HE MIGHT be banned for the group stages, but Wayne Rooney has to be on the plane when England head out to Euro 2012.
A three-match suspension seems a tough punishment for what was basically an act of petulance, but it’s been handed down and England have to get on with it.
There’s no doubt they will miss red-carded Rooney, who to my mind is a genuinely world-class player.
It’s not just his undoubted finishing skills, but his superb workrate and willingness to do his bit for the team.
Anyone would want to have a Rooney alongside them, and when he does become available for next year’s championships, it will be a real shot in the arm for Fabio Capello and whole England camp.
What they have to do is ensure they get through the first phase, and even without Wayne, England have enough good players to do that.
Capello can name 23 in his squad for Poland and the Ukraine, so there is plenty of room to accommodate the Manchester United man.
Hopefully by the time he’s available for action, Rooney will be champing at the bit, although that energy has to be harnessed in a positive way.
People say he has to learn his lesson after taking a kick at Montenegro’s Miodrag Dzudovic, but can a leopard change its spots?
It’s not the first time Rooney has felt the full force of football’s powers that be, and I’d be amazed if it’s the last.
Unfortunately and for whatever reason, Rooney has flaws in his temperament, but without that desperate desire to be a winner, which on occasions spirals out of control, he wouldn’t be half the player he is.
I think you have to accept him for what he is, an aggressive centre- forward in the old-school mould.
It’s also worth trying to take a few positives from the situation.
Rooney, who already has a busy schedule at club level, will get the chance of a rest, because Capello will have to use the friendlies between now and Euro 2012 to look at his options for the matches that really matter.
He should only use Rooney as a substitute at best, and that berth in the starting side provides a great opportunity for others to come in and show what they are about.
It could be the start of a great international career for one lucky player!
WHAT on earth is going on with the Olympic Stadium?
I think most people, myself included, believed West Ham’s occupancy after the 2014 Games was done and dusted.
Now it’s all up in the air again, with the venue being put out to tender, and while I read a piece by Hammers vice-chairman Karren Brady, right, saying that the latest developments made no difference to the club’s desire to move in, it’s surely less likely than it once was.
I don’t think the West Ham supporters will be bothered, because they love Upton Park and would far rather stay at a redeveloped version then go to Stratford.
The Olympic Stadium is a superb facility, and the fact that the Games are coming to this country is brilliant.
We also have a good chance of hosting the 2017 world athletics championships, another coup.
But it’s hard to see how football and athletics can successfully mix, and in my experience, nobody particularly likes a football pitch being surrounded by a running track.
Manchester City might have made a success of their move to a stadium built to stage the Commonwealth Games, but they were able to get rid of the track.
At least our old friends at Leyton Orient, who weren’t pleased by the prospect of new neighbours, are happier.
