You’ll Roogret it if you leave

BETTER THE DEVIL YOU KNOW ... Cole has told Roo to stick it out at United

ANDY COLE has warned Wayne Rooney: Learn from my mistake and do not give up on Manchester United.

The former Red Devils striker went from goal king Cole at Old Trafford to playing second fiddle to Ruud van Nistelrooy and ended up quitting for first-team football at Blackburn.

But after Rooney was axed for the big one against Real Madrid last Tuesday, Cole has said he should not panic or he could end up looking back with regret — as Cole does himself.

Cole said: “I can understand how Wayne may feel.

“I look back on what happened to me and, if I had not been so headstrong and stubborn, I could have stayed at United.

“I was not playing regular football at the time, so I was not the happiest man in the world and I was very stubborn and I made up my mind.

“I look back on it in hindsight and I think to myself, ‘I should have stayed’.

“But ultimately, when you are young and vibrant you still want to play football week in, week out.

“You make a decision and you have to stand by it.

“That’s what I did. But I look back now and realise I made the wrong decision.

“You look back and say, ‘I should have done this and I should have done that’.

“I should have finished my career here. I had a great opportunity to do that. I had just signed a new contract.

“I had a fantastic relationship with the manager and he was always good for me.

“We sat down and talked about it numerous times before he actually finally said that he would let me go.

“Before that he kept saying no and said there was no chance I could leave.

ALL SMILES ... Andy Cole with Fergie in 1999

“But I kept at it and I made a decision. You make decisions for a reason and for me it was simply because I wanted to play.”

There is no doubt that Rooney, 27, has been left in the shadows with the arrival of Robin van Persie — just as Cole was with the signing of another Dutchman in Van Nistelrooy.

So, after six years and 121 goals in 275 games for the club, Cole decided to move on.

Ferguson now has more options to fill Rooney’s role in behind the one frontman, with Danny Welbeck or Shinji Kagawa.

He could also play Javier Hernandez up front with van Persie behind him, Rooney is no longer an automatic choice at United and he may have to get used to that.

Tuesday was not the first time the England hitman has been dropped by Ferguson.

He was axed following a below-par performance in the 1-0 defeat at Everton in the opening game of this season, with Ferguson concerned over his fitness.

This time around, Rooney was back with an unconvincing display in Sunday’s 2-2 FA Cup draw with Chelsea.

But Cole believes there are still plenty of big games in a Red Devils shirt left for Rooney.

Cole said: “Wayne is quality. He will play numerous amounts of games for United.

“He has a lot more games in him here and he will score numerous amounts of goals here as well.

“I cannot see it being a problem. Everyone has been left out of big games and then come back the week after.

“The manager leaves big players out of big matches. It has happened down the years.

“In the Treble-winning year, we get to the FA Cup final and he leaves players out.

“The last game of the Premier League season he left players out against Tottenham, I was one of them. The next big one
you could be playing in.

“It’s part and parcel of being at a club like United.”

Andy Cole was promoting the Manchester United v Real Madrid Legends game at Old Trafford on June 2 which will raise money for the Manchester United foundation.