Wayne Rooney is a magnificent footballer. He is one of the most talented players of his generation. And he is a delight to watch.

But he is also a very silly young man.

Stories broke last weekend claiming the Manchester United and England star has run up gambling debts of nearly three quarters of a million pounds.

To make matters worse, the money is owed to a business partner of Michael Owen, another lad who is not adverse to the odd wager or two on the old horses.

The story, broken by the Sunday Mirror, suggests the debts are leading to unrest in the England camp ahead of the World Cup with Owen and Rooney no longer best of mates – although they have both denied this.

Now obviously it is not for any of us to cast judgement on Rooney. At the end of the day it’s his money and it is entirely up to him how he spends it, provided it is all legal.

However, with fans everywhere increasingly fed up with the ludicrous pay cheques and extravagant lifestyle enjoyed by modern footballers, stories like this are not exactly going to endear him to the man on the street.

And it is, ultimately, the man on the street that pays his wages.

The whole story is made that little bit more unsavoury when you consider that just across the Pennines a football club is on the brink of going out of business as it desperately tries to raise the 700,000 it needs to survive.

Rotherham United look like they might just scrape through thanks to donations from players, fans, other teams and generous members of the public.

Makes you sick though, to think that the money Rooney has allegedly chucked away is exactly the amount Rotherham needed to keep their players, their staff and their fans going.

I am not suggesting Rooney should have saved Rotherham himself. It is, after all, not his responsibility in the slightest.

But maybe he, and all his superstar friends, should have a little bit respect for the game which has given them their fabulous lifestyles.

That way the rest of us would not feel quite so sick about the money they chuck down the drain.

Sunderland

I have heard of delaying the inevitable but Sunderland appear to have taken this art to a new extreme.

Defeat to Fulham on Saturday would have condemned them to relegation after a season of almost constant woe. But, instead of going down with dignity they managed to survive for a few more days by having the match abandoned in the first half due to a snow storm. At the time they were losing 1-0.

There is obviously no way they are going to be pulling off any great escapes. Heck, they have still only got 11 points and look destined to finish the season with a record low tally.

But it’s nice to see them fighting to the bitter end even if it did take divine intervention to ensure their Premiership status for a short while longer.

Interestingly, having the match abandoned meant that Sunderland also achieved another record – the first game ever to be abandoned in the Premier League.

Let it not be said that their stay in the top flight was not an eventful one.

Gordon Strachan

Nice quirky story from north of the border.

Celtic manager Gordon Strachan apparently still wears the watch he had on when his team lost 5-0 to Artmedia at the beginning of the season. The timepiece in question stopped at 10 past 11 during that match and wee Gordon likes to keep it on to remind him of the bad times.

“I just wanted a reminder that when I get ideas above my station, how football can kick you in the guts,” he explained.

And with footballers being the most superstitious people on the planet, don’t expect him to ever take it off now they have won the league and league cup double.

Sheffield United

Now, the last thing I want to do is jinx myself but I thought it would be criminal to end without mentioning Sheffield United now the season is reaching a climax.

The Blades have had their traditional wobble but, with just four games to go, are still in second place with a nine point lead over Watford and Leeds. A win at Cardiff on Friday would see that lead extended to 12.

Obviously there is still some minimal room for error here. Were we to lose our remaining four games and the chasing pack win theirs then we would be condemned to the horror of the play-offs.

But, to be frank, that would be criminally unfair considering we have been in either first or second place for the entire season.

Of course, assuming we do go up, there is every chance we could do a Sunderland and come straight back down again.

But when you consider the financial rewards, even for just one season, it’s worth a 12-month stint in the big time.

Contact James on: [email protected]