The Observer has a report on Cantona at ... Twerton Park:
Eric Cantona pulled a ticket out of the black-and-white striped barrel, held up the number and waited patiently for the winner to come forward before handing over third prize, a bottle of white wine. The Frenchman had already spent more than three hours at Twerton Park speaking to the local media, mingling with a number of Bath City's part-time players and holding court in the non-League club's bar. Now he was drawing the raffle.
The humble surroundings must have seemed a million miles away from Old Trafford and the Cannes film festival, where Cantona graced the red carpet a few weeks ago, yet the 43-year-old appeared totally at ease.No subject was off-limits and as Cantona sat for the best part of an hour, without once looking at his watch, candidly discussing everything from the part his father played in his infamous kung‑fu kick at Selhurst Park to his ambition of managing Manchester United and the exorbitant ticket prices that have hammered a nail into the coffin of the working-class supporter, it was tempting to wonder how Cristiano Ronaldo would handle a similar engagement.
After all, at the Football Writers' Association's annual dinner 13 months ago, Ronaldo demanded at the last minute that space was made for five of his entourage to sit on the top table with him. Cantona, in contrast, walked around Twerton Park with the minimum of fuss and took his seat on the small stage in front of the 350 supporters that had crammed into Bath City's function room as if he was pulling up a chair at home.
The whole article is worth a read and has a few quotes from his Q&A session:
"Ryan Giggs is 35 but still has the passion for the game. I admire this kind of player. I don't admire every player in the world who plays football until 35 years old because some of them play and are not passionate anymore. But when you see Giggs, everybody knows that he still has the fight and passion for the game."
The Q&A was drawing to a close and there was little Cantona had not covered. He had claimed that "no one could pay it" when asked what he would be worth in today's transfer market and he even offered an explanation for his famous upturned shirt collar. "One day I just put the shirt on and the collar did this," he said, gesturing to the audience. "I scored a goal and after it was like a habit. Sometimes a player keeps his underwear the same; I like to change mine."
And so onto Ronaldo. The Observer speculates on the real reason for his move, a life long love for Real Madrid or something else:
Christiano Ronaldo's frustration with Sir Alex Ferguson's reluctance to encourage Manchester United players to exploit their commercial potential was a major factor in the 24-year-old's desire to leave Old Trafford, industry sources say.
It is a scenario that echoes the experience of David Beckham, whose departure to Real Madrid in 2003 was influenced by Ferguson's view that his off-field profile was distracting focus from the team. ...
Mary-Ellen Field, a leading expert in commercial and licensing rights, told Observer Sport that Ronaldo's £80m move will open up a huge range of previously restricted commercial options and will allow him to earn "at least £85m" from endorsements over the next decade.
"Ferguson's view that [commercial exploitation] takes a player's mind off the game is valid," Field said. "However, the contract between the player and licensee means they usually have to work 20 days a year at most.
"With any brand building, whether it's a person or product, the more positive exposure you get, the more valuable your brand becomes. It would have been beneficial for the club and player to get as much exposure as possible."
Still on the money tip, The Mirror compare Beckham and Ronaldo. Their conclusion: that Ronaldo should try harder to be as likeable as Beckham to get that money.
Further to my comments yesterday on how to get back at Ronaldo, The Times tell us that Inter have put an £80 million price tag on Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Now that would be quality, Ibrahimovic being worth as much Ronaldo - that would not go down well... Not that I can see anyone being insane enough to pay that for him, surely...
The Telegraph have a quote from a "source close to Ronaldo":
"There is a big difference between Cristiano and some other players," explained a source close to him. "With some players they change their mind every year. Now I want Barcelona, now I want Inter and so on. But with Cristiano it was always Real Madrid. Their difficulties in recent times on the pitch did not matter and he remained true to what he had always wanted. He has always wanted to play at Real Madrid. He never spoke about another club.
"There have only ever been two clubs for Cristiano: Manchester United and Real Madrid. Manchester United is a club that will always be in Cristiano's heart. He has had six good years there and now feels ready for a new challenge. But he is still only 24 and has a long future in football and would like to come back to Manchester later in his career. If he leaves Real Madrid, he can only imagine doing so to return to Manchester United."
I'm sure he'd be welcomed back with open arms... The rest of the article is pretty good, having a fair look at how the transfer came about:
The United manager flew out to Portugal and, together with Mendes, managed, in an intense four-hour meeting, to persuade Ronaldo that he should spend at least another year at United. Despite reports of pre-contractual agreements, no formal arrangement was made for him to leave this summer. However, Ronaldo was told that, if he was still determined to move in the next two years, and Real Madrid made a bid that United were happy with, then he would be allowed to leave. And this, of course, is what happened.
Negotiations between all parties were amicable. Ronaldo is eager not to burn his bridges with United, and did not want to be drawn into a repeat of what he now acknowledges was a poor way of handling himself last summer.
What helped facilitate the relative smoothness of the deal was Florentino Perez's relationship with Manchester United. The Real Madrid president earned United's respect for his conduct in signing David Beckham from them in the summer of 2003, in his previous stint as president of the club. Under his predecessor, Roman Calderon, relations had deteriorated to the extent that Ferguson famously said he "would not sell them a virus". Indeed, Calderon has been busy in the last 48 hours trying to claim Perez had merely capitalised on a deal he had set up himself but this is only an attempt to claw back some political credibility in Madrid. Calderon failed to sign any of his major targets while president of the club and, embarrassingly for him, Perez has signed his top two, Ronaldo and Kaka, within a fortnight of taking up his position. His claims to have laid the foundations for this deal are mere bluster.
The News of The World have extensive Ronaldo coverage. He's in an expensive hotel room with a blonde and a brunette it tells us. Andy Dunn slags him off. All the other players hated him. I'm not quoting from any of them. The agenda is obvious.
They also report Vidic's words on him staying:
"I am very happy here and next season we will start again. I have got no desire to go anywhere. People forget that when you join a new league you don't just have to adjust to the country, you also have to adjust to the style of football.
"I feel my game is well adjusted to England now and I want to play a part in a successful team next season. United can make it a record four titles in a row next year."
And far from being fed up, Vidic is feeling more and more at home. He said: "I've started to understand and love all the things you English love. Now I even love a bacon sandwich!"
Sir Alex has words on Ronaldo, realistic words:
'He wanted to leave, it's as simple as that. He was going to go some time. We've done well to keep him for so long.'
In the same article The Mail on Sunday claim that Tevez has agreed a deal with Manchester City:
it is understood that Tevez has accepted a massive £160,000-a-week deal to move to Eastlands.
City officials, worried that Tevez may yet be persuaded to stay at Old Trafford, are anxious to close the deal, especially since United are unlikely to match a financial package which almost puts the player on a level with record-signing Robinho.
'City feel that United may have dragged their feet a bit over Tevez, but they know it won't be over until he has signed on the dotted line,' said a source close to City.
And people slag off Ronaldo for a lack of loyalty.
The Mirror have the same story but his deal goes down to a mere £140,000 there. If other clubs really believe he's worth that much a week they're welcome to him as far as I'm concerned.
Middlesbrough want to offer us Stewart Downing for Gary Neville and Paul Scholes, according to the Mirror. Please don't let this happen.
To finish off let's look to the future, Paul Hayward has a quite optimistic look at how we'll cope without Ronaldo:
Nature may abhor one, but footballers love a vacuum. Rooney will feel a surge of liberation. He lacks the narcissistic tendency to want fame's light to suddenly fall on him. He will, though, covet Ronaldo's central role: the one Real's new No9 moaned about having to occupy after the Champions League final in Rome. Lyon's Karim Benzema, whom Ferguson is known to admire greatly, may seem to present a problem of duplication because he shares some of Rooney's pace, strength and directness – but he is also blessed with a special presence that United would dearly like to acquire, regardless of how the Carlos Tevez-Dimitar Berbatov conundrum resolves itself. ...
Out wide, others are queuing to step into the void. Ronaldo's underachieving compatriot, Nani, thrust up his arm just as Antonio Valencia's move from Wigan Athletic, for around £15m, began to seem a certainty. "Ronaldo was a very important player for us, but my opportunity has come," Nani told a Portuguese newspaper. "The time has come for Manchester United to put their trust in me."
The Latics are an unlikely raiding ground for a club who have just lost an £80m superstar to Real Madrid, but there has been a shift in emphasis at Old Trafford in the past four years towards finding sub-23-year-olds who can be shaped in the club's image. Valencia is 23, Benzema 21.
The United academy staff spent many months pursuing the Brazilian brothers Da Silva, Rafael and Fábio, and also hit pay dirt with the Italian Federico Macheda, who has the pure talent and self-assurance to fill some of the gap left up front by Ronaldo. Since the world's No1 player is, by definition, irreplaceable, United's policy will be to be supplant him with a range of talents, starting with Rooney and Valencia, and completing the job with a Benzema, Samuel Eto'o or Franck Ribéry, although Bayern Munich's mirth-inducing asking price will evoke memories for Ferguson of the tedious and expensive pursuit of Owen Hargreaves.
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