SCOTS have been there pretty much every step of the way when it comes to Wayne Rooney. Walter Smith was Everton manager when he first became aware that he had a special talent in his youth ranks. David Moyes inherited the post and promptly pitched the 16-year-old into action for his full senior debut, the youngster embarrassing David Seaman with a strike from long range.

Sir Alex Ferguson, who tried to capture his services at the age of 14, eventually got his man, lavishing £25m to take the 18-year-old along the M62. From a hat-trick on his debut against Fenerbahce, the two men worked together fruitfully for nine years, with only the occasional contract wrangle getting between them. Rooney's future was up in the air when Ferguson left the club in the summer of 2013, but along came Moyes again and soon the player was agreeing a bumper new contract at the club.

Rooney has a lot to be thankful for then when it comes to influences from north of the border, so perhaps we deserve better than England's record goalscorer using the final chapter of his glorious international career to prevent us getting to the World Cup in Russia in 2018. The 30-year-old, who will be retained by Sam Allardyce as England captain, announced yesterday that he will step down from international football after the finals. If there is an in-built presumption there then it is perhaps a fair one considering England haven't lost a qualifying match since 2009.

“Realistically I know myself that Russia will be my last opportunity to do anything with England," said Rooney at St George's Park yesterday, ahead of Allardyce's first match as manager, against Slovakia in Bratislava next Monday. "Hopefully I can end my time with England on a high.

"There were some questions about whether I should stop playing, but I am looking forward to getting back on the pitch," he added. "I made my mind up before the Euros, whether we did well or not, that I was going to continue. Russia will be my last tournament.”

Even 53 goals in 115 appearances hasn't been enough to buy Rooney a criticism-free international retirement. In fact, plenty of England fans will be pretty miffed this morning that he is still hanging around.

Since bursting onto the scene with four goals at Euro 2004, Rooney's vital statistics at major tournaments have largely been dire. He has scored just three goals in 17 finals appearances since then - and just one in 11 World Cup appearances in all - so there was gloom in some quarters when Roy Hodgson brought him back into the reckoning ahead of the Euro 2016 finals. The fact Rooney generally excelled in a deeper midfield role, while other younger players appeared jaded and out of form, was largely irrelevant: no England stars managed to escape the Iceland embarrassment with their reputations enhanced.

Along now comes Allardyce, another manager with his own opinions and usually quite strong ones. While the former Bolton, West Ham, Newcastle and Sunderland manager's first England selection was conservative - save for the promotion of West Ham's Michail Antonio - this was perhaps understandable for a manager who has yet to preside over a single international match. Indeed, given his lack of time working with a transitional squad, that first match against Slovakia in Trnava has to go down as a rather serious risk.

In time, though, Allardyce is likely to put his own stamp on things and that may mean that Rooney's hopes of being an international mainstay going forward are no more certain than those of the man at the other end, Joe Hart. In particular, as witnessed by the attempted recruitment of Steven N'Zonzi, the net will be cast wider to find the England players of the future.

“Cricket do it, rugby do it, athletics do it,” Allardyce said. “It’s not happening [with N’Zonzi] but we can cover this a bit more if I find another player. We have a department to look at the whole situation in all areas for every [age range] international team. It happens in all the other countries and we all know the shortage of English players in the Premier League. I think it is only 31%. Surely, if we are going to win something and that player is of the calibre to force his way into the side, we give him an opportunity.”

While Rooney is currently holding down a place in the Manchester United first team, where he is under contract until the summer of 2019, even that is hardly a given. Henrikh Mikhtarian is pushing him hard for that role, just as others are at international level. Raheem Sterling has been a lively presence in the start which Manchester City have made to the season, Adam Lallana has been playing constructive football for Liverpool, and Dele Alli - whose form shaded badly just at the wrong time for England last season - will be back. Throw Antonio into the mix, and maybe some other Allardyce projects, and Rooney will be doing well indeed if he is allowed to retire triumphantly from international football after Russia in the summer of 2008.