Wayne Rooney swearing furore is damned by its double standards

There is a double standard to a game so capable of engaging and enraging. Where the great bulk of the audience is concerned, the match is served up to people who are at home or in a sociable pub. So it is that a Sky presenter has to beg pardon of the nation, even though we all understand that football rights are worth so much because the game provokes, excites and often forgets good manners entirely.

If Rooney is troubling, it is more because of his psychology. Here was a man who seemed to be taking revenge rather than pleasure in a contribution that flipped a 2-0 deficit into a 4-2 win. At his best Rooney can look a world-beater but his stance is that of someone who also has a score to settle with the entire planet.