Rooney Shows Us What The Respect Campaign Is All About

I refused to write this post before the Liverpool - Aston Villa match today so as not to tempt the fates, but as I write it is 3-0 Liverpool at halftime. Karma be damned!! (It's now 4-0!!! Now it's 5-0!!)

Yesterday, Wayne Rooney displayed he is world class in the 2-0 loss to Fulham. World class hothead liability. The England striker came on at halftime for Dimitar Berbatov and proved to be a dangerous player--dangerous to ManU's title chances as he was sent off for a petulant second yellow late in the match. It was the table toppers second red in the match and means Rooney, Scholes and Vidic will all miss the next league match and possibly Evra due to yellow card accumulation. Berbatov may also miss the match due to injury.

Rooney acted like a seven year old child throwing a temper tantrum in the closing stages of the Fulham loss. After referee Phil Dowd blew a play dead, Rooney thought it wise to hurl the ball thirty yards directly at the referee. Video of the incident can be seen at 101GreatGoals.

The temerity of Rooney is unbelievable. Rooney was already sitting on a yellow and believed his second was undeserved despite his javelin throw of the ball at the ref. His actions lacked any decency and then piles on top of it with a verbal assault on Dowd. Any protestations the cards were undeserved are meritless and quite obviously given by those with red-tinted glasses.

Hey, you got a spot there.

Rooney topped it all off by with a right cross to the corner flag on his way out.

Eat your heart out Rickey Hatton.

Unfortunately, this is not a new story with Rooney who has shown himself repeatedly incapable of restraining his emotions on the pitch or having any thought about the repercussions of his actions. I like to tease one of my English mates that Rooney is England's Dirk Kuyt because they both are tireless workers on the pitch, running end to end, defending, and blessed with unfortunate looks. Lo and behold Kuyt has 8 goals and 4 assists in the league this season compared to Rooney's 9 goals and 4 assists. Rooney leads in red cards too.

This is really an unfair comparison to Kuyt though because the Dutchman will never hurt you on the pitch with childish antics like Rooney. And, to compare Rooney to a world class striker is utterly ridiculous at this moment. I recently had a large debate about Ibrahimovic and his status as a world class player and my counterpart had him lower than Rooney.

I say bollocks because Ibrahimovic has never been a huge detriment to his club like Shrek. Until Rooney can keep a cool head he will never be a world class player and frankly I don't think this boy-man has ever been a position requiring him to change as everbody has indulged his antics because of his talent and potential. I don't believe he will be able to change now, although I hope he will.

[Photos: The Guardian]