Interesting Read - Aidy Ward on Sterling and Rogers

Aidy Ward was vilified in the summer. This football agent's crime was to give 'bad advice' to one of his clients, Raheem Sterling.
'Let me tell you about advice,' Ward says to me firmly. 'In that documentary Being Liverpool, when Brendan Rodgers pulled Raheem on camera - it went on TV - and said he'd be on the first plane home (from a pre-season trip to the USA) if he answered back to him again, what do you think Raheem did after that?
'He called me, telling me he had not said what the manager had accused him of saying. I listened, and then said to Raheem: "Go and apologise to the manager, and get your head down and work hard".
'Brendan was so impressed that Raheem had apologised that he then put him in the first team. Do all these people think that was me giving him bad advice?'
Ward acts older than his 34 years. He sounds older. He is calm and exudes confidence without coming across as arrogant, which is a difficult balance to get right. He's got a sense of humour, but I get the impression he doesn't suffer fools gladly.
He's a man who is very selective about who he trusts and who he speaks to, and that's understandable after comments made off the record to a journalist earlier this year were published and attributed to him.

'I was being criticised and my back was against the wall a bit, so I would have changed the way some stuff came out into the public domain, that's my only regret.'
Sterling and Ward became hate figures, the player is still being booed at some grounds (bizarrely Spurs fans booed him recently), and he can expect to be given a hot reception when he returns to Anfield later in the season having left Merseyside in a £49million transfer to Manchester City during the summer.
Ward knows how much ill-feeling there will be towards him and Sterling back at Liverpool.
'I became the bad guy, that's how I was portrayed,' he said. 'It started from the PR behind Liverpool. There is no issue with the fans there, they don't know the full story, and there are lots of good people at Liverpool.

'I had no problem with (chief executive) Ian Ayre for example. I have no issue with anyone but Rodgers. He had a massive job with massive funds. How did he do? Good coach, but as a manager I didn't like certain things about how he dealt with Raheem.
'Fifty per cent of the players would probably tell you Brendan is not a good manager, but he is a good coach.' 
The 'PR machine' Ward refers to involves ex-Liverpool players who now work in the media and will always defend the club. 

John Aldridge, a legend as a striker at Anfield, took it one step further and got personal with Ward when he said: 'I bet he's never kicked a ball in his life but thinks he knows all there is to know about the game. 

'If he knew about the game he'd know about respect. What the agent has done to Sterling has been absolutely woeful. He hasn't just tarnished his own reputation he's tarnished the reputation of Raheem Sterling.'
Ward has kicked a ball, but hopes of a professional career were robbed of him very early on. He was a centre half with dreams of being a midfielder in the Tom Huddlestone mould. He was with Fulham as a teenager, but an infection in his pelvis ended his chances of making it, just as he thought he would earn a contract while training with Bradford City.
Sterling is top of the table, happy after his hat-trick, playing Champions League football and a certain starter in a full-strength England team that has just won all of its qualifiers. Has Ward been 'woeful' for Sterling? You decide. 
And what of the new manager over at Anfield, Jurgen Klopp? As I mention the name there is a little chuckle in his voice. Is it wistful? Maybe that's going too far. There's a curiosity for sure - Ward is intrigued.
'The new Liverpool manager probably would have been a great fit for Raheem - passionate, disciplined in the right way, new ideas, not afraid of trying new things,' said Ward. 'He'll do great at Liverpool.
'Would Raheem under Klopp have been a good scenario? Yes, 100 per cent, definitely, mainly because of the person Klopp is - the passion, the drive, the emotion, wanting to achieve.

'Raheem has all of this, but you won't always see it outwardly. Working with Klopp - that could have been great. He's going to get the best out of those players. It could have been a dream come true.'
While Rodgers was still Liverpool manager, Ward did not want to speak about events leading up to Sterling's departure. But now it's time to put his side of the story out there. This is Ward's first ever official interview about the Sterling saga.
'Raheem could've stayed, he should be at Liverpool. I think for me it was like he was being told to be a good boy and sign a contract. In December I spoke to Liverpool and said we'll sign a contract if there is a buy-out clause - those clauses are now common practice. They said no to that.

'Then there was an underhandedness, there were sly remarks. In press conferences, Brendan told everyone Raheem would sign - why do that? I knew, Brendan knew and Liverpool knew there was an issue. Right now he probably should be a Liverpool player, but he's not and he's in a great place at City.'
It's easy to forget that Sterling is still only 20 years old. His form was analysed and criticised last season, some even suggested in the summer it was pointless moving to Manchester City because he wouldn't get into the starting line-up.
'It was an emotional rollercoaster for Raheem for sure, but in all competitions, including for England, he still scored more goals last season than he had scored the season before (12 compared with 10 in 2013-14).
'The only club I didn't speak to from all the super-powers was Barcelona - they were the only ones, and that was because they had a transfer embargo, so it was pointless.
'But you know Xavi came out and said Raheem is a world-class player in the making and could play at Barca in the future. In the end it was Manchester City and I thought he's got a job to do, go and do it, and he's doing it.

'So those who thought he would be a sub - what did they think of his performance last weekend? He's scoring (six for club and country so far this season), he's playing, what's the opinion of those critics now? Are they trying to destabilise Raheem? Or back him so a young England player can compete at the very highest level in the Premier League, the Champions League and on the international stage?'
Ward displays hints of anger here - anger with what he feels is an imbalance in how the media treat Sterling. There have been a lot of stories about Sterling 'partying', but has there been enough focus on the football?
'Raheem is a young man. Doesn't make it right, but he can learn. We make mistakes at that age. I can't condone what he did, but he was a young man. Let him breathe and we'll see how he goes and if he's affected by the big move.
'If Raheem is caught in a situation when he does something silly off the field every paper picks it up. He scored a hat-trick and there is barely a mention of it. Let him breathe.'
So let's focus on the football. Back to Rodgers, and what were the 'certain things' that Ward didn't like about how he dealt with Sterling?

'Last season I thought subliminal messages were being sent to Raheem. Why would Liverpool play him at left wing back? Would you play Simon Mignolet up front? I think it was the game against Manchester United, he was played as an attacking midfielder, moved to right back, then up front, then left back, and eventually back to attacking midfielder. I was watching thinking: "Well this is interesting".'
It was also interesting to hear Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini make it clear after Saturday's hat-trick that Sterling is 'not a striker'.
It appears that manager and player are communicating well at City, and everything about their relationship and the role Sterling is being asked to perform is absolutely clear. Ward has high praise for everyone at Manchester City, especially assistant manager Brian Kidd who has been doing extra sessions with Sterling individually, working on his finishing.
So Sterling is in a good place, and as Ward relaxed into the interview, it looks like he's in a good place too. Looking back now, does he hold regrets about how the situation at Liverpool was handled?

'Yes I do and no I don't. Let me explain. Look at Raheem now, he's buzzing, he's happy and he's at a good club, with good players, a good manager, good coaches and good staff. He's in a good place.'