Rooney leads from the front as tetchy Roy snubs the media
ROY HODGSON went to Paris yesterday. Not, as one might expect though, to watch a game that involved England’s last 16 opponents.
No, the England manager enjoyed a bit of sightseeing before returning from the French capital to observe both Group F games on television with Iceland emerging as the next hurdle.
He might argue it was day off for everyone except his scouts, with Gary Neville burning off a few calories on a road bike and the players wisely avoiding Chantilly races but heading for the golf course instead.
Among them were Wayne Rooney and Jamie Vardy, which was interesting given a picture that was beginning to emerge yesterday of the role England’s captain is playing here in France.
Before the tournament started a collective decision was taken by Hodgson and his players to avoid any controversy. That began with the players surrendering their passports to the Football Association so there were no unwelcome holiday snaps between the end of the club season and joining up for international duty.
But it also included keeping a lid on things like social media, and any attention the wives and girlfriends might attract when they visit the England camp.
Such is the degree of secrecy the players will not even reveal who wins at darts. Raheem Sterling, meanwhile, has been advised to spend less time on social media given the abuse he has been receiving after jokingly declaring himself ‘the hated one’.
The one person who perhaps didn’t appreciate the efforts being made was Rebekah Vardy,y, who is fast emerging as a woman intent on attractingng as much publicity as possible.
She has a deal withh a national newspaper, wedding pictures in Hello magazine, a blog and is active on social media. Her tweets about the tear-gas experience she endured in Marseille were followedd by a round of broad-dcast interviews.
Rooney and the seniorsenior players have noteded this, however and, as diploma tic allyp lo ma tic ally as possible, have asked Vardy to remind his new wife of the approach being employed by the squad as well as their families.
The one veteran of the chaos that surrounded the WAGs at the 2006 World Cup, Rooney is wise to the unwelcome distraction the players’ partners can become during a major tournament, particularly with so many photographers in town.
But he seems to have communicated his concerns to Vardy with a degree of diplomacy because the two players were happily enjoying a knock around the stunning woodland course at the Golf Club du Lys yesterday.
Sources inside the camp have suggested Rooney was disappointed with his omission from the starting line-up for that final Group B clash with Slovakia.
Indeed, he was said to have bbeen just aas conccerned by ththe fact thathat Hodgss o n had opted to make six changchanges to his side for a game of such obvious importance.
But Rooney has not created a problem for his manager and remains supportive.
Rooney is leading by example on and off the pitch. Not just among England’s best players but someone taking responsibility on every front. After shutting out the media for two days it is Rooney who has agreed to give a press conference today.
Hodgson is not being quite so cooperative, no doubt riled by the criticism he has received after his gamble in Saint-Etienne backfired and left England in the same half of the draw as Germany, Spain, Italy and France. If England do win their game against Iceland in Nice on Monday, they will more than likely meet the hosts back in Paris.
Asked yesterday if Hodgson would provide a response to the outcome of last night’s Group F games, the FA said he would give his verdict on the governing body’s in-house TV station this morning.
That was poor from Hodgson, because it is not just about feeding the ranks of reporters based near the England camp here in Chantilly but communicating with supporters following the national team.
A message last night would have amounted to a positive public relations exercise but the under pressure England manager clearly does not see it that way.