Never mind your fine, Rooney... this is real injustice

By Brian Reade

Published 20:58 06/01/12

• 

Wayne Rooney didn't look his old self at Newcastle on Wednesday (and I'm not just talking about his comical tufty tuft).

He looked petulant, weary and distracted. Which may back up reports that he was fuming at the injustice of being dropped and fined £200,000 by Manchester United for breaking club rules after spending Boxing Night in a restaurant.

Well here's a thought Wayne. To you, that £200,000 was one week's wages. The waiter who served you in that restaurant would need to spend 16 years doing that minimum wage job to earn what you get paid every seven days.

A job you may very well have been doing yourself if you weren't pretty handy with a football.

Now that, my friend, is what you call an injustice.

**

I can't remember the the last time that all three sides promoted to the Premier League have sat outside the relegation places halfway through the season.

Just as I can't remember three teams coming up and acquitting themselves so well by trying to play the right way.

QPR need more players and are right now just managing to tread water but Norwich in ninth and Swansea, 12th are flourishing.

Both look comfortable against the best sides and are going about their work playing decent, attractive football.

I hope all three continue to go for it, and I hope they all stay up. Not least because the teams promoted this summer may look at the way they have played and think, "we can do well in this division by parking the coach in the car-park, not outside the penalty area."

Having said that, if West Ham make it, they may need a new manager for that philosophy to work.

**

This week it's been claimed a Barnsley fan taunted Doncaster's Billy Sharp over the death of his baby son and Telford fans chanted about Gary Speed's death while playing Wrexham.

The next time a player is banned for making retaliatory gestures to fans, will the FA take into account that there is now no depths to which our wonderful, yet easily-offended crowds will not plummet?

**

Style tip to Roberto Mancini: You may look cool in that scarf. Your clothes may look like they've been cut by the finest hand-made tailor in Milan. You may make the rest of us grey-haired wretches wish we could wear our dreary locks so well.

But running down the line waving an imaginary card at the referee, as you did when Yaya Toure was brought down for a penalty on Tuesday, makes you look naffer than Colin Hunt from the Fast Show.

Keep your dignity and you'll keep your style.

Fancy winning £3,000 for FREE this month? Play Mirror Football Streak for your chance to win cash prizes! Start predicting now!