Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney can't blame the media, says Kevin Keegan

Rooney, troubled by recent revelations that he slept with prostitutes, produced another below-par performance as United failed to secure their first away win of the season at Wanderers. Former England manager Keegan, who famously clashed with Ferguson in his time as Newcastle manager in the mid-Nineties, said Rooney could not complain about his situation. Following United’s 2-2 draw at the Reebok, Keegan said: “You can’t have all the contracts and sell your wedding to magazines and things like this and suddenly say, ‘That’s the tap I want to turn on, but we want to turn the other one off.’

“But it’s just one tap and I know from when I played that, if you are advertising boots and all these things, you have to go and make appearances. The one thing I would say is keep your home and your family out of it and just take your endorsements if that’s what you want to do. “You can’t turn around and say there’s too much paparazzi around or there is too much publicity. One minute you are courting it, the next minute you’re saying ‘I don’t want this’.

Keegan added: “His performance tells me his confidence is shot. For United to get back to where they should be and winning at places like Bolton, they need to be getting Wayne Rooney firing on all cylinders.United are minus Wayne Rooney at the moment. It’s a different Wayne Rooney this year. It’s not the same. It’s like chalk and cheese.”

Ferguson, who left the Reebok without speaking to United’s own TV channel, MUTV, only discussed Rooney’s fitness in his post-match interview with ESPN, suggesting he would overcome an ankle knock in time to face Valencia on Wednesday.

The United manager said the result highlighted the strength of the Premier League. “That’s the Premier League for you. Teams drop points when you don’t expect them to.

“Away from home this season we have scored seven goals and only got three points. It gives you a measure of the quality in the league.”

Bolton manager Owen Coyle said: “Having led twice, we’re disappointed to have given up those leads but you have to accept the individual quality they have.”