SCOUSE INNOCENCE CLAIM

Last updated : 07 August 2006 By Ed
From Paul Hince in the MEN

FOR as long as the game has been played, a footballer's reputation has always been a double-edged sword. A reputation can make a player's life easy or it can make his life hell.

Take Gary Lineker as an example. In his long career for club and country do you think he never committed a foul serious enough to warrant either a booking or a dismissal? Of course he did. It would have been un-natural if he hadn't.

If you want a more recent example of what I'm getting at, let me turn the spotlight on Master Cristiano Ronaldo of Manchester United. I have no facts or figures to back up what I'm about to say but I would wager my mortgage that last season Ronaldo was denied a bucketful of free-kicks for fouls committed against him by opponents. Why should that be the case? Because in his time at Old Trafford the waltzing winger from Portugal has acquired the reputation of being a diver - or a "simulator" as referees like to call it. And referees judge on reputations.

Now Ronaldo's club team-mate Wayne Rooney believes referees are judging him on reputation alone. The England star believes that he will be a marked man in the coming Premiership season. Not marked by opponents, but marked by referees who will not give him the same leeway afforded to other players. Sympathetic refereeing for other players, zero tolerance for Rooney. That is the young Scouser's fear.

I've got a message for the Rooney Monster. No, you are not being paranoid, Wayne. You should be afraid. Very afraid. Referees are judging you by reputation and not by deeds. And it's worse than you think. Because your reputation for being football's equivalent of a street mugger is not just restricted to England - it's an impression shared by referees right around the world.

At the back end of last week, I watched United playing against Porto in the Amsterdam Tournament. While jumping up to head the ball, Rooney caught the face of the Brazilian defender Pepe with his forearm. Both of Rooney's arms were out-stretched as he jumped. There is no way to gain any height other than to stretch out your arms. You try jumping with your arms pinned to your side. That one of Rooney's arms made contact with the defender's face is indisputable. It was also completely accidental. Rooney never took his eyes off the ball when going up for that header. There was never any intention on his part to foul his opponent, although you would never have thought so from Pepe's theatrical response. He looked as though he had copped one of Ricky Hatton's left hooks.

A referee with an understanding of the game would have done nothing more than award Porto a free-kick. A fussy referee might - just might - have shown Rooney a yellow card for dangerous play. The Dutch referee in that game, Ruud Bossen, gave Rooney a straight red and it is my absolute belief that he would not have sent off any other player on that pitch for the same "offence".

There can be one reason for that and one reason only. That Dutch referee went into the match between United and Porto with a preconceived impression of Rooney. He had already bought into Rooney's reputation for being a bruiser. That sending-off confirmed the fear that Rooney and I share. Zero tolerance from referees for the best player in England whether he is performing his magic either at home or abroad.

What can be done to stop the persecution of this country's finest young talent? The FA can take the first step towards rectifying the situation when they receive the report from the Dutch referee on Rooney's dismissal against Porto. They should tear that report into bits and chuck it in the bin before issuing a public statement that the Roonster will not have to serve a domestic ban for the first three games of the new season.

The Referees' Association should send a memo to its members reminding them forcibly that a player's reputation counts for nothing. All that counts is how a player behaves during a game of football. Yes, Rooney is a physical player. He wouldn't be the player he is without that physical element in his game. But there is a world of difference between a physical player and a dirty player. And Rooney isn't a dirty player.