Wayne Rooney has described his appointment as England captain as ‘a dream come true’. He’s already been given the captain’s armband at Manchester United and now must oversee another team in transition as well as produce on a regular basis for his country – something that has often eluded the 28-year-old in the past.
Roy Hodgson describes Rooney as the natural choice given he has already captained his country when Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard have been unavailable. The latter pair have both announced their international retirement since a poor World Cup campaign so it’s now the turn of striker to try and inspire a revival in England fortunes, starting in next week’s friendly against Norway at Wembley. England are a best 3/5 to win that game with bwin before heading for Switzerland for a potentially vital Euro 2016 qualifier against a team that reached the last 16 in Brazil.
It’s now six matches since England last won a game of football and Hodgson will be missing a host of players for the upcoming double-header. Luke Shaw, Glen Johnson, Ross Barkley, Kyle Walker, Adam Lallana and Chris Smalling would all have been included had they been fit and the manager has had to call up Newcastle‘s Jack Colback, Arsenal‘s young defender Calum Chambers, Tottenham left-back Danny Rose and Aston Villa‘s Fabian Delph to cover. Andros Townsend and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain return after missing the World Cup. England should really qualify for Euro 2016 in a canter from a weak-looking group in which the Swiss are the only danger on paper but bet365 will accomodate the pessimists by offering 20/1 that they don’t finish in the top two in their section. Hodgson’s squad are a best 8/15 with Coral to win Group E (they are as short as 1/4 elsewhere). Switzerland are 3/1 on betfair while Slovenia are 12/1 with BetVictor, Paddy Power and Stan James. Rooney and his team-mates are 18/1 with bwin to win Euro 2016 with new world champions Germany at 7/2 with betway and hosts France available at 6/1 with Titanbet.
There aren’t any markets yet surrounding Rooney’s captaincy but plenty of speculation over who will succeed Roy Hodgson as manager. Gary Neville seems to be groomed for the role and the Sky TV pundit is 8/1 with Paddy Power and 888sport to step up from his assistant’s role, the same as Jose Mourinho. Alan Pardew is a general 20/1 with Harry Redknapp the same odds with BetVictor and 888sport.
