"If you look at my bookings, they've gone down each season. That's something I'm trying to keep improving. On the pitch you don't want any silly bookings"
About this Quote
The subtext is a quiet pivot away from the old Rooney brand: the combustible prodigy, the red-mist forward who played like he could muscle the sport into submission. Early Rooney was admired for aggression and punished for it; this line reframes restraint as a skill, not a compromise. “Silly bookings” is doing a lot of work - it separates necessary physicality (the “good” foul, the tactical yellow) from ego-driven chaos. He’s not apologizing for being hard; he’s disowning being reckless.
Context matters: modern elite football is surveillance-heavy. Cards trigger suspensions, change game plans, and become talking points in press conferences. Rooney’s intent is partly practical (stay on the pitch) and partly reputational: evidence that he’s learned to channel intensity into efficiency. It’s self-critique dressed up as self-improvement, and it lands because it treats discipline as performance, not morality.
Quote Details
| Topic | Sports |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Rooney, Wayne. (2026, January 16). If you look at my bookings, they've gone down each season. That's something I'm trying to keep improving. On the pitch you don't want any silly bookings. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/if-you-look-at-my-bookings-theyve-gone-down-each-123893/
Chicago Style
Rooney, Wayne. "If you look at my bookings, they've gone down each season. That's something I'm trying to keep improving. On the pitch you don't want any silly bookings." FixQuotes. January 16, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/if-you-look-at-my-bookings-theyve-gone-down-each-123893/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"If you look at my bookings, they've gone down each season. That's something I'm trying to keep improving. On the pitch you don't want any silly bookings." FixQuotes, 16 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/if-you-look-at-my-bookings-theyve-gone-down-each-123893/. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.
