DIGNITY IN HIS DARKEST HOUR
LAUGH AND A JOKE WITH SOUTHGATE BUT THEN WAYNE CAN’T LOOK Rooney has courage to face music as he’s axed for the first time
WHEN Glenn Hoddle broke the news to Paul Gascoigne that he was not going to the 1998 World Cup, the midfielder kicked a chair, punched a lamp and gave the then England manager the distinct impression that he was about to belt him, too.
Gareth Southgate was a member of that squad in La Manga 18 years ago but it’s fair to say the encounter he had on Sunday with the finest England player since Gazza was rather less dramatic.
Southgate said Wayne Rooney responded to being dropped for a competitive game for the first time in 13 years of international football with great professionalism, and the performance he gave here last night underlined that. The only disagreement during their meeting at The Grove, it transpired, was whether Rooney should appear before the media. Southgate said he was not sure it was a good idea. Rooney disagreed. ‘I felt it was the right thing to do,’ he said, and it was the one victory he enjoyed.
It cannot have been easy for Rooney, sitting alongside a manager who only days after presenting him with his 117th cap — a record for an outfield England player — had just handed him his P45. But Rooney has matured into an impressive individual even if the spark that once ignited the national team has been extinguished.
Rooney refused to accept that, at 30, his powers have waned to the point where he no longer has something to offer, and he deserved credit as much for his defiance as the dignity he displayed. But he conceded that he is in ‘a difficult period’, acknowledging his failure to earn selection for Manchester United these past three matches and the fact that he is no longer ‘the first name on the team sheet’.
Southgate said he still values Rooney’s presence as the leader of the group, describing him as ‘another coach’ in the dressing room. Those leadership qualities can only help as the recovery continues. Southgate, composed and articulate, described the guidance Rooney offers the younger players as ‘gold dust’.
But Southgate has made a decision that not only enhances his chances of securing the England role on a long-term basis but is one that few, if any, will disagree with. Where Sam Allardyce had Rooney playing where he wanted, Southgate has him out of the side. The FA hierarchy are sure to take note.
Southgate said it was a straightforward football decision, the potential threat of a Slovenia team who beat Slovakia at the weekend demanding the superior ‘athleticism’ and ‘ defensive qualities’ of Eric Dier alongside Jordan Henderson, whose own reward for a fine display against Malta on Saturday is the captaincy.
But this is a seismic shift, one that caps a quite astonishing 112 days since that loss to Iceland, during which two managers and now the captain have fallen.
In Rooney’s case, you could see this coming, with the subject of his place in the team one that even dominated a media lunch with Roy Hodgson prior too the European Championship in France. For a bit of fun Hodgson invited the 15 football writers present to write down their firstt XI, and to his sur-prise the majority — this reporter included — could not find room for Rooney.
By then Rooney had begun thee transition from forward to midfielder and there can bee no denying he is far from the player he once was. The years, and the many injuries, have taken their toll. Indeed Jamie Carragher, writing on these pages, predicted this two years ago. ‘Cars don’t get valued by their licence plate, it goes on how many miles they have done,’ he said. ‘Competing at the highest level for the last 12 years, with all the pressure and intensity that accompanies it, leaves a mark.’
Rooney pointed out last night that he is only 30, that Ryan Giggs changed his game and played until he was 40. But Rooney is a different beast and has not ducked international duty and disappeared to ‘Dubai’ in friendly weeks. on the contrary, when fit he has wanted to play. And he still wants to play, even if he starts on the bench.
Rooney said he had seen the heroes of ’ 66 at St George’s Park last week and hoped, looking ahead to the next World Cup, to be ‘remembered like them’.
But the reality is this: he will be remembered as much for the 53 goals and that brilliance at Euro 2004 as he will for too many moments of disappointment at the major tournaments that followed.
But he should also be remembered for last night, for fronting up when this was probably the nadir of his career. It was one of his finest performances, for sure.