Wayne Rooney apologises for getting totally clattered after win over Scotland

Yesterday he was denying it, today he's (sort of) apologising for it ... come Saturday, hopefully, he'll be playing an invisible piano in celebration of his hat trick.

It turns out that Wayne Rooney did have a couple more drinks than was advisable last weekend. TBB isn't going to get all moralistic here — as it says in the Bible, let he who's never crashed a wedding after a big work night and accidentally stayed up until 5 in the morning cast the first stone. But we will note that this might not be a great look for a player who is no longer a guaranteed starter for club or country, in part because he's got a lot of football in his legs.

Anyway, here's the apology ...

Naturally Wayne is sorry that pictures taken with fans have been published. Although it was a day off for the whole squad and staff, he fully recognises that the images are inappropriate for someone in his position. Earlier today Wayne spoke privately to both Gareth Southgate and [FA technical director] Dan Ashworth to unreservedly apologise. He would like to further extend that apology to any young fans who have seen these pictures.

... which is obviously one of those not-quite apologies so beloved of footballers and politicians. He's sorry the pictures have been published. Of course he is. We'd have had so much more respect for: Yeah, Wayne got whammed. What of it?