THERE will be tons of Rooney talk in the papers, on the phone-ins, and on social media.

That was the view of Radio Five’s match commentator when he announced that the Manchester United and England captain would start the game against Leicester City watching from the bench.

He wasn’t far wrong. The Sunday papers were full of it. Which only went to prove that in the footballing world that when you are down, there are plenty of people ready to count you out – even if they do stop short of giving you a good kicking while you are down there.

Is it the end for Rooney? So who needs Rooney now? Roo Are Ya? Roo Who? I’ll leave you to guess which headline came from which Sunday paper, but you get the idea.

Manchester United beat an out-of-sorts Leicester City 4-1 and suddenly Wayne Rooney is yesterday’s man.

The fact that the 30-year-old England record goalscorer – just three short of Bobby Charlton’s Old Trafford scoring record – is having a lean time and looking jaded, probably because he has been carrying around a dysfunctional United side on his shoulders for so long, cuts no ice with the headline writers.

But Rooney is not alone in being lined up for football’s breakers’ yard.

Stoke City boss Mark Hughes, whose team are still looking for their first win, might be interested to know that he is about to be replaced by ex-Hull boss Steve Bruce according to one insider; and Swansea’s Francesco Guidolin is, says another of those who know everything, about to make way for Ryan Giggs.

And heaven only knows what David Moyes is thinking as he looks over his shoulder up at Sunderland. Two-nil up and losing 3-2 – that must be the manager’s fault.

Perhaps they should all take comfort from one man who has been written off more times than Rocky Balboa. Arsene Wenger is celebrating – or at least reaching – 20 years in charge at Arsenal.

Wenger: Back to the Future: That acclaimed him as the man of the moment. It’s remarkable what a 3-0 win over Chelsea can do. And talking of Chelsea… “clueless offering sounds alarm bells for Conte.”

As for poor Slaven Bilic at West Ham…

And here we are only six weeks into the new season.

ISN'T it surprising how your hopes and ambitions change during a season?

When Barrow Raiders set off back in February, all the talk was that if they reached the top five and secured a play-off place that would have made a good season.

Then, when that was achieved, it became: Let’s go for the top three and a home tie in the semi-finals.

Once that goal was reached, there was a new target – a win over Doncaster and a place in the final.

The thumping 46-6 win at Craven Park secured their place in that final and with it a trip nobody expected. After all – weren't Toulouse supposed to beat Rochdale Hornets and leave the Raiders with a trip to Spotland to decide who joined the French club in the Championship next season.

Now Paul Crarey and his team can really put the cat among the French pigeons with a win in Toulouse on Saturday – despite the horrendous travel arrangements. This wasn’t part of the plan at all. Go for it, Cresta.

And, at Holker Street, a possible play-off challenge was considered to be a just about achievable.

Now the Bluebirds are lying third , their manager is telling his players to get used to being a leading side and even Jeff Stelling sounded impressed when he read out the National League table on Saturday.

So… two promotions for three Pauls (Casson, Cox and Crarey) in one season for one town . Is that maybe just one hope too far?

SORRY, can’t resist this final word to those of you who regularly visit this space… Corby Town’s goal famine is over. They scored four on Saturday and knocked Blyth Spartans off the top of the Northern Premier League with a 4-3 win. I’ll try not to mention them again for at least a month.

PETER WILSON