Wayne Rooney charged with misconduct for red card as boss reveals he broke pal’s glasses celebrating late goal in tunnel
WAYNE ROONEY has admitted that he joined in Plymouth’s wild celebrations against Blackburn despite being sent off.
The Manchester United legend is managing the Pilgrims, having landed the Championship job in the summer.
Rooney, 38, has enjoyed a solid start to his reign in charge of the Pilgrims, with the side currently 14th in the league.
His best result came against Blackburn Rovers on Saturday as Plymouth beat the promotion contenders 2-1 at Home Park.
The victory came thanks to a winning goal from Morgan Whittaker in the 97th minute.
However, Rooney could not join in with the players as he had been shown a red card for a touchline outburst earlier in the match.
The retired striker had been dismissed by referee James Linington for his reaction to a decision in the build-up to Joe Rankin-Costello’s equaliser for the visitors.
But that did not stop Rooney from having his own celebrations as he went wild with the club secretary in the tunnel.
He told talkSPORT: “Me and the club secretary in the tunnel were celebrating, I broke his glasses celebrating.
“So the win was a deserved win, but sometimes it boils over a little bit and that’s the nature of football.
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Rooney’s red card against Blackburn was his first since becoming a manager, despite stints at Derby County, DC United and Birmingham City.
He has insisted that the decision to dismiss him was “harsh” but admitted that his reaction was not the best.
He added: “It was my first time as a manager [getting sent off].
“I think as a manager or a head coach, decisions happen on the pitch and looking back, it’s a free kick, so the goal shouldn’t have stood.
“In the Championship you don’t have VAR so the officials missed it and your emotions kick in and you know, I’m a passionate person, we want to win.
“We worked extremely hard to win the game and to have that taken away by what I feel was a mistake by the officials, I felt was really harsh.
“I reacted in a manner in which I shouldn’t have and the red card was deserved.
“From my point of view the fans were fantastic, it almost galvanised the players and the stadium and we kept pushing to get the winning goal.”
Rooney has since been charged the FA, though, for his conduct both during and after the incident which saw him dismissed.
In a statement released on Tuesday, an FA spokesperson said: “Wayne Rooney has been charged following Plymouth Argyle’s match against Blackburn Rovers on Saturday, 5 October, in the EFL Championship.
“The manager’s conduct around the 87th minute was allegedly improper and/or he used abusive and/or insulting words towards a match officials, which led to his dismissal.
“It’s further alleged that his conduct after being dismissed was improper and/or violent.
“It’s also alleged that by returning to the field of play after being dismissed his behaviour was improper.
“Wayne Rooney has until Tuesday, 15 October, to respond.”