Danny Rose: From The Dressing Room

Wayne Rooney. Is he in the right or in the wrong?

I have read reports saying he is a disgrace, he is going to end up like Gazza and he should be stripped of the England captaincy.

All of which I completely disagree with.

The Manchester United forward was snapped, apparently drunk while on international duty.

The pictures were then sold to the national press.

I’m not condoning what he did. I am not saying it is acceptable.

What he did was put himself in a potentially precarious scenario.

The way people can be exploited by the snap of a smartphone makes it all but impossible for Rooney and celebrities alike to live life like normal human beings.

And that was, inevitably, what happened.

The FA haven’t covered themselves in glory this time.

Firstly – and without doubt – they haven’t come out to fight his corner, effectively hanging him out to dry.

I expect it was their recommendation he issued a public apology.

Secondly, not being at all transparent when it comes to information allegedly ordered to Rooney.

Was he allowed in the bar past a certain time? What about the members of staff he was with?

All of this information conveniently being drip-fed to the media as the story blows over.

Yes, it is a privilege to be the captain of your country and you should lead by example.

But Jamie Carragher made a great point regarding the situation.

He said: ‘Wayne Rooney wasn’t the only player to go out because the rest of the squad were in a night club.

‘I know where I would want my player, in the hotel bar.’

I’m sure the other England players who went out only had water and were tucked up in bed by midnight!

The whole media circus surrounding Rooney in the past 18 months or maybe longer, has been – the majority of the time – of a negative nature.

Instead of appreciating his outstanding achievements on the pitch, the hierarchy of the media would rather revel in his misdemeanours.

The slightest opportunity to shoot down our country’s leading goalscorer is taken.

Much like Carl Baker cutting in from the right!

I understand if everything the paper printed was rosey and nice the readership would eventually lose interest.

They have to fuel the public’s thirst for celebrity blood.

The moment he does something human, the media jump all over it and it’s front page news.

We have all these international problems going on – from the earthquakes in New Zealand, to global warming or the US presidential election.

Yet the tabloids, in particular, want to propel celebrity controversy into the public domain.

Personally, I don’t think he’s done much wrong.

He probably shouldn’t have drank as much as he did – particularly given he is injured and alcohol slows down the recovery process.

But in the grand scheme of things, it’s just a football player celebrating a huge win over our oldest rivals in Scotland.

Nothing more, nothing less.