Did greed motivate Lucas Neill's move from Blackburn to West Ham?

In 2007, Lucas Neill made a move from Blackburn Rovers to West Ham. Nothing unusual there, but if we look at all the circumstances surrounding the move we can see how easy it would be to accuse him of greed.

Prior to the move, former Australian National team assistant Johan Neeskens said that Neill "could play for any of the best clubs" and rumours erupted about which clubs were interested in him. Chelsea, Barcelona and Liverpool were all rumoured to be interested in Neill, with Liverpool apparently actually making an offer.

He ended up signing for West Ham, which could have been for a variety of reasons. Perhaps the other teams would not have made him captain and he would have had no guarantee of a starting spot at those clubs. Add to that the fact that West Ham were facing relegation and some players actually like a challenge.

Surely though, a cashed-up West Ham offering a rumoured £60,000 per week would make anyone (well anyone who isn’t already earning that much) think twice; it was far more than he was on at Blackburn and apparently double Liverpool’s offer. Money had to be a big motivation.

Prior to Australia’s 2007 Asian Cup campaign, a storm erupted. Mark Viduka retired from international football only to be coaxed back into the side by then manager Grahame Arnold, apparently on the condition that he would be given the captaincy.

Lucas Neill was the incumbent, and understandably quite upset at this decision, which was most likely a poor one. After a poor start to the tournament it wasn’t long before reports in Australia suggested that there was a rift in the squad between Mark Viduka supporters and Lucas Neill supporters.

It’s clear that this rift would have a damaging effect on the team, and they appeared undisciplined throughout the tournament. In the end Australia were knocked out in the quarter-finals after a disappointing performance.

There’s more to greed than money. And to be fair to Lucas Neill, I have to say that I am a fan of his. He’s gone out of his way to try and squash these allegations, stating that there was more to his move to West Ham than money.

He’s definitely gone out of his way to prove his loyalty to West Ham and the national team, and is proving to be a good captain.