SCOUSERS NEED COUNSELLING

Rooney can certainly use Barton as a prime example of someone for whom specialised help has worked, although it will not be easy to convince Sir Alex Ferguson that one of his players could spend worthwhile time in a centre set up to treat players suffering from depression, alcoholism and other addictions. The indications are that Ferguson and his colleagues have decided they have sufficient experience of handling volatile players to deal with Rooney in-house.

That process began with United's manager angrily remonstrating with the teenager in the dressing-room after Wednesday's game at Villarreal and it continued yesterday when the club fined him a fortnight's wages for the red card he was shown after he had sarcastically applauded the referee Kim Milton Nielsen for booking him.

Ferguson's tactic is to adopt an aggressive stance followed by a period of arm-round-the-shoulder consolation and the likelihood is that he will not be swayed by the PFA, despite Taylor's observations that Rooney could improve as a footballer and as a man. "The essence of psychology or counselling is that it has to be wanted by the individual or pressed upon them, as with Joey Barton," said Taylor. "Joey is seeing the benefits of regular meetings with a counsellor and we have also done some successful work with Richard Dunne, who then went on to become Manchester City's player of the year."

Part of the issue is that Ferguson remains very much an old-school manager in an age when there is more sympathy for the pressures on young sportsmen and help is readily available. He has the technology to study the exact distance Rooney runs in every match, the speed at which he strikes the ball and the percentage of successful passes he completes. There is no computer, however, that can get inside Rooney's brain and after 30 years in management Ferguson believes he is as well equipped as anyone to "retain [Rooney's] good habits while eradicating the bad ones". United employed a sports psychologist during Steve McClaren's time as assistant manager but the role was vacated when he left.

It is enough for Ferguson that the 19-year-old occasionally has one-on-one sessions with Jeannie Horsfield, an anger-management counsellor. Few players have been on these courses and fewer still have admitted it publicly. Andy Morrison, the former Manchester City centre-half, is one. Football Federation Australia, meanwhile, insisted on Frank Farina undergoing counselling after he clashed with a television reporter, an incident that required police intervention, during his term in charge of the national team.

"It's a case of prevention is better than cure," says Morrison. "I was at Huddersfield, regularly in trouble, when someone advised me to do something about my temper. You can't take a notepad on the pitch and write down: 'Careful, you're starting to get wound up!' But you can work at handling it, and that's a start."