Over the years, the Red Devils have had their fair share of players who haven’t exactly seen eye-to-eye with referees. Eric Cantona was dismissed several times during his Manchester United career, generally for petulant behaviour, while Roy Keane was clearly not reluctant to put himself about a bit and incur cautions and dismissals like there was no tomorrow. A current player had looked like following in their footsteps, although it appears that he’s getting more mature with age.

The Sun report that Wayne Rooney wants to be friends with arbiters and so he can make himself understood better. The scouser is usually filmed swearing obscenities at the man in the middle, yet the striker now admits that he’s prepared to forgive refs for the mistakes they make, just as long as they don’t leave him in the dark altogether. Should we believe that this badge-kissing forward has turned over a new leaf?

He said: “You understand that referees make mistakes, players make mistakes.

“But it’s nice when they don’t completely cut you off.

“I like Mark Halsey as a referee. I thought I maybe should have had a goal in the first half, that it shouldn’t have been disallowed.

“He spoke to me and told me he thought there was enough contact on the defender. That was his decision and I said, ‘fair enough’.

“If you get a good relationship with a referee and they speak to you like that, it’s better for the player and the officials.”

Are these really the words of Wayne Rooney, who appears to be following in the footsteps of team-mate Rio Ferdinand with this kind of charm offensive? It’s nice to see the Manchester United star speaking in this manner rather than witness another foul-mouthed tirade when a decision doesn’t go his way.

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