Rooney bust-up: Wayne inspires England to win but Lawrenson reveals striker's row with Ferguson
By Stephen Davies Last updated at 11:49 PM on 28th March 2009
Wayne Rooney will win his 50th cap in England's World Cup qualifier against Ukraine at Wembley on Wednesday - but the prospect of reaching that milestone has been overshadowed by revelations of a bust-up with Sir Alex Ferguson.
Rooney, who scored twice in yesterday's 4-0 friendly victory over Slovakia, taking his international tally to 21 goals, was involved in a training ground row with the Manchester United Old Trafford manager just days after their shock 4-1 defeat by Liverpool.
The defeat blew the Premier League title race wide open and a furious Ferguson reacted by dropping Rooney to the bench for last week's 2-0 defeat at Fulham. When the England striker was brought on at half-time he appeared to be out of control.
Rooney was booked twice and lashed out at a corner flag as he left the pitch after being sent off by referee Phil Dowd. Mark Lawrenson, the former Liverpool player who is now a BBC television pundit, said yesterday: 'Everybody knows that he had a massive row with Fergie after the Liverpool game and was then left out. It's an ongoing problem.'
England manager Fabio Capello branded Rooney 'a crazy man' after his wild antics at Craven Cottage, although the Italian later backtracked by claiming he said it as a joke.
But other big names in football, among them former England manager Sir Bobby Robson, have urged Rooney to calm down. Sir Bobby, writing in today's Mail on Sunday, says: 'You feel the red mist is still there, ready to erupt at just the wrong time when the stakes are at their highest.
'I was in Gelsenkirchen in 2006 when Rooney got sent off against Portugal for a stamp. I was convinced England were on their way to winning that game until the sending-off.
'Rooney cannot afford to let that happen again when the next World Cup comes around. His behaviour still needs to improve.'
Rooney was on his best behaviour at Wembley yesterday and his contribution galvanised England's display.
He has been seen to have cleaned up his act this season but a feud with his United manager comes at the worst time for Ferguson and his record-chasing team.
United, who are chasing a unique five trophies, looked to have an 11th Premier League title in the bag but back-to-back defeats by Liverpool and Fulham have changed everything.
With United not playing Aston Villa until next Sunday, Liverpool can jump to the top of the table if they succeed where Ferguson's men failed and win at Fulham on Saturday, although United will have two games in hand overnight.
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