I think that this is another piece of shrewd business by PS. Rooney is obviously a player with potential. He was also out of contract in the summer and for whatever reason had pretty much determined to move on, so better that he is now out of the picture to let Hessy and the squad concentrate on trying to get us out of D2. On that point I agree that the playoffs are more likely than automatic unless we put a strong run together for the rest of the season.
For a player that has now accumulated more than 50 appearances he doesn't seem to have developed as much as might have been expected for a player with true potential. His close ball control is undoubtedly very impressive, but the timing and accuracy of his passes (and tackling) frequently results in the good work that he has done being inconsequential.
I genuinely wish him all the best - it's damn hard to make a decent living in the game these days, and I've no doubt that there will be sell-on clauses that will benefit Gills if he moves on for better money - but he'll have to make some fundamental changes to his attitude as at the moment he hasn't got the all round abilities (mental as well as physical) to take him too far up the league ladder, and lower league managers and chairmen won't tolerate underperforming players for very long in the present financial climate.