Raheem Sterling is dead right to stand up to Liverpool during his contract negotiations. That's the opinion of Johnny Giles in his Herald column
Sterling has been getting some criticism in some quarters after a BBC interview in which he said that he will reject Liverpool's offer of £100,000 a week. Brendan Rogers came out the following day to say that Liverpool had not sanctioned that interview.
While Giles does not condone Sterling's actions in regards to the interview, he feels that the young winger is spot on with his stance regarding the Anfield club.
Giles directs a lot of ire at Liverpool for their negotiating tactics that Giles feels have seen club legend Steven Gerrard out of the club.
Gerrard claimed that he would have signed a deal last summer if they had offered one. Clearly the club was playing hardball over cash and while that is fair enough, there has to be a different approach to a player of his stature.
Giles thinks that there is something fundamentally wrong with Liverpool's policy if they can't hang onto their best players. He's also not pleased with Roger's response to Sterling that Giles thinks essentially brands him as a greedy player.
The implication was very straight forward. This is a greedy lad who has been offered a deal which he should be falling over himself to sign but has chosen to take the dark path. It was poor form from Rodgers.
Giles plainly doesn't agree with Roger's assessment of Sterling as a greedy player. Giles would be doing exactly the same as the 20 year old in his position.
Ultimately, Giles thinks Sterling should stay firm, and if there's no contract that he's happy with forthcoming, that he should sit tight in Liverpool for two years before he can leave for nothing.
He owes Liverpool nothing.
