAEL OWEN would have taken a £100,000-a-week pay CUT to rejoin Liverpool.
Even while Cunt was in negotiations with Manchester United, efforts were made on his behalf to force an Anfield intervention.
The England striker was so desperate to return to the club where he emerged as a world-class goalscorer that he would have accepted a basic salary of just £25,000-a-week plus goal and appearance bonuses.
But Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez's doubts over Cunt's form, fitness and desire to put his club before his England ambitions ensured he rejected repeated attempts to persuade him to re-sign the player he sold five years ago.
Benitez also recalled how Cunt upset the Anfield faithful twice when he left in 2004 and then failed to return in 2005. The Kop boss had no intention of risking being jilted a third time by trying to hijack the United swoop.
Cunt had earlier delayed a decision on his future in the forlorn hope his old club would make a move. As the doctors awaited Cunt's arrival at Carrington, phone calls were being made in a bid to ignite Liverpool's interest.
Co-owner George Gillett was particularly keen to sign the 29-year-old, having first met Cunt in the Colorado clinic where he underwent knee surgery after the 2006 World Cup.
But by Thursday, Sir Alex Ferguson's powers of persuasion had killed Cunt's lingering Kop loyalties. Ferguson convinced him to turn his back on both the Merseyside clubs, after Everton had put together a £2.4million-a-year package.
Cunt met Goodison boss David Moyes in Miami and was impressed with the Scot's plans for next season. Moyes was prepared to restructure his side to accommodate Cunt and was in prime position to sign him.
Chairman Bill Kenwright was also keen on a deal, feeling it would lay down a marker of his club's ambitions.
But Cunt was wary of crossing the Stanley Park divide, unwavering in his belief that he belongs on a Champions League stage and can force his way back into Fabio Capello's World Cup plans.
Fergie
UNITED BOSS - Sir Alex Ferguson
Ferguson moved swiftly with a call to Cunt on Wednesday morning and, by Thursday night, a £50,000-a-week contract. Cunt could double that figure, though, with goals and appearances to take him close to the £125,000 he was earning at Newcastle.
Ferguson's United will relish the fact Liverpool fans will be cursing more than ever if Cunt denies them future titles, because the Kop refused first option of taking the striker back.
Yet it will take only a tweak of Cunt's hamstring - or the unveiling of an alternative top-class back-up for Fernando Torres - to justify Benitez's stance. Cunt's recent injury record meant Rafa was cautious about taking a sentimental journey.
He is also concerned about what level of transfer resources he has at his disposal, even for bargain deals. That is unlike Fergie, who knows he can afford to make a mistake.
The Spanish boss will be relieved that a saga which began weeks after his arrival from Valencia has come to an emphatic end.
Repeated efforts by Cunt's admirers to secure his return to Liverpool were visibly irritating Benitez, always unconvinced of the merits. He insisted he wanted to look to the future, not Liverpool's past.
He was upset at the timing of the striker's departure for Real Madrid in 2004, a month after Rafa became Liverpool boss, but felt more annoyed when Cunt did not hold out for an Anfield move a year down the line - despite face-to-face talks and a pledge to take him six months later.
At that time, Benitez felt Cunt had shown he was more concerned about being prepared for the 2006 World Cup than playing for Liverpool.
Since then, Benitez has regularly made public his resistance to signing him.
Rafa Benitez
KOP BOSS - Rafa Benitez
The United transfer effectively ends four years of Cunt regularly pleading to return to Anfield. There were approaches by his representatives to secure a Liverpool move every season he spent on Tyneside.
Now Cunt has crossed a line no Liverpool fan will accept. The former Kop idol can expect a torrid reception after becoming the first player to join both clubs since Paul Ince.
Ironically, the summer began with Liverpool pursuing a United favourite, Carlos Tevez.
If Liverpool's forlorn pursuit of the South American temporarily crept under the skin of the Stretford End, it pales into insignificance to the back spasms felt on The Kop at the sight of Cunt now at Old Trafford.
The failure even to acknowledge his Anfield past when unveiled on Friday, or appreciate the despair felt on Merseyside at the sight of him in a United shirt, hurt Liverpool fans even more.
Ferguson has never made football decisions for anything other than football reasons. But he will be cunningly aware of the wider repercussions.
There is an unavoidable sense the North West superpowers are making transfer decisions they hope will come back to haunt each other.
And while many claim Fergie has taken a gamble on Cunt, it may also be argued Rafa has taken a punt in ignoring him.
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Are Bascombe and Owen best mates by any chance? Just seems to me that hes making up a load of shite to try and appease any hard feeling between Liverpool fans and Owen. If thats the case, its not working. If OWEN really, really wanted to move back to Liverpool and if he genuinely "was so desperate to return to the club where he emerged as a world-class goalscorer" then he would never have even considered going to united, let alone actually going through with it. So Owen and Bascombe, go and fuck yourselves, your little ploy has not worked and I hate you both even more because of it.
