Rooney made ´bad judgement call´ – Hoddle

Former England manager Glenn Hoddle says Wayne Rooney “made a bad judgement call” in being pictured, seemingly drunk, at a wedding held in the national team hotel.

Rooney has been in the headlines after photographs emerged of the Manchester United and England skipper apparently intoxicated with guests, having started drinking 24 hours after the 3-0 World Cup qualifying win over Scotland at Wembley on Friday, reportedly staying at the event until the early hours of Sunday morning.

Hoddle, who managed England at the 1998 World Cup in France, encountered a similar lapse in discipline when Teddy Sheringham overindulged shortly before the tournament.

And while Hoddle believes there are clear parallels between the two situations, he does not expect Rooney – who has lashed out at the media’s handling of the incident – to be stripped of the captaincy.

“As with Wayne, Teddy was an experienced member of the squad,” he wrote in the Daily Mail. “As such, I felt he should have been more sensible. 

“As England captain and the most experienced player in the squad, Wayne knows the responsibilities he has. 

“But having picked up a minor injury on Friday night it was unlikely that he was going to play on Tuesday; as such he had another six days before a game. And he was on a night off.

“The sensible and classy thing to have done would be to drop into the wedding, have a couple of photos taken with the bride and groom and then go to bed. In staying around until later he has made a bad judgment call.

“It’s right that he apologises. But it’s not a case of having let people down — he’ll be annoyed that he’s let himself down.

“But I don’t think there’s any question that he loses the captaincy over this. For one, we don’t know how much he drank. Photos can be deceptive, and, by all accounts, he was fit for training the next day. Players drink much less now than when I was a player and that’s positive.

“As a manager you have to able to trust players. No one has a problem with them having a couple of glasses of wine with a meal on a night off. It’s knowing where the line has to be drawn that is important. Wayne misjudged it and that’s why [interim manager] Gareth [Southgate] will have to speak to him.”

Rooney was left out of the starting XI for Manchester United’s Premier League match at home to Arsenal on Saturday, coming off the bench in the second half of the 1-1 draw at Old Trafford.