Wayne Rooney has already started planning for life as a manager. Sir Alex Ferguson, his manager at Manchester United, has often reported receiving hints from Rooney about his team selections, advice he usually ignores.

However, it seems the 25-year-old is serious when considering what to do when his own playing days are over. In an extensive MUTV interview with the former United European Cup winner Paddy Crerand, Rooney confirmed he has started to take his coaching badges, and has no fears about beginning a new career on the bottom rung of the ladder.

"I would like to be a manager. That would be my ambition when I finish playing," said Rooney. "You see the players who have played for Sir Alex and gone on to be good managers. I am hoping to do that one day.

"But I wouldn't like to follow the manager here, or start at an Everton or Manchester United. I want to learn something about the lower leagues and build a reputation that way rather than just jumping into a big club. It is not right if someone goes in and gets a big job with no experience. There are managers who have worked for years trying to get that."

United naturally hope Rooney remains an invaluable member of Ferguson's squad for some time to come given he only recently signed a lucrative five and a half-year contract extension. The controversy surrounding that saga will linger for a good while yet.

But, in an interview in which Rooney confirmed he likes to relax before matches by listening to the former Britain's Got Talent contestant Susan Boyle, the England striker now concedes he was wrong to demand assurances about United's continued progress from Ferguson and the chief executive David Gill.

"I went to see the manager and David Gill and asked them for answers," he recalled. "Now I realise it has nothing to do with me but I wanted to make sure it was the right thing for me to do. I got the answers in the end but looking back it was probably wrong of me to do that."

Rooney did not commit himself to Old Trafford until after a visit from a hooded gang of around 30 people to his mansion in Prestbury. It was an alarming evening for Rooney, who could not even venture out to tell his "visitors" that agreement had already been reached.

"I looked out and saw 30 blokes with their hoods up. I wasn't going to invite them in for tea," he recalled. "I understood some of the fans were disappointed and felt let down. But it was just one of those things I had to get right. Thankfully I have sorted it out now. I have made the right decision and made myself happy.

"But I didn't even think about where I was going to go. There was no way I would have gone to Manchester City and there was more chance of me going to City than Liverpool."

Rooney also reflected on England's "terrible" World Cup campaign and his attack on the national team's supporters immediately after the goalless draw with Algeria in Cape Town.

"The emotions were high because we weren't winning," he said. "Our fans were booing after 10 minutes. That is what I was saying. It was disappointing."

In addition, he also reveals that on the day four years earlier when Cristiano Ronaldo was condemned for trying to get Rooney sent off in the World Cup quarter-final in Gelsenkirchen, the England forward had been guilty of a very similar offence earlier in the game when his then team-mate took a dive.

"I went up to the referee and said he had dived and he should be booked. No one saw that," he shrugged. "Everyone saw mine because it was a red card."

Rooney still misses Ronaldo now and cannot believe the Portugal playmaker is not among the three nominees for this year's Ballon d'Or. United will not get him back though, which means Rooney must take the scrutiny of his own career, and the present failure to score a goal in open play since March.

"I want to score in every game," he said. "But the most important thing is for the team to win. We have been doing well since I came back and I know I will start scoring goals again. I have no worries about that."