KEITH NEWBERY A sad triumph of arrogance and greed as Fergie panders to Rooney

It depends on your definition of victory, I suppose.

If his idea of perfect parenting is to run around after a squealing child, putting its toys back in the pram and giving in to all its demands, then he has achieved a resounding success.

But this is the first time in his 24 years at Old Trafford the old boy has dealt with the symptoms of a problem rather than the cause – and he will almost certainly live to regret it.

When other players – like Paul Ince, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Jaap Stam and even David Beckham – began to believe they were bigger than the club, Ferguson got rid of them.

Manchester United went on to achieve even greater success and it seemed the boss had clearly scratched a line in the changing-room floor over which stars trespassed at their peril.

But Rooney – no doubt urged on by his well-meaning ‘advisers’ – decided to go head to head with Ferguson.

Iron Scot v gobby Scouser. Boss v player. Experience v the greed and impetuosity of youth. There could only be one winner, surely.

Yet the most successful manager in the history of British football caved in, and is now busy trying to make a surrender look like a shrewd tactical withdrawal.

He opted for appeasement and chose to hug a bolshy viper to his bosom.

Meanwhile, other players will now become unsettled by the obscene rewards Rooney has negotiated for his increasingly fitful endeavours.

They will shrug off his apology and continue to brood on the unflattering remarks he made about them – and Rooney will regard himself as untouchable.

He has a Gazza streak running right through him; a dangerous tendency to abuse his natural talent and a deluded conviction he will always be able to summon it on demand.

When this squall blew up, Ferguson should have abided by his own beliefs and personally escorted Rooney out of the main gate as soon as an acceptable bid was made.

This may still happen, of course, because Rooney is not the type to learn from his mistakes.

But by then the damage will have been done.