Stupid and Shallow

We're mainly still dealing with the nonsense from the non sale of Ronaldo today. The other story doing the rounds is this one from The Guardian (but everywhere really), on Sir Alex's thoughts on the introduction of quotas to the Premier League:

"There has been some criticism in the media of the Premier League with a call for quotas to guarantee English players starting places in teams," writes Ferguson. "I did not start the final of the Uefa Champions League with six Englishmen because I was making a political statement. I did it because they're good enough to win the European Cup."

Significantly, Ferguson disagrees with those who claim the number of foreign imports flooding the domestic game is weakening the England team and cutting its chances of international success.

"It is nonsense to say that England does not have players capable of competing on the international stage," he said. "The hysteria surrounding England's non-qualification for Euro 2008 does not create the right atmosphere for good decision-making."

And onto Ronaldo. The most sensible words today come from (shockingly) The Telegraph. They have a story on the position that not signing Ronaldo puts Roman Calderon in:

Ronaldo's decision to stay at Manchester United is a massive blow that even the implicit opportunity to sign him in the future cannot soften. Not so much for coach Bernd Schuster nor for the players, but for Calderon himself, who will now desperately scramble for a big name. After all, the one thing that matters more to him than anything else is at stake: his own survival.

Right now, having spent a bullish summer briefing that Ronaldo was in the bag, the credibility of Real's president lies in tatters.

The Telegraph then ruins everything by printing this from Henry Winter who brings out the usual cliches to argue that Ronaldo should stay at Old Trafford forever. As a Man Utd fan I would obviously like a player of Ronaldo's class to stay at the club forever but I can certainly understand the reasons for him wanting to go elsewhere, reasons beyond money, as he stated in his interview yesterday. Why it becomes a virtue to sit on one's laurels is beyond me - is it so wrong to want a new challenge, to test one's self? After the season Ronaldo had would it not have been a good time for him (from a personal perspective) to move on - he's proved himself in England - now to test himself elsewhere? I won't bother quoting and dissecting the article - it truly isn't worth it.
The worst article of the day comes in The Sun, who apparently have a problem reading - they have this to say on Ronaldo's interview yesterday:

CRISTIANO RONALDO sank to new depths of hypocrisy yesterday with a shameless display of blatant grovelling.

Having spent the summer saying he wanted to join Real Madrid, Ron insisted: "I never wanted to leave against United’s will.

"When they turned down the offer, the people at United made it very clear how much they wanted me.

"I didn’t fully understand it at the time — but now I can really appreciate it."

Excuse me? Hypocrisy? He said here that he didn't want to leave against United's will, previously he had said:

"Yes, I would like to play for Real Madrid," Ronaldo told Brazil's Terra Web site today. "But only if it is true that they are willing to spend with me and with Manchester United the amount they are saying they are. But it's not up to me."

Where's the discrepancy?