Wayne Rooney - Being a bit scary

Yes, I know it is ground that has been covered before and I know that Rooney has had a taste of wearing the Captain’s armband already (for club and country) but I think now is the time to take it a bit more seriously.

Fergie has gone on record as saying that he does prefer midfielders, defenders and even goalkeepers to be captain because they get a better view of the game than centre-forwards but there was once a certain Monsieur Cantona who wore the armband during Fergie’s reign and that didn’t exactly end in failure.

Besides, Rooney is hardly the archetypal centre-forward – you are as likely to see him playing in his own half as the opposition’s – depending on what is required.

However, I have been watching Rooney for some seven or eight years now and even when he was at Everton, what I saw was a Red Devil.

When he arrived at Manchester United and scored a hat-trick on his debut as a mere eighteen year old (in a Champions League match, might I add) there was no doubt that we were looking at the real deal here.

Since then, he has just gone from strength to strength. Yes, he does have his off games but who doesn’t? What Wayne Rooney always does, no matter how things are going for him personally or the team generally, is give 100%.

In his younger days, he was a bit hot-headed and whilst that aspect of his personality sometimes bubbles to the surface even now, it is becoming less and less noticable. He seems to be a man, a husband, a father and idol to millions of kids perfectly at ease with himself and his numerous roles and is looking to do everything on and off the field to the best of his ability.

I don’t think there is a man in the red of United who embodies the spirit of Manchester United more perfectly than Wayne Rooney. The only blot on his CV is that he was born in Croxteth and not Newton Heath but we can’t hold that against him. Cantona was born in Marseille, Robson was born in Chester-Le-Street, Bruce was born in Corbridge and Keane was born in Cork.

Giggs is the preferred captain at the moment and it is hard to argue with that. As a role model, Giggs has no equal. He has been there, seen it, done it (over and over and over again) and is still playing today as though he has won nothing and has everything to prove.

However, if Giggs lacks one thing that Rooney has in abundance, it is a big mouth.

Manchester United have been crying out for someone to drag the team forward by the scruff of the neck if necessary for quite a few years now (since Keane left, in fact).  Rooney is the man for the job.

Provided the powers-that-be don’t make an almighty cock-up when they appoint Fergie’s successor, I can see Rooney at United for the next ten years and within the next two seasons, he will be the Captain.

When Rooney made that stupid back-pass against Hull the other night, he looked immediately towards Fergie with the kind of sheepish look a kid gives his dad when he knows he has just done something naughty. He looked towards Fergie because he knew he had nothing to fear on the pitch.

When Rooney is Captain, the other players will know they will have to answer to him in the first instance and Fergie later.

Give him the job, Fergie. Give him the authority to kick Berbie, Nani and anyone else not doing the business they are paid for on a regular basis up the arse.

Call it delegation.