Sir Clive Woodward criticises Man Utd's Wayne Rooney
Former England rugby coach Sir Clive Woodward has criticised Manchester United's Wayne Rooney after the striker's expletive-filled celebration.
Rooney swore at a TV camera during United's win at West Ham on Saturday and Woodward has also questioned United manager Sir Alex Ferguson's role.
"Part of the coach's job is to coach people to handle pressure moments," said Woodward.
"As a coach, you would need to ask 'Why would you as a player do that?'"
Woodward, who also described Rooney's action as "very uncool", added: "You would hope clubs would be big enough to ban the players themselves."
The Football Association is set to make public a verdict on Rooney on Thursday.
The England international has accepted a charge of using offensive language after he repeatedly swore down a television camera but has appealed against a two-match ban.
Rooney claims his punishment, which makes him unavailable for Saturday's league match against Fulham and the FA Cup semi-final against Manchester City on 16 April, is "clearly excessive".
Rooney's United team-mate Rio Ferdinand believes the media should stop "lynching" the England striker.
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"We should follow him as a footballer rather than keep lynching him for a lot of the stuff that goes on," said Ferdinand.
"I wouldn't say he is innocent in a lot of the stuff that has happened but sometimes because of the player he is and who he is the reaction can be over the top.
"Wayne Rooney swearing on TV, as much as I don't condone it, is not front page news. There are bigger things going on in the world.
"There are things happening in Libya and Ivory Coast and we are talking about Wayne Rooney on the front page of newspapers because he swore at a camera."
But Woodward, now director of sport at the British Olympic Association, believes Rooney should face action for setting the wrong example to young fans who watched the match live on television.
"Rooney's behaviour has been very uncool - to say the least," he said.
"Children will see it and say 'if he can do it I can do it too' and behave like that towards parents and teachers."
Woodward, who coached England to the Rugby World Cup in 2003, worked in fooball for a little over a year as technical support director at Southampton.
The 55-year-old questioned whether Rooney's on-pitch achievements justified his billing as a star of world sport.
"Is Wayne Rooney an iconic figure? In my view, at the moment, no," he added.
"Iconic figures are people who really delivered at international level.
"Football at the top level is the World Cup - people like Pele and Maradona are the iconic figures of football.
"These people may have had chequered backgrounds but you remembered them."
Rooney's two World Cup campaigns have been largely miserable experiences.
In 2010, he used a pitchside camera to criticise England's fans who booed the team after their 0-0 draw against Algeria.
The team, under the leadership of Fabio Capello, were subsequently defeated 4-1 by Germany in the first knock-out round.
In the 2006 tournament, he was sent off as England lost on penalties in their quarter-final against Portugal.
Rooney is yet to score in eight games at the finals.
The controversy over his latest indiscretion has coincided with drinks manufacter Coca-Cola confirming that it would not renew his personal endorsement deal.
Rooney had worked with the company since 2007.
"Our contract with Wayne Rooney came to an end last year and we mutually agreed that we would not renew our relationship," read a statement.
