Source: Daily_Mail
Wright blasts Cook after City baulk at wage demands of son Shaun
Ian Wright has launched a blistering attack on Manchester City, accusing the club of 'mugging off' his son Shaun Wright-Phillips and treating him like a youth-team player in talks over a new contract.[LNB]The two sides have reached deadlock in negotiations after City refused to meet Wright-Phillips' demands for parity with top earners like Carlos Tevez, Emmanuel Adebayor and even Wayne Bridge.[LNB] Respect is due: Shaun Wright-Phillips impressed for England against Egypt but he doesn't feel appreciated by Manchester City[LNB]The 28-year-old winger was signed from Chelsea in the summer of 2008 in a deal worth £80,000-a-week, just before billionaire Sheik Mansour's takeover raised the pay ceiling at the club. Even though the deal still has two years left to run, City's chief executive Garry Cook and football administrator Brian Marwood are prepared to offer Wright-Phillips an extension but will not agree to the terms or length of contract his advisers are demanding.[LNB]The club's stance brought a furious response from former England and Arsenal striker Wright, who fears the wrangle could damage his son's World Cup prospects despite his goalscoring appearance off the bench in the 3-1 win over Egypt.[LNB]Speaking on talkSPORT yesterday, Wright said: 'He wants to sign his deal and sign for the rest of his career so he can be settled and get ready to go to the World Cup. But there's these people like Brian Marwood and Garry Cook mugging him off, treating him like a youth-team player and not someone who actually wants to be there because of what he thinks Manchester City can do. He signed before all the money came.[LNB]'When you have people like Marwood and Cook, who for me are just a bit full of themselves, I'm not sure they know exactly what they are doing deep down, so I'm just a bit worried about that.'[LNB] Family matters: Former England and Arsenal striker Ian Wright fears the wrangle could damage his son's World Cup prospects[LNB]Wright-Phillips took a pay cut to rejoin City from Chelsea and knows that this will be the last big contract of his career. He is concerned that so many players have since joined the club on better terms and wants a deal closer to those handed to team-mates Tevez, Adebayor and Kolo Toure, who all earn in excess of £100,000-a-week.[LNB]Sources close to Wright-Phillips claim he does not feel appreciated, but City are reluctant to give a significant pay rise to a player who will be 30 when his current deal expires.[LNB]A dip in form this season has not helped his cause and Wright fears his son's desperation to help City finish in the top four and cement a place in Fabio Capello's squad is actually harming his chances of going to South Africa this summer.[LNB] Holden in World Cup race after breaking leg in challenge with De JongPremier League reject plan for play-off to decide final Champions League spotFortress Eastlands! Toure issues Man City rally call in bid to finish fourth Wright-Phillips put England ahead in the 75th-minute against Egypt and then set up the third goal for Peter Crouch. But Wright said: 'He's playing when he's injured and I'm trying to make him realise how important it is this year. If he misses out on this World Cup, then it might not happen again.[LNB]'But he says, "Dad, what do you want me to do? If they want me to play, I've got to play". I say, "You're going to play when you're half injured? You're not doing anyone any good". He's played and then they've left him out.[LNB]'He's lost form and so I'm thinking to myself that he's not going to make the England team, not even make the bench. Then for him to come on and do what he did and be really positive like we've told him to be, I felt like I was going to cry last night.[LNB]'It's been a really hard couple of months with Shaun with what's going on at City. I'd love him to be settled so he could just concentrate on getting them into the top four. That's what he wants to do and then, God willing, he can end up getting on the plane and going to the World Cup, doing well for England and everything would be great.[LNB]'That's what I would like to happen. But you know how football is. It's different from one week to the next.'[LNB]Wright-Phillips replaced Theo Walcott on England's right flank in the second half at Wembley, and Wright claimed that the Arsenal youngster's stop-start development and injury problems have affected his confidence.[LNB]'I feel sorry for Theo,' he said. 'When you watched him yesterday it looked like he hasn't learned much about anything in respect of movement off the defender, receiving the ball and going past people. He just seems to like to get the ball and hammer at people without any thought.[LNB]'The injuries and being in and out is not helping him. There's a lot of pressure on Theo and he looked like somebody who had been thrust into something and he hasn't really got the confidence to play it out.'[LNB] [LNB]
