Rooney to make his debut as Sky pundit
WAYNE ROONEY is being lined up to make his debut as a pundit on Sky Sport’s Monday Night Football show. Sky have approached the former England captain, who is keen to experience the role, and it is now a matter of finding the right date — probably after the busy Christmas period. Rooney is sure to impress with his knowledge, having studied matches from an analytical viewpoint in the manner of Jamie Carragher. And Rooney is known to have frequently mentored young players at club and country level, teaching them how to read a match and best influence it if coming
on as a substitute. The appearance of the Everton striker, who is known to have long-term managerial ambitions, would be a great coup for Sky.
He has been a studio guest before on ITV when injured for England’s friendly with Holland in March 2016 but this would be a more challenging role for the striker.
Monday Night Football, with an hour’s analysis before and after the live game, is seen as the best programme to introduce Rooney alongside regular pundit Carragher and possibly Gary Neville as well. Premier League managers Jurgen Klopp, Sam Allardyce and Eddie Howe have all made guest appearances on the show. ENGLAND will play two World Cup warm-up matches, at the end of May and beginning of June — with the second of them a Wembley match against Nigeria on June 2. The first friendly will be held away from the national stadium, probably against Latin American opposition to prepare for the Panama World Cup game. Tunisia are England’s first group opponents in Russia, which explains the desire to play African opposition Nigeria. AFTER the Big Six shenanigans in the Premier League this season — with Arsenal, Manchester United and City, Liverpool, Chelsea and Tottenham meeting each other to discuss policy — now the other 14 clubs are planning their own commercial moves. The 14 are working on a plan to collectively sell their perimeter advertising to attract bigger brands. The initiative came from the Premier League who want the advertising to have a more uniform look about it, at the expense of local businesses.