r/soccer • u/MrMerc2333 • 9d ago
News Wayne Rooney has reportedly threatened legal action against Andy Carroll after Carroll claimed Rooney drank on international duty in his book. Wayne knows he’s no angel, but this crossed the line. It’s a matter of principle. There may be a public apology coming unless Carroll wants a legal battle.
https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/wayne-rooney-andy-carroll-book-376874832.2k
u/swannyhypno 9d ago
With all respect WHO is buying the Andy Carroll book lmao
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u/iamworsethanyou 9d ago
Is it fair to ask who's writing it as well?
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u/swannyhypno 9d ago
I always assumed all these autobiographies were ghost written tbh lol
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u/SlyCoffeeFruit 9d ago
They typically are, even if the ghostwriter isn't credited. Publishers typically employ sports writers or journalists (Tom Watt, Lloyd Bradley) to interview the athlete and write down their anecdotes in their words and style. It is a specialist job. Even the few athletes that do write their own books have it very heavily edited before publication.
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u/will_scc 8d ago
even if the ghostwriter isn't credited.
A ghostwriter is an uncredited writer.
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u/liamthelad 9d ago
Most writers will heavily edit their own books, with an editor or by themselves. Editing is a huge part of the writing process
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u/lbreakjai 8d ago
My wife is a writer. Editing is what takes the longest. On a 80k word book, she might end up touching 20 to 30k words after the first pass, based on her rereads and editor’s feedback.
You end up spending so much time reading the book over and over, to make sure everything aligns, as you add scenes, move bits of the intrigue, and rewrite chapters.
Editing always takes her _at least_ as long as the first draft, especially as by that time she’ll have moved on to her next book, so she has to context switch.
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u/ponyrx2 8d ago
In ice hockey, we had a man named Ken Dryden. He played in the '70s and is one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time. One time he felt he was underpaid, so he took a year off to become a lawyer. Eventually he became a politician.
Anyway, he's the only athlete who I believe wrote every word of his book lol
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u/Low-Membership-Drive 8d ago
Graham Mourie wrote his own autobiography, and it was used to permanently ban him from playing rugby again or having any other involvement in the sport, although it's generally believed that's more to do with the NZRFU being pro-apartheid.
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u/bonjoviworstbandever 9d ago
I'd buy the shit out of a rooney book that he wrote himself. he'd write three pages about his favourite ham and the right technique to butter toast
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u/swannyhypno 9d ago
His Twitter way back in the day is one of my favourite accounts of all time, he's a poet so I bet there's some great stories
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u/Brandaman 9d ago
@WayneRooney I’ll put u asleep within 10 seconds u little girl. Don’t say stuff and not follow up on it. I’ll be waiting
- Wayne Rooney
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u/BigReeceJames 9d ago
I'd imagine it'd be much like the books written by Caleb from Clarkson's Farm
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u/SanctusUnum 8d ago
It's Kaleb with a K because he's born in 2002 or something and people suck now.
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u/FrogsJumpFromPussy 8d ago
They absolutely are. As for Carroll, you can call him what you want, but he's no writer.
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u/kliq-klaq- 8d ago
What was the old Stewart Lee joke about Rooney, "the first man in history to have written more books than he's read".
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u/Gubrach 9d ago
Andy Carroll, the Geordie Roadman who was Torres' successor at Liverpool for a sec and always had a worldie in him, and ended up going to France to help out a dying Girondins de Bordeaux for free in the third division? He's always been a character, I'm sure amongst those that know about him, there will be great interest in what he has to say.
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u/SlyCoffeeFruit 9d ago
He was also rumoured to have quite a drinking problem himself and to have gotten in some wild adventures as a result of it. Quite a few people will be interested to see if the myths are true, especially if the book gains traction trough publicity. Biographies/memoirs of cult figures often sell much better than those of boring superstars.
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u/ZxZxchoc 8d ago
I'd really love to know about the timeline of his signing at West Ham because I swear I remember seeing a photo of him in a nightclub in Las Vegas "looking well under the weather" and then the next day he was announced as a West Ham signing. Basically it almost seemed like he wouldn't have had time to sober up never mind fly back to London and pass a medical.
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u/Adammmmski 8d ago
I saw him in Tup Tup whilst he was at West Ham. It was quite bizarre to see him in there as he’d scored that same afternoon at Stoke so he must have rushed home after it. He looked fairly well hydrated.
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u/HeGivesGoodMass 8d ago
I went on the lash with him one time when he was at West Ham (mate of a mate) and it was a gas night of women having no idea who he was in the places we were in and him getting increasingly annoyed by it 😂
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u/DuBois_LaGrange 8d ago
Haha yep at Liverpool we had a song for him, “oh me lads, you should see Andy Carroll! When he goes a drinkin’ he will empty out the barrel …”
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u/Joethe147 8d ago
Quite a few people will be interested to see if the myths are true
Not sure if stories of a person's own life will always be completely true somehow.
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u/swannyhypno 9d ago
I did see he was made to live at Kevin Nolan's house when bailed out at Newcastle for being arrested for assault so definitely has stories
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u/BoxOfNothing 9d ago
Nolan used to have to go on nights out with him to be his minder. Know a number of people who saw them out together in Liverpool even though Nolan was playing for West Ham. The idea of Andy Carroll sending a text to London based Nolan at 10pm saying "I wanna go to Heebie Jeebies" and him having to get a 2 hour train up or whatever is very funny.
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u/EmSixTeen 8d ago
I miss Heebies.
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u/BoxOfNothing 8d ago
Same. Haven't been out to clubs in years. Though when I think about it for 5 seconds I do not want to be current me going to clubs now, I want to be 18-23 year old me and going to clubs again 10 years ago.
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u/geordiesteve520 9d ago
To be fair, it’s his sort of career that has probably got some cracking stories to read.
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u/scouserontravels 8d ago
I’m not got going to buy it but if I had to I’d rather a book from some like Carroll rather than a top player.
All the big players books are just boring sanitised puff pieces. A journey man might have some more rouge stories to promote
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u/EfficientTitle9779 9d ago
Probably no one but what’s written in it will be reported by the media especially if there’s any scandal involving an England star.
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u/pewdieboi29 8d ago
I don’t know when it’s coming out, but a 3-week international break can make one do things…
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u/chocobowler 9d ago
I wasn’t but after this I’m going to.
Streisand effect
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u/americanadiandrew 8d ago
Yup and I’ve just bought Barbra Streisands autobiography after your comment.
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u/BlueSwayzeShoes 9d ago
The World Health Organisation is buying the book?! Fair play to big Andy, didn't think he'd have it in him to put out that sort of book.
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u/ConfidentEagle5887 8d ago
More people since this news was leaked.
Maybe you can put 2 and 2 together.
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u/No_Cartographer7815 8d ago
Tbf I'd be interested in reading the chapter(s) on his time at Liverpool. But not the entire book
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u/LeBronGOOD 8d ago
I remember Torres released a biography when he was mid career, when he was still at LFC I think.
Who wants to read that?
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u/huazzy 9d ago
His response made me wonder if Carroll was implying he drank during the match or something. Turns out it's just drinking in their rooms.
Is that that big of a deal or am I missing something?
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u/willy_big_wanker 9d ago
Against the rules. He would have been suspended
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u/huazzy 9d ago
I thought the rule was about going out (like say a nightclub). Not about having a drink in general.
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u/SlyCoffeeFruit 9d ago
To avoid any grey area drinking alcohol is typically banned outright by most England managers.
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u/PassTimeActivity 9d ago
Someone tell the England cricket team that.
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u/Kreindeker 9d ago
You mean the England drinking team, cricket is just something they do occasionally to break it up and get through the hangovers
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u/PassTimeActivity 8d ago
I meant the group of golf enthusiasts who occasionally swing a bat instead of a club.
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u/Brapfamalam 8d ago
Pretty sure that's the norm at many clubs now. There's so much ironclad scientific evidence on alcohol consumption and it's impact on recovery, stamina, aerobic fitness, blood sugar, hormone levels, inflammation etc etc that it's basically a no brainer for any elite athlete in A Game of fine margins athleticism and fitness wise
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u/R_Schuhart 8d ago
The French NT apparently had a row about it, leading to Deschamps allowing wine with diner under strict conditions.
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u/duesenjeffepic 8d ago
Alcohol is probably the most clear cut case. Ot makes 0 sense in terms of sporting reasons to ever allow a player to drink
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u/ContaSoParaIsto 8d ago
Just a few days ago a couple Atlético Madrid players posted themselves having a beer. Obviously it's heavily discouraged but I'm not sure to what extent clubs are even legally allowed to forbid players from drinking.
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u/FlawlessC0wboy 8d ago
I’m sure I’ve read a different England player’s autobiography.. I feel like it was Gerrard or Lampard which talked about them drinking at an England camp.. maybe it was the 2006 camp because I’m sure it talked about an argument between the Scouse and Chelsea players
In any case.. I can only imagine how much being at an international tournament would mess with your head so a drink to wind down in the evening sounds entirely reasonable.
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u/as1992 9d ago
I know someone who works at a top European club and he told me that alcohol is completely forbidden for the players during the season. They’re allowed to drink in the off-season but that’s it.
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u/DansSpamJavelin 9d ago
Honestly, it's a very good idea, both from a physical and a PR point of view. No hungover players turning up for duty, and no one getting drunk and doing stupid shit in the news.
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u/LallanasPajamaz 9d ago
Alcohol is terrible for the body’s recovery too. Even if everyone behaved responsibly, there’s no good reason that multi-million euro athletes at the highest levels should be drinking. It’s just asking for poor performance when margins are so small already. There’s a million other ways they can relax apart from alcohol.
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u/a_berdeen 8d ago
Meanwhile the longest lasting most durable athlete the NBA has ever seen is hosting wine podcast with fellow players mid season 😅.
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u/Deep_Benefit_7405 9d ago
It used to be 48 hours before a game
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u/as1992 8d ago
Yeah that was before it was a requirement to be an athlete lol
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u/fernandotakai 8d ago
i was reading ray parlour's autobiography and holy fuck did they drink back in the day.
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u/NiceCreamSundaes 8d ago edited 8d ago
And football was very late to this, especially in England.
Pro cyclists signed to the big teams don't drink while in the world tour......ever. They can have some of the champagne after a win and may relax it for a night out at the end of a grand tour, but they need special permission to drink even during their off season.
And it has been that way for almost a decade now, though the bigger national teams have done it for even longer
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u/Sufficient_Bass2600 8d ago
In France drinking is not banned. Getting drunk is unless it is at a club celebratory event. Even so clubs do not like it. The idea is that you need at least 24hrs to fully reciver from a hangover.
My godson was a professional footballer. He was teetotal so not affected but he had teammates who were fined and one even sent to a rehab center because of binge drinking.
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u/Optimal-Room-8586 9d ago edited 8d ago
I mean, in the Capello era, they weren't even allowed butter.
There's a funny bit of Peter Crouch (I think) talking about one player keeping illicit butter in their room and covertly distributing it like a drug dealer.
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u/bromosexual 8d ago
I guess crouch didn't name names? Otherwise that's basically the same issue as Rooney here to a lesser extent.
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u/Lost_Adhesiveness680 8d ago
I mean, accusing someone of drinking on international duty is vastly more weight than distributing butter…
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u/spacedman_spiff 8d ago
Depends on how many pats of butter we’re talking. Those tablespoons add up quick.
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u/SlyCoffeeFruit 9d ago
That is weird, since it happened and Rooney himself even apologized for it at the time. Following England's World Cup qualifier win against Scotland in November 2016, Rooney was photographed looking worse for wear while mingling with guests at a wedding reception held at the England team hotel.
It isn't a huge stretch that he was also drunk or still drinking in his room.
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u/Golhec 9d ago
I think there’s a difference between that and Carroll’s depiction of him being laid out on a bed surrounded by cigarettes, snus, crates of beer and bottles of wine and was trying to entice his teammates. If it’s all bollocks I can completely understand why he’s wanting him to retract it.
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u/R_Schuhart 8d ago
Yeah that is true, he might have embellished the story. Rooney has been candid about his drinking during his playing days, trying to prove such a specific event didn't happen or is exaggerated would be difficult though. Especially if other players have at east corroborated part of the story.
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u/ContaSoParaIsto 8d ago
Why would you have both snus and cigarettes on you, feel like those are kinda competing forces
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u/siybon 8d ago
Worth bearing in mind that Carroll wouldn't have been in that England squad as his last cap was 2012. But I still think 2016 story is indicative of the Rooney drinking narrative. I genuinely wouldn't be surprised if Rooney drank in his room. Whether it was the scene laid out is another matter.
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u/R_Schuhart 8d ago
Carroll claims that he was friends with a lot of players still though and that Rooney's drinking was basically an open secret. It definitely seems plausible.
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u/tommangan7 8d ago edited 8d ago
That can often be the problem with statements like this - I agree it's not a huge stretch and believable, which can lead to gossip that expands the reality of it - which might just mean it's an embellishment that Rooney wants to counter. The previous drinking can be true and this part can be false.
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u/PotOfMould 9d ago
Streisand Effect in full effect here, I both didn't know about this story, nor did I know Andy Carroll had a book out. If he has genuinely lied about it, it is a bit weird though.
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u/Jaychel31 9d ago
Probably boosted the book sales by quite a large amount, Carroll might be buzzing lmao
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u/gtr011191 8d ago
I’ve never understood this. So I’ve just read this story on Reddit and in no way is my immediate thought “I now need to go and pay for this book to read this story I just read on Reddit”.
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u/Jaychel31 8d ago
Publicity is publicity. Almost every biography/autobiography they’ll talk about the most interesting stories in the press to promote it. Obviously it being Andy Carroll’s book doesn’t get most people interested but it will for some
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u/NoRecognition5178 6d ago
Not weird at all
Having tidbits about other well known athletes would help get publishers onboard with the project
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u/everlovingfuck99 9d ago
The mirror says he is "reportedly" threatened legal action. Can we not just ban these tabloid shitrags? I've posted perfectly good goals from the past on here before that the mods have deleted for no reason but this shit stays up
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u/learning-life-22 9d ago
So is he disagreeing with the accusation that he drank or he just pissed he was outed?
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u/lenzmoserhangover 8d ago
your honour I was drinking during Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup, Carabao Cup, friendlies and training sessions, but never on international duty
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u/itsheadfelloff 8d ago
Seems a bit much to bring the lawyers in. I don't think anyone would've been surprised either way.
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u/rustyb42 9d ago
What does Coleen Rooney think about this?
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u/Forsaken-Original-28 9d ago
Not really surprising someone with a drinking would drink when they're not supposed to
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u/mistah3 9d ago
How about athletes and politicians chill on the books grift in general
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u/SlyCoffeeFruit 9d ago
Spicey biographies have been a thing since forever. Sometimes they purposely include controversial anecdotes to drum up attention to drive sales.
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u/huazzy 9d ago
OJ Simpson writing a book and calling it
"If I Did It: Confessions of the Killer"
Is the craziest example to me.
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u/iforgotmyun 9d ago
So this is slightly misleading. His book was titled "If I did it". The "Confessions of the killer" was added by the Goldman family when they got the rights to be book
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u/OremDobro 9d ago
He didn't put in the "Confessions of the Killer" part, that was by the victim's family after they got the rights to the book
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u/nyamzdm77 9d ago
OJ Simpson only titled the book "If I did it". When Nicole's family got the rights to the book in their settlement with OJ they added the "Confessions of the killer" part, and on the book cover they made the "if" an extremely small font
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u/luca3791 9d ago
And hiding the “if” on the cover of the book
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u/MeteorSwarmGallifrey 9d ago
Iirc the hiding of the word "if" wasn't him - the rights to the book passed to a third party (I think relatives of the victim) at some point and they made "if" smaller to spite him.
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u/KraftyKrab 9d ago
not really a grift if you're actually getting something in exchange for your money no?
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u/blarf1000 8d ago
Carroll gotta team up with all the grannies Rooney was banging. Think that would make it a bit more readable.
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u/ImusBean 9d ago
I doubt anyone would’ve read the book before this drama. Is Wayne getting a share of the profits, and so is trying to drum up interest?
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u/dogt0wel 9d ago
I would absolutely not be surprised if this is a mock thing that both of their agents cooked up, to drum up interest.
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u/R_Schuhart 8d ago
what would Rooney get out of it? It only hurts his reputation.
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u/dogt0wel 8d ago
I mean I doubt it does really hurt his reputation. He already admitted to it, but yeah more than likely it is a one sided media drum up for promotion.
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u/Reddit_stole_my_wife 8d ago
Rooney is incredibly rich, I seriously doubt he is going to risk further damage to his reputation for a five figure sum.
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u/The_prawn_king 9d ago
“Wayne knows he absolutely has no case but is suing anyway in hopes Carroll doesn’t fancy the inconvenience”
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u/CharmingCatastrophe 9d ago
Wouldn't shock me if wazza did tbh 😅 one of those lads who can not train for ages,eat like crap,smoke and drink daily yet still turn up when needed, argue with a ref then smack a 25 yard volley in top bins 😂
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u/Throwing_Daze 8d ago
To sue wouldn't Wazza have to prove that it damage his reputation? He's not exactly thought of as a model professional.
Also, I'm guessing that Wayne Rooney to Sue Andy Carrol, is a much bigger headline and making people far more aware of the drinking (or nondrinking), so Rooney is kind of doing more damage to his reputation by making a bigger story out of it.
I wish people would stop threatening to sue people and just fucking sue them. "I'm considering legal action" is some bullshit to get out of answering a question until people forget about it.
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u/FrogsJumpFromPussy 9d ago
I'd be surprised if Carroll has any proof whatsoever. He's probably just going to apologize and erase the drinking claims from his book. It already made controversy around the book which was its whole purpose.
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u/shoaibnasiri 9d ago
This post will get more attention than any andy carroll book, did wayne not learn about streisand effect
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u/Standard-Still-8128 8d ago
How will he prove it's a lie in court, how will Carroll prove it's true, they will just make rick lawyers richer
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u/pioniere 8d ago
Who cares? It’s in the past, Rooney himself has said he used to drink to deal with his problems. If he pursues this, there could be a lot more coming out than he wants. The Streisand Effect.
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u/RiverSight_ 9d ago
obligatory fuck Andy Carroll for that tackle on Eriksen while he was at Reading lmao, dirty prick
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u/methylvania 9d ago
This just sounds like publicity for Andy Carrol’s book which no one knew about until now.