The Warm-Up: Sterling dropped, England deal with it like grown-ups

We have taken the decision to not consider Raheem for the match against Montenegro on Thursday. One of the great challenges and strengths for us is that we’ve been able to separate club rivalries from the national team. Unfortunately the emotions of yesterday’s game were still raw. My feeling is that the right thing for the team is the action we have taken. Now that the decision has been made with the agreement of the entire squad, it’s important that we support the players and focus on Thursday night.

We are as disappointed as everyone else with both our results and performances at this stage of the season. We share the frustration with our fans, Unai, players and all our staff as they are not at the level we want or expect. Things need to improve to meet our objectives for the season and we firmly believe Unai is the right man for the job, together with the backroom team we have in place. We are all working intensively behind the scenes to turn things around and are confident we will.

From a personal point of view I want the results to get better,” he said. “I’m a realist, I want success for this team and I know the capabilities of this team and I realise fully the criticism going my way is probably only half of what it should be, one win in seven games is without doubt unacceptable. I have been in situations at Manchester United with David Moyes, my brother in Spain, with Nuno Espírito Santo in Spain, where I have seen at first hand the impact of poor results, on supporters and everything. I’m not stupid, I feel that myself but I have got full confidence in the people that I work for and the players that I am coaching and they have got full confidence in me.

I am leaving my beloved Bluebirds after over three years in which there have been some of the best days in my long football career. I would like to thank Vincent Tan and Ken Choo for their support; Victoria, my secretary, who has had to look after me over the years; Kevin Blackwell and Ronnie Jepson, my ever-faithful sidekicks and friends; and all the backroom staff on both the coaching and the medical sides who have worked tirelessly to help us achieve the success we have had. A special mention also to all of my players, past and present, who have given me everything.

For one brief moment Kieran Trippier sounds worried. The England defender is talking about how his Atlético Madrid teammate Diego Costa calls him Rooney and how that means everyone else calls him Rooney too when a thought crosses his mind. “It’s just because I’m the only English player here and Rooney’s the only one he’s heard of; it could have been anything,” he’s saying. “He just calls me that because it’s the first name that came into his mind. And everywhere I go, they shout Rooney. When I warm up, everyone’s shouting it. Everyone. I have Diego to thank for this. Of all the names. I don’t think I …” And then there’s a pause. Two men sit with him at Atlético’s Cerro del Espino training ground, empty now after the morning session. “Do you think I look like Rooney?” Trippier asks. No. “Do you think I look like Rooney?”