Ibrox clash ideal for Wayne

Rooney9 SG

Wayne Rooney is a lean, mean scoring machine
Wayne Rooney will return to action as a lean, mean scoring machine. The Manchester United striker lost almost half a stone during his American boot camp visit. Rooney, 25, arrived back in Britain at the weekend after a week's rehabilitation on his ankle injury at Nike's Portland headquarters. And he looked a far trimmer version of the hitman who terrorised defences last season after a five-day programme devised by his club's fitness experts. A United source said: "It's the talk of the place how hard Wayne was worked out there. He was far from being overweight but he is now nicely tuned up again after the extended lay-off and injury problems. The gaffer and his staff knew exactly what they were doing and now they are expecting it to pay rich rewards."
Phil Thomas, The Sun

Elsewhere, Rio Ferdinand's advice to young players, given at yesterday's England press conference, is quoted in a number of papers, including the Daily Mirror. Rio says: "Responsibility is a big thing. As a young player, it took me a while to understand the responsibilities of a footballer. The sooner you learn that as a young player, the fewer mistakes you’ll make over your career. There are so many different factors that determine whether you become a top player, but going out drinking will definitely be to your detriment and will hold you back from being a top, top player."

Rock^Star SG

this wayne rooney signed a new contract with united only after he realised he did not have other options....bah.

iceFatboy SG

this wayne rooney signed a new contract with united only after he realised he did not have other options....bah.

i hope not.

i prefer to "dream" that rooney signed cause he managed to get some "real" answers from the owners about the future of MUFC, and not just some more zeros to his contract.

Rooney9 SG

Sir Alex Ferguson has revealed that Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney "may be on the bench'' for Saturday's Premier League match against Wigan.

Rooney has been out for more than a month after picking up an ankle injury in training during a turbulent week in October, in which he publicly expressed his desire to leave United before performing a dramatic U-turn and signing a new five-year contract with the club.

United have won six games and drawn two in Rooney's absence, but after disappointing displays against Manchester City and Aston Villa, the England striker's return should provide the team with a massive boost.

He returned to Old Trafford last week following a spell training at Nike World Headquarters in Portland, Oregon, and though he has yet to take part in full training, Ferguson said that Rooney could feature against Wigan.

"I don't think he'll start tomorrow,'' Ferguson told radio station Key103. "Maybe he will reach the bench. But he will certainly play on Wednesday against Rangers.''

Rooney has failed to hit the ground running in the current campaign following a poor World Cup, struggling to replicate the stunning form that saw him claim 34 goals in all competitions for United last season. And he will be out to prove himself to the club's supporters, many of whom turned on him following his transfer request.

While Rooney could feature, late decisions will be made on Nani, who played for Portugal in midweek, and Rafael, who has been suffering with a dead leg.

The match comes too soon for Ryan Giggs, with Ferguson unwilling to force the Welshman to return too early after he aggravated a hamstring injury.

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Wayne Rooney will lead United's attack from the start against Rangers, after completing a comfortable 25 minutes as substitute against Wigan on Saturday.

The striker made his first appearance for more than a month when he came on for Federico Macheda in the second half, and while he didn't cap the occasion with a goal, Sir Alex Ferguson was still pleased with his star striker's return - and the crowd's reaction to him.

"That was good, it'll be pleasing for him," said the boss, referring to Rooney's mainly positive reception from the fans. "It will settle him down and help him to realise he's at the right club. It was a quiet comeback for him. He get involved in a few bits of interplay but in the main he just needed that 25 minutes or so. He'll play against Rangers on Wednesday, that's the perfect game for him to get 90 minutes."

Patrice Evra, scorer of United's first goal in the 2-0 win over Wigan, welcomed Rooney's presence in the line-up, telling MUTV: "Of course [we are glad to have Wayne back]. He is a top-class player. He is a great team-mate, and we want Wayne to be at 100 per cent to help the team."

Dimitar Berbatov could also return to the Reds' forward line against Rangers, after Sir Alex confirmed the Bulgarian's weekend absence wasn't down to injury or illness. "I just left him," said the boss. "When picking my subs today, I thought I needed to give [the bench] a different type of variety."

Sir Alex selected Macheda and Gabriel Obertan to start the Wigan game because "they deserved it. They changed the game [at Aston Villa] last week when they came on so I felt they deserved to start today."

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Wayne Rooney will start for the first time in almost two months against Rangers on Wednesday night in a move Sir Alex hopes will help the striker regain fitness and form.

The Reds' number 10 has made just two substitute appearances – against West Bromwich Albion and Wigan Athletic – since his last United start, against Bolton Wanderers, on 26 September.

Rooney spent seven days earlier this month in America in an effort to boost his fitness levels and Sir Alex is now confident his star striker is ready once more to become a permanent Reds fixture.

“The Rangers game is an ideal opportunity in terms of Wayne coming back to the level we know he’s capable of,” Sir Alex said. “I think he needs two or three games. Hopefully he does well. It’s a good game for him. It’s a high-profile match, a terrific pitch, a great stadium, the atmosphere will be fantastic... all of those are positives for anyone of Wayne’s ability.”

Rooney’s primary focus in recent weeks has been to boost his physical fitness. Football training hasn’t been a large part of his regime, but Sir Alex says match sharpness will come with time.

“He had a niggling injury but he came back much better from his week in Oregon. His fitness is good.

“[The time in America] was intense for Wayne. It wasn’t easy; it was difficult. In Oregon it was solid fitness work and hopefully we pick up the football part now. Games will help and we’ll get him back [to the Wayne Rooney we all know] as quickly as we can.”