Daily Times

LONDON: England manager Gareth Southgate confirmed on Thursday that Wayne Rooney will remain England’s captain as he faced the media for the first time since his permanent appointment.

Rooney apologised for the recent pictures of him looking the worse for wear as he mingled with wedding guests at the England team hotel during late hours during the most recent international break. Southgate dropped him for a 0-0 World Cup qualifying draw in Slovenia, but recalled the Manchester United star for England’s 3-0 win over Scotland, before injury forced the forward’s exit from the squad.

“Wayne Rooney is the England captain,” Southgate told reporters at Wembley, “I said that from the beginning of the interim period. What’s also clear is that I’ve only selected him to start in two of the four matches we’ve had. It is not a case that Wayne expects to play every game. It’s important we develop more leaders in this group.”

“When I played for England at Euro 96, there were leaders throughout the team. Wayne played an important part up to this point, but we also need to develop others,” Southgate said. He was appointed England manager on a four-year contract on Wednesday, having previously been in charge for four games on an interim basis. Reports suggested Southgate’s contract contained a break clause after the 2018 World Cup, but he said that was not the case.

‘Strong and proven leader’

Southgate’s first game as full-time manager will be a friendly against Germany in Dortmund on March 22, followed by a World Cup qualifier against Lithuania at Wembley four days later. England, humiliated by Iceland in the last 16 at Euro 2016, top their World Cup qualifying group by two points.

Several other players were reported to have gone out on the same evening as Rooney’s late night at the team hotel, prompting a review of player downtime by the Football Association (FA). But Southgate said that he did not think he would need to remind England’s players about their off-pitch responsibilities. “I don’t think laying down the law is necessary,” he said, “I like to treat players as adults. There needs to be trust between the coach and the players, but there also needs to be clear guidelines. The players also need to take leadership on that and if we’re going to have a top team, then I want them involved in that.”