Wayne Rooney claims he was once told to leave his wife Coleen in hospital to get ready for a Manchester United game, only to be left on the bench by Sir Alex Ferguson.
Rooney and Ferguson shared a special relationship during their time together at United with the Scot taking him under his wing after signing him from Everton in 2004.
But in 2009 Rooney lost his rag with his manager after the birth of his first son Kai. The Derby manager has revealed Ferguson told him to leave his wife Coleen in hospital to be ready for a Champions League game with CSKA Moscow.
Rooney reluctantly followed his orders but was not pleased when he had to start the clash on the bench.
‘I remember when Kai was born, just thinking “How am I meant to be responsible?”’ Rooney told the Daily Mail. ‘After he was born, Alex Ferguson asked me to go home and leave Coleen in hospital because we were playing CSKA Moscow in the Champions League the next day.
‘I told him I hadn’t slept for two days but he said: “Go home, you’re playing.” ‘I got to the stadium and he put me on the bench — and rested [Dimitar] Berbatov from the squad. I was fuming. He gave me a day off after that.’
Rooney spent 13 years at Old Trafford, winning five Premier League titles, the Champions League, the Europa League, the FA Cup and three EFL Cups as he became their all-time record goalscorer on 253 goals.
The former England international has previously revealed how Ferguson gave him the best piece of advice during his illustrious career.
‘The best advice I received was from Fergie. He’d say “you’re working too hard” and at first I thought, “What do you mean? Isn’t that what you want?” ‘But I used to try to run as hard as I could for 90 minutes and in the last 10 minutes be tired.
‘The manager wanted his strikers to keep a little bit in the tank, because that match-winning chance might not arrive until the 90th minute.’
