Wayne ‘not only leader’

Boozy nights must be on wane

GARETH SOUTHGATE has slammed football’s booze culture as “not intelligent” – and refused to give Wayne Rooney any guarantees about the captaincy. On the day he was unveiled as England’s new manager at Wembley, on a four-year, £1.8million-a-year deal, Southgate said that if players think they can socialise until the early hours and still compete with the best in the world, “good luck with that”.

Southgate was faced with questions over squad discipline after Rooney, left, was pictured at a wedding reception mingling with guests until the early hours after being given a night off after the win over Scotland at Wembley last month. Two other players were reported to have visited a strip club during the same period.

Rooney escaped any punishment and has since labelled his treatment by the media as “a disgrace”. But Southgate was damning. He said: “There is a level of expectation

when you are with England. We talk about pressure and we spend most of our time trying to relieve it, so if we put ourselves in positions where we are going to increase that pressure it is not intelligent.

“If we think we are good enough to take on the best in the world without doing everything right, then good luck with that. There has to be time to unwind, have a glass of beer or wine, but that has to be at the appropriate time and at the right level.

“If they want to be top players, then they have to recognise the things that are going to help, and the things that are going to detract.”

As for the captaincy, which Southgate handed to Liverpool midfielder Jordan Henderson, above, for two out of the last three matches – for one of which Rooney was injured – he said: “Wayne Rooney is the England captain. But it’s not a case of Wayne expecting to play every game. It’s important we develop more leaders.

“Wayne has been captain to this point and will be in the future, but we have to develop others. I have seen some really good potential leaders in this

squad.”