ONE of England’s best-known football men gets a posh title while another loses his job.
So a happy new year then for Sir Gareth Southgate, but less so for Wayne Rooney.
Former centre-back Southgate, 54, became the fourth former England manager to be knighted, although such an appointment does not necessarily qualify for a gong - just ask Sam Allardyce!
For anyone with short-term memory loss, Rooney is one of our all-time greats as a player, with his 53 goals for England putting him on top of the pile until Harry Kane went past him in 2023.
But as a manager, Wayne was sacked by Plymouth a few days ago after taking them to the foot of the Championship.
It was his fourth management failure and he might well conclude he needs a fresh line of work.
His career and Sir Gareth’s crossed a couple of times at least, once or twice in 2003 on the playing field when Rooney was a teenage wizard, scissor-kicks a speciality and our best forward since Alan Shearer.
In 2016, he was still around at the start of Southgate’s eight-year tenure as England boss.
Rooney, 39, might not be a great manager but how his shining talent brightened the lives of Everton fans for a short time and Manchester United’s for a generation.
Wide in the shoulders, strong and quick, he could go either side of a defenders, motor at fair speed and even occasionally score with his left foot.
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He learned early on that he had to handle himself, remaining unflinching - and sometimes more.
His outlook is perhaps mirrored by his wife, Coleen, who was sued in the Wagatha Christie court case by Rebekah Vardy, whose husband Jamie was also an England striker.
No matter the costs of going to court - for a case lost by Vardy - or of a family of four children, the Rooneys have made a mint from football celebrity, said to be about £200million. Good for them.
Rooney’s sacking might well have been his last throw at management but there were no angry noises.
To his credit, he left Home Park without a murmur against the club.
I admire that and I admire his persistence in pursuing a career as a football manager.
That takes a special type of character and he clearly loves football.
Southgate brought to his England management a touch of style.
His honesty and integrity are not always expected virtues in football and a lot of international players must have found it refreshing, along with being part of a well-run, decently-coached and amenable set-up.
He succeeded in many ways - two European finals and a World Cup semi-final and quarter-final is a good record - but was not as solid an achievement as a cup or two.
Neither were some critics happy with the way his team played, claiming it was stolid, with little flair from attacking players who were capable of so much more.
Rooney was good enough to have made a difference but time was against them both and so we can only dream of the possibilities.
The sole Knight of the Realm to have won a major trophy for England was Sir Alf Ramsey 59 years ago.
The others - Walter Winterbottom and Bobby Robson - tried and failed.
Managers, especially international ones, always need more time to connect with their players and it is perhaps surprising that Thomas Tuchel was appointed for only an 18-month term, starting this week.
The end of his contract coincides with the World Cup next year, should we qualify.
If we don’t, heaven save anyone within firing distance.
England have an abundance of fine attacking players, several of whom will have to wait to meet their international boss whose first game is nearly three months away — a qualifier against Albania.
Whatever happens, I am sure 2025 will bring new opportunities to both Sir Gareth and Wayne.
Good luck to them both.