Rooney Charged: Faces Two Match Ban for cursing | Appeal lost

Mark Ogden: Manchester United's Wayne Rooney should not be punished by FA for swearing outburst against West Ham

So Wayne Rooney delivered a foul-mouthed address to the nation before adding that there really is no such thing as Santa Claus.

Ok, I made that last bit up. The Manchester United forward did not expose the deception of parents across the country and it’s lucky for him that he managed to bite his tongue long enough to avoid earning the genuine scorn of those of us with children of an impressionable age.

Had Wayne Rooney crossed that line, he would be getting a real sense today of the outrage of a nation.

As it stands, after barking a four-letter rant into a television camera at Upton Park, the 25-year-old is instead the central figure in a debate about role models and how social decline can be traced back to the utterances of overpaid footballers.

My five-year-old boy is obsessed with Wayne Rooney. He has the kit, with ‘Rooney 10’ on the back, and has now asked for the undershirt worn by Rooney and many of his Premier League contemporaries.

He is also bewitched by Cristiano Ronaldo and Fernando Torres, like most boys entranced by the cartoon-like superhero image of football’s modern-day icons, but he has yet to ask for an earring to look like Ronaldo and, so far at least, he does not wander around in a Torres-style sulk, but there is time for that.

And equally, despite his Rooney fixation, my son has not developed a habit of elbowing other children in the back of the head.

Does he swear? I hope not, but once your little boy begins school and shares a playground with 10 and 11-year-olds, it is inevitable that he will hear the kind of language usually only associated with footballers, workmen across the world and parents who trap their fingers in doors or whack their thumbs with a hammer.

But he did not respond to Rooney’s rant this weekend by telling friends or family where to go to in an overly-aggressive, expletive-laden manner.
His only observation during or after United’s 4-2 victory was to ask, ‘why is Rooney pinching the ball,’ as he walked off at the end of the game having scored a hat-trick.

Kids are often smarter than adults credit them to be. They know bad behaviour and naughty words without having to be told about them.

Parents will always attempt to protect children when the likes of Rooney tarnish their role-model status, but the chances are that they have already heard far worse in the playground, from older siblings or on the internet.

When Eric Cantona jumped into the Selhurst Park crowd in 1995, he was rightly punished and banned as a result of the incident, but while the Frenchman was the iconic figure of the Premier League at that stage, how many five-year-olds have grown into 21-year-old crowd-jumpers?

As a five-year-old, Rooney would have watched Gary Lineker score goals for England without so much as a stray elbow or swear word in sight, yet he has not become Saint Wayne of Croxteth as a result.

But maybe football has become too earthy and uncouth for children to embrace.

So if you can handle the spitting of Tiger Woods, the swearing of Andy Murray or the eye-gouging of some of the more uncontrollable characters in rugby, then there are alternatives.

Or maybe not.
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Mark Ogden: Manchester United's Wayne Rooney should not be punished by FA for swearing outburst against West Ham - Telegraph
 
phelans shorts said:
Ferguson got banned for saying the ref was biased, which is entirely reasonable for a 3 game ban.
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No they said it themselves, they did it because it's Ferguson and he should no better and they were setting an example for other mangers because he is so high profile.

It wouldn't have been a 3 game ban for another manager because they showed cases of other managers even more blatantly questioning the refs integrity but, nothing was done.

Same's going to happen to Rooney - they'll use him to set an example to no avail. No conspiracy that they don't want United to win - just spastic logic that they can use United to set an example, like anyone is going to care.
 
I love when fans complain that the FA is biased in favor of United...

What they should be questioning are the FA's motives really for the good of the game in general or are their decisions based on promoting their own questionable agenda.
 
Shimo said:
No they said it themselves, they did it because it's Ferguson and he should no better and they were setting an example for other mangers because he is so high profile.

It wouldn't have been a 3 game ban for another manager because they showed cases of other managers even more blatantly questioning the refs integrity but, nothing was done.

Same's going to happen to Rooney - they'll use him to set an example to no avail. No conspiracy that they don't want United to win - just spastic logic that they can use United to set an example, like anyone is going to care.
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A 3 match ban for what he said is correct, when you have the history of recieving as many warnings as Ferguson has then they will catch up with you.

204Red said:
I love when fans complain that the FA is biased in favor of United...

What they should be questioning are the FA's motives really for the good of the game in general or are their decisions based on promoting their own questionable agenda.
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I just love the ludicrous claims that they are biased for anyone tbh.
 
B Cantona said:
The rest of the world is full of know nothing nationalistic tossers I swear

Yet again; clearly not a national issue. It's an issue of United, and not United
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Of course its a fecking national issue..your country is getting worse than the Americans by sensationalizing everything, especially the trivial, out of proportion just exactly like this non incident.
 
phelans shorts said:
A 3 match ban for what he said is correct, when you have the history of recieving as many warnings as Ferguson has then they will catch up with you.



I just love the ludicrous claims that they are biased for anyone tbh.
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There is something in it though, not in a vendetta sense or agenda to screw certain clubs/individuals over, more in that they are knee-jerkers with no sense of consistency who only act when prompted by media campaigns(mostly aimed at us through said vendetta/agenda to sensationlise)or moral outrages.

Each case isn't taken at face value but instead judged on level of media coverage/hysteria, being the most high-profile club in the country, we are the ones that cop the flak and get made an example of. Sorry state of affairs really.
 
R_Nick said:
Mark Ogden: Manchester United's Wayne Rooney should not be punished by FA for swearing outburst against West Ham - Telegraph
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One of the comments from that article:
I could care less who won the Premier League, which over the years to those interested in competitive sport has become an increasingly devalued competition. The issue is largely decided by who pays the highest wages.(see book, Why England Lose). So why bother with the football at all.

Rooney has cut an increasingly desperate figure over the last year so I do have some sympathy for him but his meltdown yesterday cannot escape punishment. The real culprit is Sir Alex who has a track record of demanding success at all costs. This has led to players with fragile personalties doing the daftest things in his colours.
The FA should punish Rooney, Sir Alex and club. The latter two for failing to control their players and bringing the game into disrepute.
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Can't tell if they're being serious or not.
 
olesmyhero said:
One of the comments from that article:


Can't tell if they're being serious or not.
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That's fecking ridiculous. For starters the highest paying club's for player salaries are Chelsea and City, teams we've finished above/been more successful than a considerable number of times since they won their respective pots of gold. Secondly, how can anyone criticise SAF for creating a winning culture and an environment where success is demanded and being the best you can be is a by-product of that? Absolute nonsense fuelled by a ridiculous moral viewpoint spawned by the ABU agenda that exists in everyone with an interest in English football except people with a vested interest in United.
 
Here's a hint to Sky and the FA. Don't stick cameras in their faces during celebrations, and if you do, turn off the direct audio from it. Footballers as a whole aren't the brightest or most polite in the world. You might hear a bad word if they get excited or angry, just like everyone else.

Also, how is the language abusive or insulting when he's not addressing anyone? I realize the Daily Mail is staffed by knuckle-dragging idiots, but how can they possibly claim that this fits under abusing the referee?

Meanwhile, Michael Essien gets away with a two-footed, off the ground, studs up tackle with no mention. Unbelievable. Seriously, the entire FA should be fired for gross incompetence.
 
Ramshock said:
Of course its a fecking national issue..your country is getting worse than the Americans by sensationalizing everything, especially the trivial, out of proportion just exactly like this non incident.
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1) No it isn't

2) Again, this is blatantly a United vs non United issue. There are foreign rival supporters slating Rooney for this as much as our press our

The issue is one of ABU's. Your issue is that you're a xenophobic prick
 
I've decided to dedicate my "location" to Wayne Rooney as I feel the FA can do one!

We're Man United, we do what we want (unless the FA says otherwise of course...)
 
The outrage seems to be media-generated rather than fan-driven. Can't believe MOTD2 dedicated five minutes of analysis to talking about the swearing rather than anything tangible which actually merited discussion.
 
I'm almost certain he's gonna get banned for this tomorrow.
 
Its United and The FA.


Can you seriously expect anything than a ban for Rooney considering the media-hype?
 
Sir Matt said:
Here's a hint to Sky and the FA. Don't stick cameras in their faces during celebrations, and if you do, turn off the direct audio from it. Footballers as a whole aren't the brightest or most polite in the world. You might hear a bad word if they get excited or angry, just like everyone else.
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As if Sky would do that. They don't give a damn about kids. It they turned off the sound, they will not be able to have stories like that.

I don't expect him to be banned. There has to be a limit to how idiots the FA are. Though I may well be wrong about that...
 
Football is a working class game, the people complaining about this either have children or do not attend football matches, if they attended football matches, even a grass level neutral game then they would hovel in horror at the obscenity of the chants. feck is just a word, I don't see how anyone could take offense to it.
 
Heinzesight said:
Anyone got a link or gif of this Essien 'tackle'...how the feck has this been glossed over?
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y3mo.gif
 
So in terms of severity in the world of football:

A flailing arm > Shooting someone
Swearing > two footed, studs up lunges
 
Just seen that Poll 'article'

"I have a friend who sat and watched West Ham versus Manchester United in his living room with his six-year-old son, who asked: ‘Daddy, why has Wayne Rooney just said ‘f***’? It was not what he expected at lunchtime on Saturday. Why should we tolerate such an invasion and one that is likely to come without any punishment?

:lol: feck off Graham you wum tosser!

edit: don't ask me why but I kept reading, pretty much every paragraph could be singled out and laughed at for how pathetic it is, but this bit at the end typifies Poll for the weasel his is:

Football is a game where passions run high, but when a player seeks out a camera to ensure that his foul language can be seen and heard, action must follow.

Rooney sought out the camera? Erm, I don't think so, the cameraman ran over to him and shoved the camera in his face, not the other way around!
 
In the US, we occasionally hear choice words when cameras come up close to players. But there's never any media outrage seeking fines and/or suspensions. And we're a far more PC country than most.
 
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