I’m probably going to get some stick here, but fuck it - here I go.
I’m not really arsed about players earning money. I don’t really hold it against players moving because they can get their money doubled.
The example I often use is Scott Sinclair. I’m one day older than him. At 23, if a club like City came in and offered to double my money, and pay me £70k p/w or whatever he was offered I’d be a fucking liar if I said that wouldn’t interest me. Of course it would. Heck, a company coming to me now and offering to double my wages would give me something to think about. I think for most people that would be the same.
I think it’s a bit easy to throw around the greedy tag, when it comes to footballers. Not to say that aren’t greedy footballers, of course there are. But even then, if people are willing to throw money at them, why shouldn’t they take it?
The thing that rankles with people like Lallana is the way he handled everything. Kisses the shirt, thumping the badge. Giving interviews just months before leaving “I’m not interested in moving, I want to be the next MLT”, then spitting his dummy out and apparently refusing to play for the club again.
Even players who are solely motivated by money, I don’t have that big an issue with. Someone like Carlos Tevez, for example, who said when he came to England he planned to come here til his late 20’s earn lots of money then go home and finish at Boca. Considering where he came from, I don’t really blame the bloke for that (granted, he did act like a prat on occassion and some of his behaviour is pretty indefensible).
Contrast Adam to Morgan, who for all intents and purposes was one of our own as well, and it’s a different story. I’m sure he took a decent pay bump to go to United. But he isn’t called greedy. After his little mini-tantrum he got his head down and treated the club with respect until the end. Much as we don’t like to admit it, Lallana is probably right in that Loloerpool are more likely to win things and play in Europe. He isn’t a youngster anymore, he’s supposedly at his peak. So, in many ways I understand why he left. The thing that makes me dislike the guy, and enjoy his struggles is the way he went about it. So long may it continue.