| Auxerre v Real Madrid: match preview Read a full preview of the Champions League Group G match between Auxerre and Real Madrid at Stade Abbé-Deschamps, Auxerre, on Tuesday Sept 28 2010, kick-off 19.45 BST. telegraph.co.uk |
Fury coach allowed back on bench North Queensland coach Franz Straka will be able to coach the club in their round 11 match against Perth Glory. foxsports.com.au |
Rooney risks facing wrath of Ferguson The Manchester United forward knew what he was doing by contradicting the manager, but it was not the wisest courseThe first thing to say about Wayne Rooney is that his problem is not actually with his ankle but at the other end of his body. All this fuss when it is really that space between his ears Manchester United would really like to send for a hospital scan.The problem is there is no rehabilitation programme for a player with damaged or broken self-belief and, in the case of Rooney, it has gone on long enough now to create the sense that something deep and fundamental in his make-up has been pushed off course. His vitality appears to have disappeared, replaced by an entirely different form of body language. It is only six months since he was making a clean sweep of last season's player-of-the-year awards but the vibrant, prodigiously gifted player of then is now experiencing football's equivalent of a comedian telling jokes only to hear nothing but silence – "dying" is the word they use on the circuit – and in the process of falling off the tree hitting every branch on the way down.The truth is that nobody can be certain of Rooney's motives after England's draw with Montenegro on Tuesday, when he did his best to make it clear he did not have an ankle injury. That contradicted what his manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, has been saying for the past few weeks. What can be said with absolute clarity, however, is that it was potentially divisive, and almost mutinous given that he was, in effect, telling the world we should not believe Ferguson."I've had no problems with my ankle all season." All season? "None. I've been training for the last two months. I haven't missed a training session, so there's no problem with my fitness." So why did Sir Alex say you did? A shrug … "Dunno."It was a strange exchange, initiated by Rooney, and it has left the firm suspicion – deliberately, it seems – that it must have been another mistruth from a manager who has previous when it comes to exaggerating, or even concocting, injuries. (Ferguson once dismissed questions of Quinton Fortune being injured when, in fact, he had broken a leg the previous day). Ferguson said at one point that Rooney would be out for up to three weeks and he cited the ankle injury when leaving him out of the games at Sunderland and Valencia, even complaining that his player had kept it quiet from the medical staff.Yet perhaps this is one of those cases where everyone is being a little economical with the truth. Rooney did, after all, attach an ice pack to his ankle after being substituted at Bolton a few weeks ago and, when he was left out of the Valencia game, was photographed going into the hospital that United use for x-rays.Either way, the issue here is not so much the state of his ankle but why Rooney should feel compelled to go on the record disputing what his manager has said, especially when everything we know about Ferguson suggests that, as always, everything he has said publicly has been with the intention of protecting his player.This was in the "mixed-zone" interview area at Wembley, where it is optional for the England players to stop. The ones who prefer to avoid the microphones usually have their tactics of avoidance carefully choreographed: headphones on, eyes forward, sometimes an imaginary telephone call. Rooney himself has not broken his stride since the first couple of weeks in the World Cup. But on this occasion he stopped for anyone who called out his name, in radio, TV or the written press – and it was the same message every time. Rooney wanted the word out.A certain amount of supposition is being applied here but could it be this was a form of retaliation against the man who has been leaving him out of games? We cannot be certain what has been said behind the gates of Carrington, but is Rooney nursing a grievance about the fact Ferguson has decided he needs a spell out of the team while his personal life is in turmoil?An argument could be made that he simply did not realise how it would come across – but it would be a generous one. Or maybe he did not feel obliged to recognise an "injury" when it may never have been anything more than a bruise, a slight swelling or a kick; nothing to stop him training.But a football pitch can have therapeutic qualities for a man with off-field personal issues and Rooney has been denied that opportunity. "You need games to get your fitness in," he told one interviewer. "I played a few games and felt I was getting sharp but then missed three or four and then [didn't] feel as sharp as I thought I would do. In this league you need to keep playing because if you're not in full fitness it's difficult to break teams down."Those words can be construed in a way where he seems to be blaming his poor form, in part, on the number of weekends off he has had so far this season. In which case Rooney is playing a dangerous game when you consider all those other players who have felt sufficiently emboldened to undermine Ferguson through the sports pages – only to find out, to quote the man himself, that the "manager nivvah loses an argument".All the while, there is nothing but silence when it comes to Rooney's new contract. When the Guardian raised the question today, United replied with a standard response from the chief executive, David Gill, that the club's policy was not to discuss an individual's contract negotiations. Yet it was Gill himself who had stated several times this year that everything would be sorted out once the player was back from the World Cup.The notion that Rooney could turn his back on Old Trafford and move to Spain still feels far-fetched, and it is a knee-jerk reaction to assume his comments about the ankle will inevitably lead to a showdown with Ferguson. What it suggests, however, is that player and manager have their own differences. How serious, we may never know – or certainly not for a while. Ferguson has cancelled tomorrow's press briefing for the fourth week in succession.Wayne RooneySir Alex FergusonManchester UnitedDaniel Taylorguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
World Cup 2018 bid: senior Fifa officials accused of receving secret payments Three senior Fifa officials have been accused of receiving millions in secret payments in 1990s. telegraph.co.uk |
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