Topic: Raheem Sterling

[zabadoh]

That would be more by far than Aguero(260K), Silva(250K) and Toure(220K) make weekly !  But far short of De Bruyne at £350K/wk

https://www.totalsportek.com/money/footballers-with-highest-salary/

Yeah, he'll be signing a contract that will cover his prime years with a club with bottomless pits of money. Might as well push for as much as you can.

But will Sterling keep his speed as he ages into the usual football prime age? 

At 23, he might have peaked his body's sprint speed, and then there's so much risk in whether Sterling can stay fit to maintain his speed.

https://www.quora.com/At-what-age-do-sprinters-generally-reach-peak-performance

[Chalky Boots]

If he continues to play like he has this season of course he deserves it. He's gone up a level yet again.

[anoopvk]

What a player he is developing into. We got robbed for 50m 

[newterp]

What a player he is developing into. We got robbed for 50m 

not 4 years ago we didn't.

[Keith Lard]

Different era now - forget about it. But no denying he’s a top player

[anoopvk]

Different era now - forget about it. But no denying he’s a top player

True that. Wish we had him now. Him on the left and we would be unstoppable.

[Dench57]

True that. Wish we had him now. Him on the left and we would be unstoppable.

I quite like Mane

[Linudden]

Still massively flattered by his surroundings, still has a piss poor attitude and is a divisive character bad for dressing room morale. Salah is miles better and Mané is a bit better overall. Also has a habit of flaking it in big games. Where was he during the second half yesterday when his team needed him?

[Chalky Boots]

Still massively flattered by his surroundings, still has a piss poor attitude and is a divisive character bad for dressing room morale. Salah is miles better and Mané is a bit better overall. Also has a habit of flaking it in big games. Where was he during the second half yesterday when his team needed him?

I'd recommend reading less of the  Daily Mail and watching more of his matches.

[Simplexity]

Still massively flattered by his surroundings, still has a piss poor attitude and is a divisive character bad for dressing room morale. Salah is miles better and Mané is a bit better overall. Also has a habit of flaking it in big games. Where was he during the second half yesterday when his team needed him?

You honestly think if he had a "poor attitude" that pep would give him the time of day?

[robgomm]

Said what needed saying today. He's treated very badly by much of the media and it's a disgrace.

[Simplexity]

Said what needed saying today. He's treated very badly by much of the media and it's a disgrace.

Always been extremely depressing how he has been targeted since day one really.

[So… Howard Philips]

Said what needed saying today. He's treated very badly by much of the media and it's a disgrace.

How much has our constant booing of him contributed to the hysteria against him?

Not to condone any racist abuse or media mistreatment but shouldn't we, as a fanbase, draw a line under his, admittedly badly stage managed, departure for megabucks?

[JerseyKloppite]

Still massively flattered by his surroundings, still has a piss poor attitude and is a divisive character bad for dressing room morale. Salah is miles better and Mané is a bit better overall. Also has a habit of flaking it in big games. Where was he during the second half yesterday when his team needed him?

What a load of shite. And a bizarre time to say such a thing a day after he suffered alleged racial abuse and having posted a perfectly accurate criticism of the racism inherent in the gutter press.

[Narwin Dunez]

How much has our constant booing of him contributed to the hysteria against him?

Not to condone any racist abuse or media mistreatment but shouldn't we, as a fanbase, draw a line under his, admittedly badly stage managed, departure for megabucks?

None at all. We give him dogs abuse because he's a former player who cried his way out of the club with a bell end agent.

Completely different to the underlying bias against him and other black footballers.

[Hazell]

Said what needed saying today. He's treated very badly by much of the media and it's a disgrace.

Yeah, he's right and good on him for saying it. Seeing those two newspaper headlines together is stark.

How much has our constant booing of him contributed to the hysteria against him?

Not to condone any racist abuse or media mistreatment but shouldn't we, as a fanbase, draw a line under his, admittedly badly stage managed, departure for megabucks?

While the outside may think it's contributing, the only reason he gets it is because of the way he left the club. Michael Owen and Fernando Torres also got it after their departures. And I'm not even one for booing him.

[shook]

Well done Raheem Sterling. The British media is constantly 'drip-feeding' negative stories about minorities and about foreign countries, the latter just in case 'justification' for a manufactured war is needed.

[Coolie High]

None at all. We give him dogs abuse because he's a former player who cried his way out of the club with a bell end agent.

Completely different to the underlying bias against him and other black footballers.

Why does Suarez get so much love?

[jillcwhomever]

Why does Suarez get so much love?

I'm no fan of Sterling but you have a point here.

[OOS]

Why does Suarez get so much love?

Spot on. Same with the Tory tax Dodger Xabi Alonso. Both put in transfer requests and fucked off. Both universally loved, while Sterling is hated.

[Fruity]

Only just read his instagram post and couldn't agree more. I mean it's obvious what sort of newspaper the mail is and the agenda's it constantly pushes, but glad he has called them out about it.

[So… Howard Philips]

Spot on. Same with the Tory tax Dodger Xabi Alonso. Both put in transfer requests and fucked off. Both universally loved, while Sterling is hated.

Possibly because Sterling's agent stirred the shit during the season. Didn't Sterling stop playing whereas Suarez played a major part in our title challenge?

Owen in particular gets a lot more abuse than say McManaman.

[So… Howard Philips]

None at all. We give him dogs abuse because he's a former player who cried his way out of the club with a bell end agent.

Completely different to the underlying bias against him and other black footballers.

So lets stop booing him then.

[Bjornar]

Spot on. Same with the Tory tax Dodger Xabi Alonso. Both put in transfer requests and fucked off. Both universally loved, while Sterling is hated.

It´s to do with timing surely. Both Suarez and Alonso gave us unbelievable last seasons and the chance of them leaving was on the cards for a while, as opposed to Sterling who seemed to jump at the opportunity to leave as soon as he had developed to a level where he was good enough to do so. Not that I particularly hold that against Sterling, but it was predictable he would become unpopular with they way he went about it, and I don´t agree there´s much of a double standard there.

With Torres for example, if he had given us just half a season more, and left for Spain rather than Chelsea, he surely wouldn´t have ended up being seen as a villain like he was.

[RainbowFlick]

I love the kid. All he has done is want to excel at his field AND improve the situation for his family. I have never really understood the hatred for him yet we let a bunch of others (Suarez, Coutinho, Alonso etc) get away with basically similar situations. He just had aspirations and at the time despite our 13/14 season, it was unclear exactly where we were going with Rodgers and FSG were probably a bit more strict on not 'overpaying' players.

He gets abuse for absolutely no reason by the right wing media. It is disgusting.

[RainbowFlick]

Still massively flattered by his surroundings, still has a piss poor attitude and is a divisive character bad for dressing room morale. Salah is miles better and Mané is a bit better overall. Also has a habit of flaking it in big games. Where was he during the second half yesterday when his team needed him?

Stop reading tabloids, mate.

[RyanBabel19]

How much has our constant booing of him contributed to the hysteria against him?

Not to condone any racist abuse or media mistreatment but shouldn't we, as a fanbase, draw a line under his, admittedly badly stage managed, departure for megabucks?

It hasn't really imo, the reasons he gets stick here are well known and although I have great respect for him speaking out about the treatment he's received I still feel the way he acted when leaving was disgraceful and his agent contributed to this by constantly just adding fuel to the fire when in reality, he didn't need to even speak at all.

He gets booed to make it difficult for him playing against us, Torres got booed as well, other sides get booed and they seem to wilt under the pressure of this. Sterling could be from any country on earth and be any race, he would still get the exact same booing. It has nothing to do with his race and comments calling him a money grabber from some have nothing to do with race either. He went to another english team, who are well known to pay huge wages, at a time when we needed to keep our best players, after we gave him his first real chance in english football, refused to train, allowed his agent to make outlandish statements like he wouldn't play for us again for 1 million a week... That kind of thing brings dislike from any sides fans. Spurs fans boo Walker and cheer when he fucks up, Torres got boos, Owen is largely hated. Its nothing to do with us booing him.

The media are the media, they will literally fabricate an entire story to paint a bad picture of someone and two of the worst just happen to be the two who make these ridiculous articles about Sterling.

Alonso left for Spain, Mascherano... spain, Suarez... Spain. They aren't still universally loved amongst our fanbase at all, i've seen plenty of our fans with distaste for all 3, but there's a huge difference between going to another english side or a rival english team and going abroad where we will likely never play you, or you will maybe play us twice in one season in europe. I can't remember any of them leaving in quite the same manner as Sterling. Xabi was basically on his way out and stayed to play the best season of his career (at that point) then decided he wanted to go, Masch left under Hodgson when things only looked to be going one way, I wouldn't have wanted to play for him either. Suarez was the worst of the 3 as he had the whole Arsenal interview thing, but he stayed, had an insane season then left for spain (which we could all see coming). The 3 of them have all come out in praise of this club time and again since leaving as well, that always comes across well, especially as time passes

I don't feel us booing him can be used as a reason for this media shit as again our reasons for booing are clear and we've done the same for other players in similar circumstances as have other clubs. The media are just pathetic, their treatment of him is nothing short of disgusting

[Linudden]

I'd recommend reading less of the  Daily Mail and watching more of his matches.

They don't sell that in Sweden but if that strawman makes you feel better, then by all means...

Whenever we've played them, it's always Sané's wing that I'm worried about and where things get troublesome. The suggestion that Sterling is "world class" is laughable. Also, strawmanning me like someone else did afterwards because some idiot at Stamford Bridge screamed something aggrivieous at him just makes it even sillier. I don't like Raheem because he fucked us over in the most dreadful and disloyal manner, and for a direct rival, virtually a neighbouring club, and at the time not even a noticeable career improver due to their mediocre season that year. Anyway, I'm still rather happy we got Mané in his place a year afterwards, because he's the better player of the two, especially in big matches. Also, a much smarter winger, just look at him impeding the Arsenal defenders last year by running slowly to enable Salah to finish with no pressure.

With regards to the media, he earned his reputation back in 2014-15 with his farcial and public contract negotiation tactics. Sure, they might pile on to him a bit, but there have always been players getting a rough treatment by the press. I've never seen the British media go after say Dele Alli, let alone most foreign black players. On the other hand, John Terry, Jack Wilshere and Ryan Giggs did a few rounds in the press back in the day. Regarding Daily Fail's latest piece, I can't comment on it since I don't read the rag.

Anyway, I just commented on him letting his team down yesterday when he was supposed to be their lead guy, just once again proving he's not up to the job other than knocking balls in against lower-tier teams with subpar defenders when his team has 90 % possession or thereabouts. Just my two cents.

[RyanBabel19]

They don't sell that in Sweden but if that strawman makes you feel better, then by all means...

Whenever we've played them, it's always Sané's wing that I'm worried about and where things get troublesome. The suggestion that Sterling is "world class" is laughable. Also, strawmanning me like someone else did afterwards because some idiot at Stamford Bridge screamed something aggrivieous at him just makes it even sillier. I don't like Raheem because he fucked us over in the most dreadful and disloyal manner, and for a direct rival, virtually a neighbouring club. Anyway, I'm still rather happy we got Mané in his place a year afterwards, because he's the better player of the two, especially in big matches. Also, a much smarter winger, just look at him impeding the Arsenal defenders last year by running slowly to enable Salah to finish with no pressure.

With regards to the media, he earned his reputation back in 2014-15 with his farcial and public contract negotiation tactics. Sure, the might pile on to him a bit, but there have always been players getting a rough treatment by the press. I've never seen the British media go after say Dele Alli, let alone most foreign black players. On the other hand, John Terry, Jack Wilshere and Ryan Giggs did a few rounds in the press back in the day. Regarding Daily Fail's latest piece, I can't comment on it since I don't read the rag.

Anyway, I just commented on him letting his team down yesterday when he was supposed to be their lead guy, just once again proving he's not up to the job other than knocking balls in against lower-tier teams with subpar defenders when his team has 90 % possession or thereabouts. Just my two cents.

He's not their lead guy though is he? He never has been in fact

You can dress it up all you want and claim its equal, but surely you then need to show examples of the press condemning those you mentioned for stuff as trivial as buying their mum a house (how the fuck does anyone spin that to a negative?) and getting a tattoo they clearly had no idea of the meaning behind. One paper even went so far as to word things in a certain way to make him look worse. The funny thing is your examples include someone who regularly cheats on his wife, even with his own teammates partner, was condemned for racism on the pitch & another who is mixed race and again was cheating with his brother partner if i'm not mistaken.

Sterlings done nothing apart from acting the twat when leaving us. I don't like his actions and lost huge respect for him throughout that whole saga but these press articles are disgusting and completely unwarranted. It can't be made out like he gets it no worse than others. Look at the difference between the article on him and Foden, they're literally about the same subject matter and the contrast is stark

Its not someting that can be swept under the carpet and excused, its despicable

People are criticising you because you've made outlandish claims with zero evidence to back them up, where's this divisive character and display of being bad for dressing room morale as i've never seen it mentioned once

[surfer. Fuck you generator.]

It's more your 'bad attitude' and 'dressing room problem' angle that people picked up on I think. Baseless claims. The rest about his work on the pitch is always open to fair debate.

Personally, I've got nothing against him, he's turned out to be an excellent player who furthered his career. It's easy to point at Salah - Mane now but you can only compare them positively against Sterling if we drop our level again and they forgo better positioned clubs. It's a rarity in any profession.

I've actually got a fair bit of respect for anyone who can recognise what is real, relevant on this planet and what isn't, Sterling seems like a sharp fella in interviews and it's good to see his family, his mum being treated as they deserve for having given him so much.

[jillcwhomever]

They don't sell that in Sweden but if that strawman makes you feel better, then by all means...

Whenever we've played them, it's always Sané's wing that I'm worried about and where things get troublesome. The suggestion that Sterling is "world class" is laughable. Also, strawmanning me like someone else did afterwards because some idiot at Stamford Bridge screamed something aggrivieous at him just makes it even sillier. I don't like Raheem because he fucked us over in the most dreadful and disloyal manner, and for a direct rival, virtually a neighbouring club, and at the time not even a noticeable career improver due to their mediocre season that year. Anyway, I'm still rather happy we got Mané in his place a year afterwards, because he's the better player of the two, especially in big matches. Also, a much smarter winger, just look at him impeding the Arsenal defenders last year by running slowly to enable Salah to finish with no pressure.

With regards to the media, he earned his reputation back in 2014-15 with his farcial and public contract negotiation tactics. Sure, they might pile on to him a bit, but there have always been players getting a rough treatment by the press. I've never seen the British media go after say Dele Alli, let alone most foreign black players. On the other hand, John Terry, Jack Wilshere and Ryan Giggs did a few rounds in the press back in the day. Regarding Daily Fail's latest piece, I can't comment on it since I don't read the rag.

Anyway, I just commented on him letting his team down yesterday when he was supposed to be their lead guy, just once again proving he's not up to the job other than knocking balls in against lower-tier teams with subpar defenders when his team has 90 % possession or thereabouts. Just my two cents.

Out of interest do you like Luis Suarez and Phil Coutinho by any chance? I get it that people don't like the way he left and everything but none of them left with much grace did they? It's just double standards, we'd be better concentrating on supporting the team. I don't think about any of those players now they're not with us, the only people who matter are the current team.

[Linudden]

People are criticising you because you've made outlandish claims with zero evidence to back them up, where's this divisive character and display of being bad for dressing room morale as i've never seen it mentioned once

Wouldn't surprise me if this thread changed names to "Raheem Sterling Appreciation Thread" soon at this rate given the sudden love-in for him... Anyway, we were in good form when the contract saga began and were very much in the Top 4 race and then all through the spring of 2015 it suddenly collapsed and his performances definitely took a huge dive. Make of that what you will. I'll always hope he fails miserably after the 2015 farce and will gladly cheer each time he's completely dismantled by our defence (which always happens), but then again, accusing me of being a horrible person is rather uncalled for.

[RyanBabel19]

Wouldn't surprise me if this thread changed names to "Raheem Sterling Appreciation Thread" soon at this rate given the sudden love-in for him... Anyway, we were in good form when the contract saga began and were very much in the Top 4 race and then all through the spring of 2015 it suddenly collapsed and his performances definitely took a huge dive. Make of that what you will. I'll always hope he fails miserably after the 2015 farce and will gladly cheer each time he's completely dismantled by our defence (which always happens), but then again, accusing me of being a horrible person is rather uncalled for.

You dislike him, we get that. You are entitled to your own opinion, but nothing you've said answers the parts of my post you've left out OR the parts you've included.

So again I would say, people are criticising your outlandish claims with zero evidence to back them up.

There's no love in for him, people are just willing to admit when a player is doing well and backing his stance against a media witch hunt and racism, which are two things I personally would stand for over distaste for the way a player departed the club.

I think Coutinhos a dick for the way he left, but if he was getting racist abuse and spoke out against it, i'd back him every day of the fucking year. Some things are much much more important than football. Racism is one of them, that will never cease to be the case

[Linudden]

Out of interest do you like Luis Suarez and Phil Coutinho by any chance? I get it that people don't like the way he left and everything but none of them left with much grace did they? It's just double standards, we'd be better concentrating on supporting the team. I don't think about any of those players now they're not with us, the only people who matter are the current team.

1. I would like him if he hadn't put the club into disrepute by biting people. I'd sort of welcome him back though, since he seems a lot more level-headed nowadays. He did a lot of good for this club and we'd been in a relegion fight at Xmas in 2012 without his goals, he literally kept the team afloat prior to the January transfer window. He also gave us the most epic showdown in my lifetime and scored worldies left, right and centre. We signed him knowing he had some mental flaws (Bakkal biting), it was a calculated risk that no other club were willing to take, we got him on the cheap and he largely delivered. Job well done, but I was rather angry when he won the Champions League still. Barcelona paid his exit clause and off he went, no transfer request needed.

2. Coutinho? No way I like him. Signing a five-year deal without an exit clause and then crying a river, faking injuries while Champions League qualifying was going on, then still demanding a move mid-season when he still had 4.5 years to go even after being given the armband in a crucial CL game, is something I'll never forget. Wouldn't have him back. He did a bit more for the club than Sterling and yielded more money though. It should help, but disrespecting the paper he just signed still is something I can't swallow.

[jillcwhomever]

1. I would like him if he hadn't put the club into disrepute by biting people. I'd sort of welcome him back though, since he seems a lot more level-headed nowadays. He did a lot of good for this club and we'd been in a relegion fight at Xmas in 2012 without his goals, he literally kept the team afloat prior to the January transfer window. He also gave us the most epic showdown in my lifetime and scored worldies left, right and centre. We signed him knowing he had some mental flaws (Bakkal biting), it was a calculated risk that no other club were willing to take, we got him on the cheap and he largely delivered. Job well done, but I was rather angry when he won the Champions League still. Barcelona paid his exit clause and off he went, no transfer request needed.

2. Coutinho? No way I like him. Signing a five-year deal without an exit clause and then crying a river, faking injuries while Champions League qualifying was going on, then still demanding a move mid-season when he still had 4.5 years to go even after being given the armband in a crucial CL game, is something I'll never forget. Wouldn't have him back. He did a bit more for the club than Sterling and yielded more money though. It should help, but disrespecting the paper he just signed still is something I can't swallow.

Fair enough, but that's my point a lot of players leave badly. It was threatening to down his tools if he didn't get the transfer to Barca that finished me with Suarez, especially after Kenny went out on a limb for him. I've never really felt the same about him since to be honest. Some players are very selfish in their desires, but then I think Sterling was much younger and not well advised by his agent, Suarez had more experience yet still chose to go down that same route.

[Linudden]

Fair enough, but that's my point a lot of players leave badly. It was threatening to down his tools if he didn't get the transfer to Barca that finished me with Suarez, especially after Kenny went out on a limb for him. I've never really felt the same about him since to be honest. Some players are very selfish in their desires, but then I think Sterling was much younger and not well advised by his agent, Suarez had more experience yet still chose to go down that same route.

Being much younger is actually a worse excuse, because by then he hadn't paid off the trust the club had given him. If a player is 27, then they know they don't have that many years left. When you're 20, you still have a good five years until you even get close to that point.

Barcelona eventually paid the clause and he would've been banned the first three months of the next season anyway, so it wouldn't have made any sort of difference. We've never had to play him since, either.

Anyway for me, what matters the most is what kind of memories a player gives. If a player gives magic moments, such as Alonso's CL goal and win, Torres' United goals in '09 and Luis' ridiculous dismantling of anything in front of him, then time is way more likely to heal all wounds. Salah's gorgeous Roma goal last spring was another such moment.

Nothing Sterling ever did for the club came close to those three and he's already way behind Salah. Aside his Norwich goal, I've no standing out memories of him. He was clearly a good prospect who did his 10 goals per year, but far from the levels those other three were at. Still he asked for wages worthy of Steven Gerrard, not to mention more than what Sturridge was paid. This was when he was still under development and got mad when those demands weren't met and he left for money rather than for winning the Champions League or whatever. That wasn't cool.

[El Lobo]

Spot on. Same with the Tory tax Dodger Xabi Alonso. Both put in transfer requests and fucked off. Both universally loved, while Sterling is hated.

And?

Our greatest ever player put in a transfer request

It really isn’t just that ‘they left too so should be treated the same’. If you leave like a twat, to a direct rival, and continue being a twat after you’ve left then the chances are you’ll be treated that way until you stop being a twat. Suarez and Alonso, amongst others, make it sound like they loved it here and loved the fans whereas guys like Owen and Sterling you get the impression we were just a stop for them on the way and they wouldn’t have really cared if they’d played for us or not.

[Coolie High]

And?

Our greatest ever player put in a transfer request

It really isn’t just that ‘they left too so should be treated the same’. If you leave like a twat, to a direct rival, and continue being a twat after you’ve left then the chances are you’ll be treated that way until you stop being a twat. Suarez and Alonso, amongst others, make it sound like they loved it here and loved the fans whereas guys like Owen and Sterling you get the impression we were just a stop for them on the way and they wouldn’t have really cared if they’d played for us or not.

How is he still acting a twat? And both Alonso and Suarez especially wanted to go Arsenal, Suarez even had a mini strike didn’t he?

[Alf]

I think we got a fair price for Sterling at the time. If you look back to the 14/15 season, we were awful and heading on a downward spiral. Sterling would be one of the few players I wouldn't point the finger at alongside Henderson & Coutinho.

I recall hearing the narrative at the time that he was a London lad looking to return home before he went to City. Should he have been more loyal to the club that gave him a platform to showcase his talents & would we have been loyal to him had he sunk without trace during the 15/16 season like Jordon Ibe.

I'll continue to boo Sterling when he plays against us because like Owen and Torres, he's not performed and it's done the trick.

Do I hate him, no. Do I blame him for leaving, no. Would he get the same shit from the media if Gareth Southgate could get him to play for England like Pep Guardiola, no.

But you've got to give Raheem Sterling credit for calling out the media on these stereo types that incite hate and do nobody good.

[didi shamone]

Booing former players for moving on is one of the most hypocritical acts football fans engage in at every level. Just look at how many of our favourites ended up at Liverpool. Still its part of the panto aspect of football and always will be. Its worse for players who move to rival English clubs. If Owen hadn't moved to united his Stock wouldn't be as low with Liverpool fans. Personally the likes of Suarez and Coutinho are footnotes in history to me and I give them the same amount of thought that they afford me. I find it bizarre the way united fans pine about a guy that couldn't wait to get away from them 10 years ago in Ronaldo.

Anyway back on topic, I'm indifferent about Sterling also but have to applaud his highlighting of media racism and double standards. The gun tattoo incident was bullshit of the highest order. One things for sure the media hate being called out and will do everything they can to do a hatchet job on him in the future.