Wayne Rooney - Hero or Villain?

Ah, Wayne Rooney, where do we start with you...

It's possibly been one of the hardest weeks in young Wayne's life, as the media hound him, the public side with his wife Coleen, and even England supporters get on his case during England's crucial away victory in midweek in Switzerland. Despite scoring the opening goal for England, his first goal in open play (for either United or England) since March, he still remained the target of some vicious taunts from the England supporters.

A week filled with countless headlines of Rooney bedding a prostitute while his wife was pregnant is about to to reach its peak though, with Saturday's Premier League lunchtime meetup with Everton. United boss Sir Alex has already hinted that Rooney might be dropped for the match, which, when you look at the fixture and the current media circus surrounding Rooney, makes perfect sense. Wayne did, of course, grow up at Everton, and many over on the blue side of Merseyside still cannot forgive him for leaving for the bright lights of Manchester. That lack of forgiveness would have put Rooney under immense scrutiny, and a probable barrage of non-stop abuse. And despite a tough, street-wise persona, there's only so much a young guy can take, faced by a stadium full of people on your case, with a media pack just waiting for him to crack to keep him in the headlines...

But should we be publically barracking a young man who has simply made a stupid mistake? OK, he is world-famous, earning a Premier League fortune at one of the biggest clubs in the world, but does that give us the automatic right to know every detail of his private life? Should we be taunting him at every opportunity, despite the effects those taunts will have on him and our team (that we are supposed to be be supporting)?

It is a bit of a mess frankly, and could roll on for a long while yet. Who knows, could this be the Premier League's version of a Tiger Woods-like scandal? Will his missus be convinced to stay with him (many would argue that she has only gained any kind of celebrity status because of her relationship with Wayne) or will she chuck him out with the bathwater?

It's all a bit of a shame, as the only people getting harmed by this are the many supporters of Manchester United and England (who probably now have the answer that was vexing them all summer as to the reasons for a very poor World Cup from Wayne Rooney). And, of course, a certain Wayne Rooney, one of England's truly world class footballers. His hero status might be a little tainted this past few days, but is he really the big villain he's made out to be?