ALL Ronaldo's future/comments/speculation

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By ANTONY KASTRINAKIS and SHAUN CUSTIS

Published: Today

CRISTIANO RONALDO openly defied Sir Alex Ferguson as Real Madrid prepared to make their first official bid for the Old Trafford star.

We can reveal Ronaldo’s agent flew into Manchester yesterday and will tell United that Madrid are willing to offer £45million plus £20m-rated Dutch midfielder Wesley Sneijder in return for the Portuguese ace.

In what was an astonishingly confrontational outburst, Ronaldo made it clear he does not care what his United boss thinks of it all.

Asked if he believed Fergie would be angry, Ronaldo replied: “I don’t mind if people get upset.

“It is my decision. It is what I want.”

There can be little doubt Fergie is already upset at the way his leading player is being lured away by the Spanish giants.

United’s manager has already told senior pros that Ronaldo is going absolutely nowhere.

A United source said: “Everyone at the club knows where the manager stands on this.

“He has been saying very strongly that Ronaldo will not be sold.”

United confirmed in a statement yesterday that they are ‘not listening to offers’. But Real Madrid president Ramon Calderon insisted: “If Ronaldo wants us, we’ll be there.”

Ronaldo’s agent Jorge Mendes is now in Manchester under orders to negotiate his client’s move.

Real would be happy to offer Brazilian forward Robinho if United do not want Sneijder.

Despite wanting to quit the Premier League and European champions, Ronaldo still expects them to fund the minor operation he needs on his right foot.

He added: “I will be seen by United doctors in a couple of days.

“I will talk to my club first and then, in three or four days, I will be operated on.”

Ironically, Sneijder is looking forward to playing alongside Ronaldo — just as Real look ready to move him on.

Sneijder, 24, who left Ajax for Spain only last August, said: “It would be a pleasure to play alongside him.

“I’d sign him for Real Madrid with my eyes closed.

“Ronaldo is among the two or three best players in the world, if not the best.

“With him, we’d have a great chance of winning the Champions League.”

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/article1321584.ece
 
United try to save union from Spanish suitor

Manchester United face a near impossible task in preventing Cristiano Ronaldo from resisting the lure of Real Madrid

Oliver Kay


div#related-article-links p a, div#related-article-links p a:visited {color:#06c;}Like the chastened wife of a serial adulterer, Manchester United have spent the past three weeks trying to ignore Cristiano Ronaldo’s brazen flirtations with Real Madrid and maintaining that their man is going nowhere. Some would call it a sense of denial, others a welcome commitment to working things out, but, even if their marriage with Ronaldo somehow survives the rockiest of summers, there is a growing realisation at Old Trafford that he will end up in the arms of his Spanish suitor sooner rather than later.
Even Sir Alex Ferguson, as he headed for the South of France on holiday two weeks ago, suspected that there was nothing to worry about, that Ronaldo and Real were merely making eyes at each other, that there was no way the 23-year-old would walk out on the newly crowned champions of Europe. Ferguson and David Gill, the chief executive, thought that this had more to do with the usual politicking at Real and with Ronaldo’s supposed desire to sign a new contract. Only now, it seems, are they beginning to realise that their outstanding player regarded the Champions League final in Moscow a month ago as his United swansong.
Ferguson has a choice. Does he reluctantly bow to Ronaldo’s wishes, letting the player fulfil his supposed destiny in Madrid, or does he refuse outright to sell the player, holding him to his contract? The United manager’s street-fighting instincts will tell him to do the latter, but there may also be a part of him that finds Ronaldo’s actions, behaviour and ever-inflating ego so abhorrent — if not now, then soon, once the Portugal forward has uttered a few more unpleasantries over the coming weeks — that he may ultimately think it is in the club’s interests to open negotiations with Real. At this stage, it appears the best United can hope for, and perhaps marginally the most likely outcome, is that Ronaldo agrees to spend one more season in Manchester on the condition that he is granted his wish next summer.
In recent weeks, United have made a great play that, although they have sold three players to Real in the past five years (David Beckham, Ruud van Nistelrooy and Gabriel Heinze), all had become surplus to Ferguson’s requirements. Had Real made offers for any of those players a year earlier, United would have rejected them. It was only after falling foul of Ferguson that the three players were sold. And Van Nistelrooy, far from the fading force he was depicted as when leaving United, is averaging two goals every three games for Real.
The problem for United is that losing Ronaldo barely 12 months into a five-year contract that made him the best-paid player in their history was not part of the masterplan. Gill said in January that “it wouldn’t make sense” to sell Ronaldo, even for a world-record fee, because it would cost at least as much to replace him.



Even if, hypothetically, the proceeds from a £70 million sale were used to buy Philipp Lahm and Franck Ribéry from Bayern Munich and David Villa from Valencia, there would be no guarantee that the team would be as strong as they were last season.
It is easy to see why United remain so opposed to selling Ronaldo and it is easy to appreciate why they will do everything in their power to keep him. But, if he is as single-minded on this matter as he appears, that resolve will be put to the test. And, whether now, in August or indeed next summer, you suspect that United, like that poor chastened wife, will be forced to concede that they have lost their man and must instead focus trying to make a fresh start without him.
Replacing the irreplaceable
- Bryan Robson was the driving force in Manchester United's midfield but was fading at the start of the Premier League era. Paul Ince filled the role effectively at first and then Roy Keane matched Robson's longevity.
- Eric Cantona provided the spark that ended United's 25-season title drought in 1993, so his retirement four years later seemed ominous. But Andrew Cole kept the goals flowing while Teddy Sheringham linked midfield and attack.
- David Beckham developed from star pupil to one of the great crossers of a ball, but when he left in 2003 his No7 shirt was inherited by Cristiano Ronaldo, to great effect.
- Roy Keane needed replacing when he left for Celtic late in 2005 and, while United have yet to find a similar model, they have won successive league titles using various central midfield players.
 
This is a good article to read.....lays out the next steps.....

Why Cristiano Ronaldo will win Real battle


Patrick Foster

Manchester United will be virtually powerless to prevent Cristiano Ronaldo from leaving the club if he has his heart set on a move to Real Madrid, football agents and employment lawyers said yesterday.
He could follow the path of players who want to wriggle out of a contract by adopting a well-worn strategy, Barry Silkman, the football agent, said. That involves grinding the club down with transfer requests and leaks to the press until they buckle.
“You would just keep knocking on the door and drive them mad,” Silkman said. “You tell them you are not happy. You'd get bits in the press. You just basically have to drive them mad by keeping on knocking on the manager's door and phoning them up.
“The agent would phone up the manager and say that his player really didn't want to be at the club any more and the player would keep going to the manager and say he wanted a move. The manager knows that if a player is not happy you can only do so much to keep them.”
So short of selling Ronaldo, United will be left with the option of either fielding an unmotivated player in the first team or continuing to pay him £120,000 a week to stew in the reserves on a period of gardening leave. But even that has its legal pitfalls, James Davies, one of the country's leading employment lawyers, said.

Davies, joint head of the employment and incentives department at Lewis Silkin, the London-based law firm, said: “Basic employment law provision would be that if he were to walk out on his contract, he would be in breach and Manchester United could try to hold him to it by forcing him to honour it.
“They could say that they require him to play, or threaten to put him on gardening leave, by sticking him in the reserves. The problem with that is that you're paying the player a fortune and if they don't want to stay, the pressure is strong to let him go because you will get millions of pounds and you won't have to pay his wage.
“If they did want to stick him in the reserves, the question of how long you can put an employee on gardening leave for is not clear, legally. Ronaldo could say that his skills will atrophy if he doesn't get to play at the top level, or that he has a right to play, so he could sue. That is a tough point of employment law. At the end of the day, these situations usually result in the player going.”
If Ronaldo were to refuse to turn out for Manchester United, the club could try to sue him for losses they suffered as a result of his actions, Davies said. But it is not clear how they would proceed. He added: “How do you measure that? Could you persuade a court that if a particular player had played, the club would have won a particular game or thousands more paying spectators would have turned up? How can you measure the loss?
“Deals are always done because nobody wins by seeking to enforce the contract, because of the vast sums of money at stake and the diminishing returns on the asset - the player. In practice, it is highly likely he'll go.”
In the past, some players desperate for a transfer have resorted to more unorthodox means of protest. Pierre van Hooijdonk, the former Holland forward, went on strike before the beginning of the 1998 season, refusing to return to Nottingham Forest. When he eventually saw sense and came back to the club, he was shunned by his team-mates. Chelsea claimed that William Gallas threatened to score an own goal if he was prevented from leaving the club, in 2006.
Silkman said: “I think Cristiano is too much of a professional to try to go on strike or anything like that. You've got to remember that no one has come out with cast-iron proof that he wants a move. But if a player does want out, the key is just to drive the club mad until they have to sell him.”
Bid for freedom
A football agent's guide to getting out of your contract
i) Ask for a meeting with the manager and say that you want to move
ii) Ask your agent to ring the manager to tell him that you want to move
iii) Leak stories to the newspapers, saying that you want to move
iv) Repeat the above three steps until the club agrees to sell
v) At no stage should you threaten to go on strike or score an own goal
Source: Barry Silkman, former Manchester City player, now an agent
 
So we'll be "powerless", because he'll "wear us down". Essentially what this article is suggesting is that we just keep saying no, don't let it irriatate us, and he's our player. Ffs. :rolleyes:

And that legal stuff afterwards is a load of shite and all, if we sued him for breach, he'd face financial ruin for the sort of damages he'd be forced to pay.
 
ThatOldRedMagic said:
Yeah but, no but, yeah but....

Remember; you heard it first from Jason, Gus, me and a few others; he's going nowhere for at least another season. Maybe quite a bit more.
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If he stays then just the one, put him up for auction next summer.

I'd rather this weren't a lingering sore at the end of the same season that Fergie chooses to retire, better that we have adapted to football without Ronaldo and Sir Alex satisfied with matters before he departs IMO.
 
NEIL CUSTIS said:
For too long the Portuguese international has tried to be bigger than the club. Witness the moment United won their third European Cup.

As the whole squad ran to embrace the real hero of the night, Edwin van der Sar, Ronaldo set off.

But realising it was not all about him he stopped and fell to the ground supposedly in tears.

They should have been tears of relief not joy having missed the penalty that would have cost United a season of toil but for John Terry’s slip.

Instead of focusing on a true professional like Van der Sar the cameras sadly went to a big-time Charlie.
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The author of these paragraphs (why are there five of them?) is clearly an idiot.
 
RONALDO'S OVER AND OUT - UNITED CHIEFS DIG IN THEIR HEELS

Cristiano Ronaldo: Real Madrid target
Saturday June 21,2008
By Richard Tanner and Harry Harris

Sir Alex Ferguson has warned Cristiano Ronaldo: Forget your dream of moving to Real Madrid.

Manchester United manager Ferguson is furious Ronaldo has finally come clean on his desire to join the Spanish champions just a month after helping his club clinch a Premier and Champions League double.

Ferguson has the backing of United’s American owners, the Glazers, and chief executive David Gill, to reject the expected £75million offer from Madrid.

Ronaldo, in the wake of Portugal’s exit from Euro 2008, ended weeks of confusion by declaring he had made up his mind to join Real even before the Champions League final. He said: “It is a dream, a step forward, you can call it what you want. For me it is a great opportunity. And as [Luiz Felipe] Scolari says that train passes by only once and we have to take advantage of it. This is what I want and I hope to reach an agreement in the next few days.”


But United hit back immediately yesterday by issuing a statement that re-iterated their “not for sale” stance.

Yet the club may only have themselves to blame if Ronaldo eventually leaves. The Daily Express can reveal today that a change in rules over payments to agents – which United supported – is now working against them in the case of Ronaldo.

Jorge Mendez, agent to Ronaldo, stands to make a £15m financial killing if the deal is pushed through.

It will be the world’s biggest single commission for a transfer and the contentious transaction has been orchestrated by Mendez. Ronaldo’s personal contract is worth £75m. The transfer fee, which may start with a bid of £60m, is likely to reach the same level as the contract.

That makes Ronaldo’s financial package worth a staggering £150m and the agent is likely to claim a 10 per cent cut.

But because of the change in rules by the FA and Premier League, the same agent would now be paid nothing by United for renegotiating a pay rise to stay at Old Trafford. Any payment to Mendez would have to be made by the player.

With Ronaldo due back in Manchester over the weekend for a foot operation, Ferguson is set to fly home early from his holiday in France for showdown talks with his leading goalscorer.

They have not spoken since the end of May, but the United boss will tell Ronaldo he is staying put – he still has four years left on a five-year contract. Ronaldo will be given three weeks holiday to recover from Euro 2008 but will be expected to report back for pre-season training on July 14 – 11 days after the other players.

http://www.dailyexpress.co.uk/posts/view/49230
 
BahamaRed said:
I'm old. This thread's moving very fast. I got home from work an hour or so ago and thought I had caught up on everything in the few hours I was away. No harm in this thread though. First time I'd seen them and I'm on here every 4 1/2 minutes!
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Yeah. I'd read those articles, but they'd not been posted on here yet.

The Custis article uses quotes we'd already seen.

It's still Ferguson v Real then.

I know there's another thread(s) on this, but I don't want any of the players Real may want to offload. It's an insult, even if any of them are any good.
 
gerrydaly said:
Yeah. I'd read those articles, but they'd not been posted on here yet.

The Custis article uses quotes we'd already seen.

It's still Ferguson v Real then.

I know there's another thread(s) on this, but I don't want any of the players Real may want to offload. It's an insult, even if any of them are any good.
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That second Times article about the lawyers and options for Ronnie is very interesting and I believe is how its going to go. You can bet that United have all their lawyers working on this right now and their summation will very much influence what United, the Glazers, Gill and Fergie are going to do. And I think they'll find, as written in that article, that there's not very much they can do if he really asks for a transfer.
 
gerrydaly said:
Yeah. I'd read those articles, but they'd not been posted on here yet.

The Custis article uses quotes we'd already seen.

It's still Ferguson v Real then.

I know there's another thread(s) on this, but I don't want any of the players Real may want to offload. It's an insult, even if any of them are any good.
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Not merely an insult, but a transparent attempt at trickery. They are, like the hustlers at some provincial fairground, trying to pull a fast one over an innocent victim. Sadly for them they are dealing with SAF and the Glazers, either of whom would eat anyone at the ridiculous Bernebeu for breakfast.
 
Feel the force: Ronaldo heading for hairdryer as Fergie holds firm on move to Madrid
By Peter Ferguson Last updated at 8:23 PM on 20th June 2008

Cristiano Ronaldo must face the notorious hairdryer treatment from Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson in a one-on-one meeting as he tries to force a move to Real Madrid.

But Ronaldo, who has four years left on a £120,000-a-week contract, says: 'I am not bothered if he gets angry. It is my decision. It's what I want.'

Madrid president Ramon Calderon held a Bernabeu summit meeting with, among others, Real coach Bernd Schuster and sporting director Predrag Mijatovic to discuss a strategy for prising Ronaldo out of United.

But United, so furious with Real's shameless courting of their 23-year-old winger that they called in FIFA, dug their heels in, making it clear yet again that they have no intention of accepting Real's world-record £70million bid.

Footballer of the Year Ronaldo finally came clean over his desire to join Real in the wake of Portugal's 3-2 defeat by Germany at Euro 2008 - having decided before the Champions League Final that he wanted to quit United.

Ronaldo said: 'It is a dream, a step forward. It is a chance that only comes once in your life. Everybody knows what I want, but things don't only depend on me. I am not the person who decides. But I hope to complete my dream.'

Old Trafford's defiant response on the club website said: 'United are not listening to offers. Ronaldo is not for sale.'

Ronaldo's camp had hoped that Sir Alex would step in to end the ill feeling that festered over United's refusal to consider a pay rise reward for the 42-goal season that helped land the domestic and Champions League titles.

They still believe there is room for a compromise whereby Ronaldo would stay at Old Trafford for another 12 months and United's pride would not be dented, having seen off Real's bid to bully their rivals into letting them have their way.

But Ferguson has backed chief executive David Gill's immovable stance over Ronaldo's contract and future. United's manager is fuming with Real's arrogance, saying: 'They ride roughshod over everyone but they won't do it with us.'

Ronaldo, who is having a delayed minor operation for a foot injury, is due back for pre-season training in three weeks but plans a formal weekend statement and will hope he does not have to turn up at Carrington.

The 23-year-old has not spoken to Sir Alex since joining Portugal's ill-fated European campaign in Switzerland and did not improve his standing in the manager's eyes with his somewhat dismissive post-defeat comments in Basle.

Ronaldo said: 'It isn't true I have spoken to Ferguson. He hasn't called. I didn't have anything to speak to him about.'


From seeing Real as a destination further down the line, Ronaldo has decided that now is the time to go, despite Ferguson's threat that he 'would rot in the stands' next season rather than be playing at the Bernabeu.

Ferguson is holidaying in the south of France and Gill is also away, but despite the animosty being aimed their way from Old Trafford, Madrid hope to open a line of communication next week with a view to negotiating a deal.

They have a transfer fund of 100m euros - around £80m - and could go 'all in' to call United's bluff and test their resolve. Such a deal would blow the £47m world record they paid Juventus in 2001 for Zinedine Zidane out of the water.

But United's owning Glazer family, guided by Gill and Ferguson, are likely to reject even that sum. They are determined that they will not blink first in their power struggle of a face-off with their only rivals as the biggest football club on the planet.

Ronaldo's closest advisers are still optimistic a crisis can be averted, while privately unhappy that United's dogged insistence on not giving an inch has led to Ronaldo's shift in attitude from just a few months ago.

The subtle progress that characterises most negotiations behind the scenes was blocked by United's board and, in Portuguese eyes, opportunities to make Ronaldo feel cherished at Old Trafford were passed up.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...ading-hairdryer-Fergie-holds-firm-Madrid.html
 
2010 Champions League Final...United v Real at the Bernabéu...feck the cnuts in their own back yard!

Real may get Ronaldo, but they really are making themselves look even more like a circus with such desperation...it's pathetic. Desperate twats. The pressure on Ronaldo will be immense if he joins them and I look forward to the white hanky brigade!

United are in the driving seat here, if he goes, we will be fine, if he stays we're fine. Breathe people. United will keep making history and developing players into great players, with Ronaldo or without.
 
BahamaRed said:
....and I think he's gonna ask for a transfer, that's why I think he's gone, no matter what.
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And if that be the case, we need to decide sooner rather than later you would think.

I mean we can sit around till the end of August squeezing every last penny ou of Real, but then where will e the time to do anything useful with it?

Then again...if we have the money [which we certainly have more of due to recent successes] we could go out and deal in the market regardless, well up to a point. It'd be nice to put some of our earnings from last season's campaign or the sale of players toward paying off the debt, but they may have to wait with circumstances as they are.
 
Richter said:
Feel the force: Ronaldo heading for hairdryer as Fergie holds firm on move to Madrid
By Peter Ferguson Last updated at 8:23 PM on 20th June 2008

Cristiano Ronaldo must face the notorious hairdryer treatment from Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson in a one-on-one meeting as he tries to force a move to Real Madrid.

But Ronaldo, who has four years left on a £120,000-a-week contract, says: 'I am not bothered if he gets angry. It is my decision. It's what I want.'
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is that what he actually said?
 
Heinzesight said:
2010 Champions League Final...United v Real at the Bernabéu...feck the cnuts in their own back yard!

Real may get Ronaldo, but they really are making themselves look even more like a circus with such desperation...it's pathetic. Desperate twats. The pressure on Ronaldo will be immense if he joins them and I look forward to the white hanky brigade!

United are in the driving seat here, if he goes, we will be fine, if he stays we're fine. Breathe people. United will keep making history and developing players into great players, with Ronaldo or without.
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Sound stuff there. Except, Ronnie's the best player I've ever seen in 50 odd years and right now is TBPITW. That's what's different.
Sorry, but I can't take a laissez faire attitude.
One part of me really wants him to stay, but if its not for 4 more years then he can feck off now. And if he does, my rating of him on the United legend scale goes down to ZERO.
 
Ronnie could end all this but doesn't choose to. Bit of a cnut in my opinion, but it's win win for us as we can hold Real to ransom.
 
Richter said:
.

We can reveal Ronaldo’s agent flew into Manchester yesterday and will tell United that Madrid are willing to offer £45million plus £20m-rated Dutch midfielder Wesley Sneijder in return for the Portuguese ace.
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I would rather have a Ronaldo that is happy to stay at United but if he is determined to go and this is true it's not a bad opening bid. Get Real to throw in Ramos as well as Sneijder and £45million and it may be too good to turn down.
 
If Ronaldo leaves to the feckers at Real, i'd love to see next time we play them Gary Neville break Ronaldo's leg in a tackle and stand over him. Leave Man Utd and you'll get fecked over
 
United and SAF used exactly the same tactics when they poached Hargreaves, who was on the first year of 4 year contract, from Bayern. In a sense, they "deserve" all this Ronaldo saga.
 
Feedingseagulls said:
What I want to know is...

if that's a transcription of both what the reporter asked, and what Ronaldo says - where does the editorial insertion of 'to go to Real Madrid' come from? That insertion is only valid if it explains an otherwise unquoted context in the preceding question - such as 'what is the situation regarding your future with Real Madrid?'.

Yet if that sort of question was asked, why isn't it simply in the transcription as words uttered by the interviewer? Then, of course, it would need no explanatory insertion. Unless, perhaps, the context is an assumption by the editor rather than a reasonable certainty based on accurate interpretation of context. So can we be sure exactly what 'possibilities' are big?
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You've noticed this too?

Even Ballague's magical "transcript" of an interview he has still refused to release the audio of (in spite of promising to over 24 hours ago) doesn't directly say he wants out - possibly for libel reasons.

The papers are probably now treading a very tight line with today's reports and their "quotes" if they've been made up out of whole cloth, though. Those sorts of things do damage one's professional reputation if they are not in fact true and are (shock! horror!) made up by the likes of Neil Custis and company.
 
BahamaRed said:
Sound stuff there. Except, Ronnie's the best player I've ever seen in 50 odd years and right now is TBPITW. That's what's different.
Sorry, but I can't take a laissez faire attitude.
One part of me really wants him to stay, but if its not for 4 more years then he can feck off now. And if he does, my rating of him on the United legend scale goes down to ZERO.
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Talking Big Pink Inuendo's To Wenger?!?
 
jasonrh said:
You've noticed this too?

Even Ballague's magical "transcript" of an interview he has still refused to release the audio of (in spite of promising to over 24 hours ago) doesn't directly say he wants out - possibly for libel reasons.

The papers are probably now treading a very tight line with today's reports and their "quotes" if they've been made up out of whole cloth, though. Those sorts of things do damage one's professional reputation if they are not in fact true and are (shock! horror!) made up by the likes of Neil Custis and company.
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So, are you saying that there's nothing going on? That Ballague's interview with him was bogus?
So why is there not one paper or media outlet that thinks he's not leaving? Is everyone in the world taken in by this Ballague chappie?
It really seems obvious to me that he wants to go and fulfill his dream. If he didn't he would have said so (and don't bring up "I stay" cos that's eons ago and the furor since then has made it a different world for Ronnie).
The rest is up to United. Mainly the lawyers at United. That's what Chapter two is all about. It's not Ronaldo anymore. We know what Ronnie wants. Now letsa see what United want. Exciting times.
 
tbtt said:
United and SAF used exactly the same tactics when they poached Hargreaves, who was on the first year of 4 year contract, from Bayern. In a sense, they "deserve" all this Ronaldo saga.
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maybe so but this is different ffs hargo wasnt even getting a game at bayern and was injured all the time.

we may have issues at our club but we are not real fecking madrid..:nono:
 
Why United should let this ego walk off to Madrid
Daniel Taylor The Guardian, Saturday June 21, 2008

First of all a little story to tell you what kind of man we are talking about. It is January 9, 2008, and in an upstairs room at Manchester United's training ground five elderly men in smart blazers are struggling with their emotions in front of a hushed audience. It is the club's media day building up to the 50th anniversary of the Munich air disaster and Sir Bobby Charlton's polite smile does not hide the fact he is trembling as he takes his seat. Bill Foulkes is straight-backed and dignified but only a couple of questions have been asked before the tears appear in his eyes and he reaches for a glass of water.

In an adjacent room Wayne Rooney has agreed to offer a modern-day perspective of that seminal day when 23 people, including eight members of Sir Matt Busby's team, were killed in the wreckage of the burnt-out BEA Elizabethan. It is not his specialist subject but he handles the occasion with dignity and more eloquence than some people might imagine. But then Cristiano Ronaldo comes through the double doors and the mood is broken.

He is wearing a white suit jacket and ripped jeans, looking every bit the boy-band hunk, but it is very obvious he is in a bad mood. He begins by berating Karen Shotbolt, the club's press officer, because he is waiting for Rooney and the event has over-run. He is banging his watch with his hand, flapping his arms and gesturing in the way that Portuguese footballers usually reserve for fussy referees and, at first, he is so animated it appears as if it might be a wind-up.

When he flounces back through the doors, cursing loudly, it is very obvious he is being deadly serious. Rooney is professional enough to carry on with his tribute but the attention is no longer exclusively on him. Thirty seconds later Ronaldo appears again, first rapping his forefinger against the glass in the door, then opening it by a fraction and starting to whistle at Rooney in the way that a farmer beckons his sheepdog.

It was such an unpleasant scene the journalists decided not to write about it because we had been invited to the training ground to cover a far more important subject and, when you have sat with men as noble as Charlton, Foulkes, Albert Scanlon, Harry Gregg and Kenny Morgans and seen the hurt in their eyes, it felt incongruous to veer off-track. But coming away from Carrington that day it was difficult not to wonder what had become of the pimply teenager with the braces on his teeth who had been photographed, in his first few weeks as a United player, holding hands with his mother, Dolores, as they crossed a busy Manchester street.

The answer, of course, is that Ronaldo has fallen in love with his own reflection and, as United are currently finding out, that ego is in danger of spiralling out of control. Nor, sadly, is this story a one-off. One member of staff at Old Trafford reports being shocked by his rudeness when sorting out his travel arrangements for a club trip last season. And then there was last season's Football Writers' Association's annual dinner when, with barely any notice, its player of the year demanded that space was made for five of his friends to attend and that he would like them all to be on the top table with him. He got his way, as superstars often do, but the organisers were unimpressed, to say the least.

This is not to say that Ronaldo is all bad. He won a court case against the Sun earlier this week after it was reported that he had been fined for breaking club rules by using his phone during training: a story that was obvious baloney to anyone who has followed the player's career. Ronaldo, in many ways, is the consummate professional when it comes to improving himself on the pitch. He is not a man for nightclubs or raucous evenings out among the Manchester glitterati and there is something deeply impressive about the way he has come from his humble beginnings, growing up in Madeira in a house so small the washing machine was on the roof, to become the most penetrative attacking footballer in the world.

And yet United's more loyal and thoughtful supporters would by now be entitled to think it would be better for Sir Alex Ferguson and the Glazer family to end this shabby saga and let the previously unthinkable happen. To them, his constant prevaricating about his future, his flirting with the Spanish media and his apparent disregard for Manchester United, must smack of a man who has started to think he is bigger than the club.

His sound bites have become increasingly strategic, as if he thinks we cannot see what he is doing, yet nobody will have been surprised that the sweat had barely dried on his brow after Portugal's defeat by Germany on Thursday before he had re-iterated his desire to leave Old Trafford - just as Real Madrid had requested. United insist they will not allow themselves to be bullied into a corner but, when a player is acting like this and would so obviously be resentful and unsettled if he is denied the transfer he craves, the question should be: what is the point in keeping him?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2008/jun/21/manchesterunited.premierleague1?gusrc=rss&feed=sport
 
manufanatic said:
maybe so but this is different ffs hargo wasnt even getting a game at bayern and was injured all the time.

we may have issues at our club but we are not real fecking madrid..:nono:
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yeah
that should be the new level of the lowest of the low.. should end up on wikipedia..
"he was known as the most hated person in all the known world, but then he astonishingly went even lower, he done a 'Real Madrid'..he sold out all his friends for the love of a lizzard..."
 
ixfoot121.jpg


I think the "Hairdryer" treatment is in order.
 
tbtt said:
United and SAF used exactly the same tactics when they poached Hargreaves, who was on the first year of 4 year contract, from Bayern. In a sense, they "deserve" all this Ronaldo saga.
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Nobody has ever suggested that United are angelically behaved in the transfer market. In fact, all clubs flout the rules with every transfer by speaking to agents, first and foremost. It would be utterly illogical not to do so considering that it is impossible to prevent, and that it allows a club to be certain that the player is willing to sign before they begin to negotiate a transfer fee.

You don't seem to be able to grasp the finer details of an argument. United made an offer for Hargreaves, which Bayern made public. Only then did United speak about the player, which is perfectly legitimate.

If you think that is comparable to Real Madrid's behaviour you have lost all sense of proportion.

"It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt." — Mark Twain
 
Reading the Guardian article, I wonder if this isn't the start of United's propaganda campaign, briefing against Ronaldo. It can only get messier, if so.
 
Richter said:
Why United should let this ego walk off to Madrid
Daniel Taylor The Guardian, Saturday June 21, 2008

First of all a little story to tell you what kind of man we are talking about. It is January 9, 2008, and in an upstairs room at Manchester United's training ground five elderly men in smart blazers are struggling with their emotions in front of a hushed audience. It is the club's media day building up to the 50th anniversary of the Munich air disaster and Sir Bobby Charlton's polite smile does not hide the fact he is trembling as he takes his seat. Bill Foulkes is straight-backed and dignified but only a couple of questions have been asked before the tears appear in his eyes and he reaches for a glass of water.

In an adjacent room Wayne Rooney has agreed to offer a modern-day perspective of that seminal day when 23 people, including eight members of Sir Matt Busby's team, were killed in the wreckage of the burnt-out BEA Elizabethan. It is not his specialist subject but he handles the occasion with dignity and more eloquence than some people might imagine. But then Cristiano Ronaldo comes through the double doors and the mood is broken.

He is wearing a white suit jacket and ripped jeans, looking every bit the boy-band hunk, but it is very obvious he is in a bad mood. He begins by berating Karen Shotbolt, the club's press officer, because he is waiting for Rooney and the event has over-run. He is banging his watch with his hand, flapping his arms and gesturing in the way that Portuguese footballers usually reserve for fussy referees and, at first, he is so animated it appears as if it might be a wind-up.

When he flounces back through the doors, cursing loudly, it is very obvious he is being deadly serious. Rooney is professional enough to carry on with his tribute but the attention is no longer exclusively on him. Thirty seconds later Ronaldo appears again, first rapping his forefinger against the glass in the door, then opening it by a fraction and starting to whistle at Rooney in the way that a farmer beckons his sheepdog.

It was such an unpleasant scene the journalists decided not to write about it because we had been invited to the training ground to cover a far more important subject and, when you have sat with men as noble as Charlton, Foulkes, Albert Scanlon, Harry Gregg and Kenny Morgans and seen the hurt in their eyes, it felt incongruous to veer off-track. But coming away from Carrington that day it was difficult not to wonder what had become of the pimply teenager with the braces on his teeth who had been photographed, in his first few weeks as a United player, holding hands with his mother, Dolores, as they crossed a busy Manchester street.

The answer, of course, is that Ronaldo has fallen in love with his own reflection and, as United are currently finding out, that ego is in danger of spiralling out of control. Nor, sadly, is this story a one-off. One member of staff at Old Trafford reports being shocked by his rudeness when sorting out his travel arrangements for a club trip last season. And then there was last season's Football Writers' Association's annual dinner when, with barely any notice, its player of the year demanded that space was made for five of his friends to attend and that he would like them all to be on the top table with him. He got his way, as superstars often do, but the organisers were unimpressed, to say the least.

This is not to say that Ronaldo is all bad. He won a court case against the Sun earlier this week after it was reported that he had been fined for breaking club rules by using his phone during training: a story that was obvious baloney to anyone who has followed the player's career. Ronaldo, in many ways, is the consummate professional when it comes to improving himself on the pitch. He is not a man for nightclubs or raucous evenings out among the Manchester glitterati and there is something deeply impressive about the way he has come from his humble beginnings, growing up in Madeira in a house so small the washing machine was on the roof, to become the most penetrative attacking footballer in the world.

And yet United's more loyal and thoughtful supporters would by now be entitled to think it would be better for Sir Alex Ferguson and the Glazer family to end this shabby saga and let the previously unthinkable happen. To them, his constant prevaricating about his future, his flirting with the Spanish media and his apparent disregard for Manchester United, must smack of a man who has started to think he is bigger than the club.

His sound bites have become increasingly strategic, as if he thinks we cannot see what he is doing, yet nobody will have been surprised that the sweat had barely dried on his brow after Portugal's defeat by Germany on Thursday before he had re-iterated his desire to leave Old Trafford - just as Real Madrid had requested. United insist they will not allow themselves to be bullied into a corner but, when a player is acting like this and would so obviously be resentful and unsettled if he is denied the transfer he craves, the question should be: what is the point in keeping him?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2008/jun/21/manchesterunited.premierleague1?gusrc=rss&feed=sport
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can this really be true?
would people really tolerate this at old traffford?
i find this article difficult to believe, it says so much about the dark side of ronaldo but it says much more about fergie and rooney for that.. i think rooney would have dropped him for such behaviour and to the applause of those respectful individuals there..
i really cannot believe this would have happened and the press chose NOT to publish because they are so nice..BS imho.
 
Joga_Bonito said:
Nobody has ever suggested that United are angelically behaved in the transfer market. In fact, all clubs flout the rules with every transfer by speaking to agents, first and foremost. It would be utterly illogical not to do so considering that it is impossible to prevent, and that it allows a club to be certain that the player is willing to sign before they begin to negotiate a transfer fee.

You don't seem to be able to grasp the finer details of an argument. United made an offer for Hargreaves, which Bayern made public. Only then did United speak about the player, which is perfectly legitimate.

If you think that is comparable to Real Madrid's behaviour you have lost all sense of proportion.

"It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt." — Mark Twain
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Plus hago was not bayern munich number one goal scoring machine, he was just one of their decent player.
 
tbtt said:
United and SAF used exactly the same tactics when they poached Hargreaves, who was on the first year of 4 year contract, from Bayern. In a sense, they "deserve" all this Ronaldo saga.
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Absolute bollox - not at all comparable

United went through the proper channels and approached the club(Bayern) Hargreaves himself also came out and quite clearly made his preferences clear.

Madrid have used their usual sneaky method of going thru their media outlet Marca and the player in question hasn't the bollox or the honesty to make his intentions clear. They have not contacted United.


clear?
 
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