Report: Rooney defied Southgate; set to lose England captaincy

Wayne Rooney: Slammed in the press

Wayne Rooney: Slammed in the press

Wayne Rooney will be stripped of the England captaincy after defying Gareth Southgate during his recent ‘boozy antics’, according to a report.

The Sun claim Rooney’s place not only as international skipper but also in the squad is under scrutiny, after it emerged that interim manager Southgate ‘ordered’ him to go to bed as he was drinking at a wedding reception in a hotel the England players were staying in.

The tabloid claims that Southgate told the 31-year-old to “finish up for the night”, and that Rooney initially ‘disappeared’. However, the forward returned later in the night, defying his manager.

The Manchester United striker has already apologised for the incident, while Gary Neville has claimed that was not necessary and suggested other players and staff should have taken the rap too.

The Sun, who first released the pictures of Rooney partying at a hotel until 5am in the morning during international duty – albeit on a designated day off – add that he “now faces an uncertain future with the national team”.

FA chief executive Martin Glenn yesterday tried to play down the incident, but did admit there would be a formal investigation after rules were broken.

“We’re getting a proper investigation of what actually went on – ‘were there other FA staff involved – yes or no?’ – and we’re doing a review of it obviously,” said Glenn in a statement.

“It’s disappointing. I think it’s appropriate he apologised because it doesn’t set a great tone for the England captain but, that said, I don’t want to over-dramatise it either.

Wayne Rooney The Sun

“We’re talking to anyone who was there on Saturday night to find out if anyone from the backroom staff was involved and then we’ll take a view, but we don’t know what the facts are yet.

“I think it’d be ‘why on earth are you doing that given there is an understanding, a team agreement around alcohol consumption during camps?’, so there would be questions asked for sure.”

Meanwhile, the Daily Star claim Rooney is in the frame to start against Arsenal on Saturday lunchtime despite picking up a knee injury, which apparently forced him to miss out against Spain.

The Times claim Rooney was unavailable for selection having suffered a knee injury in an unfortunate changing room incident.

The newspaper say the 31-year-old banged his knee after tripping over an energy drink.