Adhering to the standards one promotes
WE were speeding through the Cheshire countryside when Wayne Rooney laid out his manifesto for the treatment of players on England duty. “I think we need to have the downtime you get in club football, time to chill out, to have that few hours in the day when we forget about it,” he said.
“If you are watching football, talking football, thinking about football 24/7, then your head’s constantly working, you never get those moments to have a coffee or go to a restaurant, have a game of golf like you would the rest of the time.
“And I think that’s the start, really, to try to get the lads working more like they do at home. I know you have to have team meetings… but I don’t see why some days after training the manager can’t say, ‘Right, I’ll see you 9am tomorrow’ and then that time is your own.
“Obviously, you stay in the hotel to sleep, but the rest is up to you. The lads know they are playing for England. They know what they should do.
“They must have discipline and respect for their teammates, the manager and the fans. They have to be able to be trusted. I don’t think there would be any issues. And if there are any issues, you send the player home.”
His words, not those of a manager, or an England FA executive, not those of a snooping journalist or a judgemental member of the public.
It was Rooney who set the standard, Rooney who pronounced sentence, Rooney who was given the credit, at the time, for his enlightened philosophy.
Of course: treat the players like grown-ups. Give them the responsibility, allow them the freedom to manage their downtime.
So what would Rooney do with a senior player who was drunk halfsenseless in public while away on England duty?
What would he do with a player whose conduct merited an apology, and then a warning from the FA about standards of behaviour? It was there in black and white. Send him home.
His words, not yours, not mine. That would be the Rooney Rule, in action.
The suggestion is that the FA will be monitoring the space between the matches more closely from now on and if Rooney is not embarrassed that he has brought about this change of strategy, he should be.
Yes, the next international was several days away and, due to injury, he was unlikely to be part of it. That does not matter.
He is captain of what remains, at heart, a young squad and his influence is immense.
Marcus Rashford was five when Rooney made his England debut; Raheem Sterling and John Stones were eight, Adam Lallana was 15. He is a legend to these players and when he talks of discipline and respect they believe him, completely.
If he promotes standards, he must adhere to them, too. In the car that day, he was entirely convincing as the captain of England. He thought about the role, he cared. The idea that he would be the man, the player, who would be the first to test this new age of adulthood is genuinely shocking.
And yes, there is hypocrisy on both sides. No doubt the guests at the wedding party Rooney crashed loved having him in their company.
They would have bought the red wine that coloured his lips, pleaded for the photographs that were then placed in the public domain.
“Not a pretty sight,” was one observation of the England captain at the end of the night — and no, it isn’t.
The England captain may have been drunk but he was more sincere in his behaviour than many at The Grove hotel.
Yet Rooney is hardly blameless. He blundered into a private occasion, a noticeable figure, in noticeable attire. He stayed long into the night.
He has grown up in the social media age, and uses the technology very well.
He must have known the potential consequences of his actions, how it would look for him in this of all seasons, how it would look for Gareth Southgate at this of all times.
England’s caretaker manager has been here before. Collective responsibility in 1996, after the debacle of the China Jump club, and the Cathay Pacific flight from Hong Kong.
Yet this is not about the group, but an individual. Rooney has to take this one for the team, even if it is the team who will live with the ramifications.
On the day of our interview — July 29, 2016 — in the back of a fast moving car, Rooney made sense.
He seemed like a leader, a captain, his opinions carried weight and worth. But they are meaningless without the example set.
The apology is a start, but, as captain, it must run deeper. What did he say about England players that afternoon?
“They have to be able to be trusted.”
It starts with you Wayne, it starts with you. Daily Mail
Martin Samuel