19 May 2014 09:51:32
So when LvG makes RvP captain this summer, how do peeps think Rooney will react to that?

{Ed007's Note - Well let's all hope RVP gets everything his own way then. You can't have your captain down tools and pretend to be injured when the club needs it's best players to step-up and put the club and loyalty to team mates first. What kind of example is that to set young players coming through?
RVP has done nothing to deserve the honour of captaining Man Utd, your captain should show unfaltering loyalty to the team and be prepared to run through a brick wall for them, not act like a spoilt kid when he doesn't get his own way and hand in a sick-note rather than fight in the trenches with the team.}

1.) 19 May 2014
Absolutely bang on the money bond. RVP should NOT be our captain. He's absolutely quality when he is on and not resetting his chocolate hamstrings but isn't about enough for me.

2.) 19 May 2014
Ed7 I must say I totally agree with you here! But in the current squad we don't seem to have players with the passion of keane, Robson, Neville etc! You could say Rooney but after holding the club to ransom twice I don't feel he merits the role of captain either.

{Ed007's Note - Didn't Keano 'hold the club to ransom'? I'm old enough to remember the furore over his £50k a week wages. Rooney is the only choice to be captain.}

3.) 19 May 2014
That is how he will act under LVG though. I see nothing wrong with his choice, no worse than appointing Rooney. He is a tremendous player and generally a good person. He hated Moyes, as did most of the squad and I don't think he should be singled out, I did seem genuinely injured at points. Who would you have at vice though? I would say De Gea because he is an ever present in the team, RVP may get injured but if fit, De Gea plays essentially every game and you always need either your Captain or Vice on the pitch.

4.) 19 May 2014
19 May 2014 10:59:28
Am I the only one who wouldn't be that bothered if rvp was to be made captain? On paper rvp is our best player by a clear mile now I'm not saying this should be the reason to be our captain, but rvp has all the right reasons to be our captain. Yes he has a very poor season but besides David de gea did anyone else have a good season?

Rvp wasn't happy under moyes but hardly any off the united team was rvp just showed it more, I believe rooney should be captain has he has the passion and I believe the love for united to wanna succeed as captain. But if rvp is made captain then I certainly won't be complaining

I think people are looking to far into to things who's to say lvg doesn't rate rooney highly and some how will work out a formation where it benifiets both rvp and rooney? Everybody just needs to support our team and put players no matter who's made captain

5.) 19 May 2014
R some maybe making it a bigger deal than what it is?
Rooney was captain a couple of times but he was behind vidic rio evra giggs . Dudnt seem that big a deal .
Seems some can't miss a bit of rooney baiting its easy to forget he is a united player when reading this site

6.) 19 May 2014
I hope that last bit about Rooney being the only choice was a joke? This is the guy who's held the club to ransom on more than one occasion and come back for pre-season out of shape?

7.) 19 May 2014
Jred, you are playing it down knowing full well that it's a bigger deal than you are making it out to be. If RvP is made captain that will destroy Rooney. His ego will not be able to handle such a knock and he may ask to leave (again). Personally I would make Rooney captain, I think he's best qualified and would make the best captain, but I think LvG will make RvP captain.

8.) 19 May 2014
Syd
Honestly I 100% don't believe it will destroy him.
While its a great honour to be captain of a football team I think fans sometimes blow it up to be more than what it is .
Rooney isn't captain at the moment I don't think it is a big deal.

Destroy him? Like I say I don't think its anywhere near that important

9.) 19 May 2014
Jred,

Agree mate, and panebello summed it up your point perfectly.

He came back to pre-season out of shape once, he admits himself he struggles to keep the weight off when he isn't training (read his book) and it was a long time ago. No player is perfect, I believe George Best had a few misgivings as well, but is seen a legend.

Keane held us to ransom too remember, but he was a pretty decent captain if I remember rightly?

The captain needs to be somebody who the manager respects and who will be the leader on the pitch so you can see why it would be RVP. He should not be singled out for last season. If we were not giving captaincy out because of last season then it would have to be De Gea because he is the only player who was any good at all.

10.) 19 May 2014
Syd
If gerrard got injured during the wc and the arm band was give to lampard do you think it would destroy rooney?
Do you think it has destroyed rooney in the past when he has been over looked?

11.) 19 May 2014
Rooney would by far be the better captain. He's much more passionate outfield and has a much better worth ethic than RVP. He'll get back and defend and be much more vocal.

Holding the club to ransom is a stupid thing to say when we know the first time round it was because we've sold out best players without reinvesting the money this making our team weaker and limiting our chances for silverware, it was a wake up call to the club. The second time, he was played out of position and still another summer without considerable talent brought in (that wasn't a striker) you can imagine the frustration of wanting to stay at the top.

He's almost our top scorer in the history of our club at the age of 28, some people need to realise just how immense that is. Rvp is a quality footballer but one good season does not warrant the captains armband I'm sorry.

12.) 19 May 2014
Jred, those example are pitiful. Rooney under Moyes was going to be made MU captain. Moyes gets sacked and LvG gives it to RvP instead. Rooney will not be able to handle that dent to his ego. He barely managed to keep his sh1t together when RvP was the main man in 2012/13 season. There have been many reports of unrest between the two players no matter what each of them say about each other in public. If RvP is made captain then Rooney will not like that one bit. In the past players like Vidic, Evra, Ferdinand etc have been more warranted captains. Rooney was always tipped to be future MU captain and he only said a couple of months ago that he would be honoured. Like I have said I think Rooney should be made captain and Rooney will think the same. He will believe that he should be MU captain and if RvP is made captain that will have an affect on him. No matter how much you try and play it down.

13.) 19 May 2014
I think people need to get realistic about things. The captain is chosen by the manager to manage certain aspects of the dressing room. The captain is not chosen to uphold some perceived club values, they are in the position because the manager trusts them and their opinion.

Van Gaal is obviously going to chose RVP because he is the only player at the club who he knows well, who understands van Gaal's ideas and who he can trust.

I don't think not being the captain will crush Rooney. But it will gnaw at him that a player he clashes with has the manager's ear.

14.) 19 May 2014
Ed7 that was around 2000 wasn't it? I was about 4! Haha

{Ed007's Note - Yeah 1999/2000. I was 26 :(

15.) 19 May 2014
007, to be fair there are not a large number of options for captain. RvP, Rooney & Jones. But Jones isn't a definite starter. De Gea is not captain material for me, not yet anyway. It's highly unlikely a new signing will be captain. So for me there are just two options Rooney and Van Persie. Van Persie is LvG's Holland captain. It's looking like a formality to me. The question is how will Rooney react to it?

{Ed007's Note - How will RVP react if Rooney gets the nod? Another mysterious injury perhaps....

16.) 19 May 2014
Oz, in all due respect Rooney wanted a bigger contract both times. He wanted more rights to his image rights and he got them. I have no issue with this as all top players deserve top salaries, but it was always about the money my friend. let's not be naive about it.

17.) 19 May 2014
People forget that the best Captains have brains! Rooney doesn't have intelligence in his armour, he is petulant with his kick outs and his inability to do his job, whilst trying to be a Jack of all trades on the pitch is not captain material.

Irrespective of your thoughts on Rooney as a player. He can not lead a team of clever quality players. He can lead a team of underlings who would admire his talent, but Manchester United are better than that. Can you honestly see players like Mata, RVP, Janujaz, plus 4-5 quality acquisitions listening to Rooney in the changing room? LVG speaks better English.

18.) 19 May 2014
Syd
Im not playing anything down I honestly don't think rooney not being united captain would, as you put it destroy him

19.) 19 May 2014
007, Rooney captain, Van Persie vice captain maybe best for MU. But I think LvG will make RvP captain and like Danny said it will gnaw at Rooney. Surely he wouldn't ask to leave this summer? Would he?

Rooney captain and RvP vice could really benefit MU more in the long run IMO.

{Ed007's Note - Where does this idea it will gnaw at Rooney come from, there's nothing to indicate that except for the public perception that he is some kind of spoilt brat, which there is no evidence of either.
I sometimes think a lot of Utd fans would have preferred Rooney to leave, just so they could sit with a smug smile on their face as they call him allsorts and slate him on the internet.
Look at Beast's post above, just utter garbage, going by his reckoning Roy Keane should have never been a Utd captain, wasn't Keane petulant, and what about his kick-outs etc AND he wasn't the brightest, I didn't think you needed a university degree to be a footballer.}

20.) 19 May 2014
Probably the wrong word to use, but it will certainly p1ss him off Jred.

21.) 19 May 2014
I actually think Rooney will play better if RVP is made captain. He'll have a point to prove. Still think Rooney would make a better captain though and he undoubtedly deserves it more than RVP.

22.) 19 May 2014
007 completely agree its just rooney baiting.
The double standards gets right on my t1ts.

23.) 19 May 2014
007, if you needed a uni degree, there wouldn't be many football players in today's game. It will bother Rooney if Van Persie was chosen over him to be captain. There's no doubt about that. Whether it will make him threaten to leave again is debateable. But that was the point of my OP.

24.) 19 May 2014
Well, here goes my toss up.

Player X - With the club for 10 years now, given his best years and played with heart more often than not. Has asked for a transfer once publicly, second time in front of SAF. Was culpable to red mist moments earlier but has controlled it to an admirable extent. Cracking player at that, will go on to be our highest ever goal scorer.

Player Y - Had been with Arsenal for a long long period of time. Has played with us for 2 seasons, one of them being brilliant, the other being average/good. Is as petulant if not more than Player X, also prone to throwing his toys out of the pram if things don't go his way. Is a cracking player. 30 years old and historically spends more time on the injury table. Add to that, his "little boy lost" persona this season.

I know who I would prefer as our captain. But that does not matter, what LvG prefers will happen. But people somehow lapping it up and taking sly digs at Wayne is pathetic. He is been here for more years than marriages last in a country like India, when will we start treating him like "our" player?

Deeps.

P.S - Beast's posts are just what is wrong with the some of the Anti Rooney brigade. I still see reasoned arguments from AJH, Shahram and a few others who don't quite like Wayne. But with a post like the above, you just can't beat it. May be I am on the other side of the spectrum, but I don't have to call Persie names to validate my point.

25.) 19 May 2014
Sydney,

I think there is 'doubt about that' as you put it. Like Ed007 says there is no evidence Rooney is a spoilt brat, he has always worked hard at the club. He might be disappointed, but it might actually help him to play better and prove to LVG that he should be captain if RVP leaves or is out for any period of time.

Generally the strange media type comments and behaviour comes near contract renewal time. That is a long time off yet, so I imagine we will hear only positive things from Rooney.

26.) 19 May 2014
I think RvP will get the captaincy with Rooney vice. But I think it would be better for MU if it's the other way round and Rooney is captain with RvP vice. Especially if Rooney accepts a deeper role, he would be in the centre of everything and could see more of the game than RvP. But like Deeps says, ultimately it will be LvG's decision and it will probably be Van Persie as captain. My OP was how do people think Rooney would react to this? R7 thinks it will inspire Rooney to prove people wrong, 007 thinks it will not bother Rooney's ego at all. I think it will bother Rooney quite a lot. It was a relevant question IMO as we are yet to see both players have a good season together. Hopefully we get to see that next season. I just hope the captaincy issue doesn't ruin any chance of that.

27.) 19 May 2014
19 May 2014 18:02:12
It was never about players that was rooneys excuse to get fans back on side and the second time his nose was out of joint. Personally I wouldn't give it to either of them.