Farewell Cristiano Ronaldo And Thanks For The Memories!

Cristiano Ronaldo. He was a diver. He was a poser. He was a faker. He was a primped up poodle, a dummy-spitter and a prima donna. He was flash, he was vulgar, he was diva-high maintenance, a fresh-flowers-in-my-hotel-room type of new-age footballer. He was stretch limos and blacked-out windows, diamond-stud earrings and clothes with his name written on them. In case he forgot who he was. He sulked, he flirted, he pouted, he sat on his backside in protest if he didn't get a free-kick. Like it was an offence against his divinity. He was fickle, he was restless, he was rootless, he was rude. He turned his back on his manager when he had the temerity to substitute him.

His little wink at the Portugal bench after Wayne Rooney had been sent off in the 2006 World Cup said a lot, it was as if we had looked through a window into his soul. There was no Eric Cantona warmth about him. He was not a vulnerable man. Not a football philosopher. Not a man who played with joie de vivre.

But he is a fucking good footballer, there's no question about that. I am an avid Manchester United supporter and I found it hard to like him but it was even harder still not to admire him.

Despite all his faults and his foibles, he established beyond all reasonable doubt during his Manchester United years that he was the best player in the world.

Frank Lampard, Fernando Torres and Ryan Giggs rolled into one. A midfiled goalscoring machine, a classic centre-forward and a wizard of dribble. A man built to terrorise defences and reduce goalkeepers to quivering wrecks.

Take the towering header he scored against Roma in the Champions League quarterfinal back in April 2008. The height he reached with his leap was simply incredible, the way he brushed the defenders aside like they didn't exist, the bravery of his commitment: Any out and out striker throughout history would have been proud of that.

He was just a never ending joy to watch, whether you are a United fan or not.

The goal he scored against FC Porto in Portugal was the goal of the season. An absolute thunderbolt from 40 yards to end the Portugese teams record of never having lost to an English team at home in the CL. That was a magnificent goal.

His one man demolition of Arsenal in the second leg of the Champions League semi-finals was one of the performances of the season, maybe the best performance of ANY player in a Champions League game.

HE REALLY IS THE PLAYER WHO HAS EVERYTHING. Even if Lionel Messi had the last laugh when Barcelona beat United in Rome last month, Ronaldo is still the best player on the planet.

Messi is easier to like than Ronaldo, so he will always have an advantage purely on that basis with those who are rubbed up the wrong way by Ronaldo's petulance and strutting arrogance.

But all this talk of warmth and how easy Messi is to like obscures the fact that Ronaldo is the harder man to play against.

The day before the Champions League final, one of the best defenders the world has ever seen, Marcel Desailly, declared that Ronaldo, not Messi, would have been his worst nightmare.

Unpredictable, powerful, good in the air, lightning fast, an explosive shooter, a fine crosser, a dead-ball expert: there was nothing he couldn't do. United will not miss his attitude. Nor will they regret the absence of his posturing and his selfishness but even if Sir Alex Ferguson is allowed to invest all the £80m from his sale in the purchase of new players, United will be a poorer team without Ronaldo.

The sad thing is that Ronaldo will almost certainly be a poorer player without United, too. At Old Trafford, he had men like Wayne Rooney and Carlos Tevez who were willing to run themselves into the ground for the team and leave the glory to Ronaldo.

The attacking part of the team was built around him. Others made sacrifices. He reaped the rewards.

Despite all that, he has agitated for a move to Madrid like a little boy tugging at his mummy's sleeve and whining and whimpering until he gets what he wants.

Well now he's got his wish and so to Ronaldo the footballer I say good luck and may you have many, many years of good fortune and success and thankyou so much for all you did for Manchester United and us, the fans.

But to Ronaldo the man consumed by narcissism and hubris, I say grow up and good riddance.

Even if Lionel Messi had the last laugh when Barcelona beat United in Rome last month, Ronaldo is still the best player on the planet.....no one will make me believe otherwise.

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Manchester United Accept World Record Bid Of £80 Million For Cristiano Ronaldo From Real Madrid

Well, it would seem Ronaldo is off to join Real Madrid.

A statement was placed on the official Manchester United website this morning which reads:

Record Ronaldo bid accepted

Manchester United have received a world-record, unconditional offer of £80million for Cristiano Ronaldo from Real Madrid.

At Cristiano's request - who has again expressed his desire to leave - and after discussion with the player's representatives, United have agreed to give Real Madrid permission to talk to the player.

Matters are expected to be concluded by 30 June. The club will not comment until further notice.

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Where Now For Manchester United. Should Fergie Rip It Up And Start Again ?

Early on Wednesday morning, as Fergie and his Manchester United looked forward to another Champions League Final he must have still thought he had a team that would place him among the top European managers from right across history.

By full-time he was back in one of those cold-sweat, pre-1993 moments, defeated by a football club, actually a football institution, who made his own look puny. Where does he go from here?

This has been far from being a bad season, don't get me wrong. First and foremost we should bear in mind that this season Manchester United have done everything asked of them except win the Champions League and the FA Cup. They made light of the demands of the Fifa Club World Cup, they saw off the best challenge in 19 years from a Liverpool team and all the emotion that entails. They came back in games against Stoke City, Aston Villa, Sunderland and Tottenham when it mattered.

They are hardly the dysfunctional, bickering side that could not make it out the Champions League group stages in the winter of 2005, Ferguson's lowest point in the recent past. They have won three consecutive Premier League titles and any analysis of how bitter their humiliation at the hands of Barcelona was on Wednesday night should be placed in the context of another astonishingly successful season.

But wednesday night, something was missing. The usual inertia on the United bench when Lionel Messi's goal went in on 70 minutes — Ferguson and his assistants sat slumped like moody teenagers at a bus stop — told you that on this night they had run out of ideas. No-one could argue that Ferguson should rip it up and start again but a new standard has been set by Barcelona and the old Scot would not be doing his job if he did not ask himself how he can reach and surpass it.

You can't have what Barca have got ? The preoccupation now will be Xavi Hernandez and Andres Iniesta, very much the men of the moment. How do United get their hands on two pocket-sized demon midfield passers? How much will it cost? Can they get a Messi too? But trying to replicate exactly another team's model for success, even trying to replicate the model of past United team's success, is dangerous.

Once the theory was that United would never prosper without a new Roy Keane in the middle of midfield. You don't hear that much now. Instead, Ferguson put his faith in equally dominant players, like Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney, who are just as effective only in different ways, in different positions. Ferguson cannot conjure another Xavi or Iniesta, but United need more of those dominant midfield players.

Who can make this United team stronger?

As befits a team that looked so competitive until now, this summer Ferguson has been linked with precious few big-name players. The interest in Karim Benzema at Lyon is longstanding, so too that in Antonio Valencia at Wigan Athletic and Bayern Munich's Franck Ribery.

These are all dominant players, they are not comparable in style to Xavi and Iniesta but then who is? Those two are a real one-off, once-in-a-generation players and attempting to find clones of them would be foolish. Ferguson's policy has always been to buy the best players he can attract to United and trust they will flourish on the biggest stage.

Will Owen Hargreaves be the same player again?

It took a couple of takes to deduce the identity of the bloke on the touchline before the match with curly black hair in a United club suit. A third Da Silva brother perhaps? It was the long-lost, lesser-spotted, too-often injured Hargreaves. One of the stars of last year's final in Moscow, he has not kicked a ball for United since 21 December and last night, for the first time in a while, United were missing him.

The notion that Wednesday's result would have been radically different with Darren Fletcher in the United side is hopelessly optimistic at best. With Hargreaves rather than Luis Anderson you could see a case for United having more energy in central midfield. Hargreaves has been brilliant in patches for United but at £17m he owes Ferguson a big season in 2009-2010.

What do you do with Ronaldo?

On the occasion of one of his greatest disappointments, the behaviour of Ronaldo was encouragingly gracious. On more than one occasion he glanced up at the stadium's big screen for a glimpse of that face he loves more than any other. He swerved a handshake with Carles Puyol as the Barcelona team applauded United up the steps but that was understandable. He never gave up on a pretty wretched night.

A logical mind would say that joining Real Madrid now is an even greater folly, so lost in Barcelona's shadow are they. But if Ronaldo's reasons for staying at United were that they were Europe's premiere team, then Wednesday night has weakened that premise. Yet for all his histrionics, Ronaldo has never been less than professional. If he turns up at United next season there's no reason to doubt he will probably end up top scorer again.

How long can Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs last? With these two United giants now facing surely their last season at the club they handover to a new generation who have an unprecedented chance to establish themselves.

When do we get to see the £7m Zoran Tosic his fellow Serb Adem Ljajic who arrives next January, around £3m? For these young players as well as Darron Gibson, Danny Welbeck and Federico Macheda the door is open. Adam Johnson of Middlesbrough is another Ferguson is understood to be interested in.

If they have to face Barcelona again next season then United will have to learn from Wednesday as they did with their semi-final defeat in 2007 to Milan, whom they subsequently eliminated the following season. The trouble with Barcelona is that they are better and younger than that Milan team and they could be around for a while yet.

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Kaka To Manchester United As Ronaldo Leaves For Madrid.

I read this on Clubcall and was wondering to myself is there much truth in it? Would this really happen? Is it a possibility?

Manchester United are reported to have held talks with AC Milan star Kaka with a view to wrapping up a summer swoop. Representatives of the Brazilian are said to have met up with United officials on Friday to discuss a possible deal and now the ball is in the club's court according to sources close to the player.

If United are keen they would first have to match Milan's sky high valuation, thought to be in the region of £100m, before agreeing to the Brazilian's personal demands. Whether United are keen remains to be seen but reports are rife suggesting a deal could be on the cards.

"It was a very positive meeting, although nothing was agreed," the source has been quoted as saying. "The player wants a five-year contract and wages of £135,000 a week. He is very keen to join United and these are figures that are within United's pay structure. It's up to them what happens now."

I suppose if Ronaldo were to move to Real Madrid, then it would be a logical move to find someone in the same class to replace him. But why would Kaka want to leave AC Milan? Maybe the fact their team is getting rather old now and their effectiveness in the Champions League seems to have wavered a bit in recent years would be reason enough.

Why would Kaka want to come and play in the Premier League? I think every player in Europe would like to play in the EPL to be honest. Right now it's the best and most successful league in the world.

Surely United wouldn't pay 100 million Euros for a player. The day will come when football has it's first 100 million Euro, or £100 million player, so why not now? I think in the current climate Kaka, Messi and Ronaldo could all be valued at around the £100 million mark. That's not to say they are worth that. Many people criticise Ronaldo and say he is not worth £100 million, but that's irrelevant. People seem to forget that their opinions are worthless when it comes to valuing players. The people who say he is not worth 50, 60, 70 or £100 million are talking through their asses.

The simple fact is.....a player is worth whatever sum of money he commands on the open market. If Ronaldo were to come up for sale, after a fall out with Fergie for instance, and Fergie was determined to get rid of him no matter what, and the best bid was £50 million, then he IS worth £50 million. A players value comes down to the simple fact that he is only worth whatever anyone is willing to pay for him.

AC Milan say they want 100 million euros for Kaka, to them he is worth that much. I agree he is worth somewhere in that region too. Manchester United can afford to pay this money. He is demanding £135,000 per week sources say, and that is within United's pay structure. Add to this the fact Kaka has openly said on many occasions that he wants to play in the EPL and this deal is not as crazy as it sounds.

Personally, I don't think Ronaldo is going anywhere as it happens. If Ronaldo stays then we certainly wont be signing Kaka, not a chance. But, if Fergie were to sell Ronaldo, he does have a habit of quelling the fans displeasure at some of his transfer dealings by coming up with replacements and results that soon make United fans forgive him.

Exit Ronaldo, enter Kaka is a good scenario, and it's the only way either of these players is going anywhere, but would you be happy with this exchange, do you believe it will happen, is it on the cards or is all this rumour mongering a ploy by the newspapers to get us to but their goods, no matter what they write is true or not?



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CR7 Intends To Open More Shops

Manchester United superstar Cristiano Ronaldo has already opened two branches of his boutiques in his home town of Madeira swiftly followed by another in Porto. He is now planning to make the next branch Madrid based. This will naturally get those clowns at Marca, Spain's Sporting Newspaper who have more fantasies than a teenage boy watching Cheryl Cole perform in the latest Girls Aloud video, crowing on about how he MUST be joining Madrid because of this latest expansion of his business interests.

The shops are all called 'CR7' which is quite a trendy name, but if he were to join Real Madrid all the shops would have to be renamed 'CR9' as Raul currently fills the number 7 jersey for Real. Ronnie has already Trademarked the name 'CR9' - I guess he is covering all bases with that move.

Ronaldo's own website reports that he has plans to open new shops in Paris, Milan, Madrid, London, Berlin, Prague, Tokyo and Los Angeles, but NOT in Manchester. The plot thickens !!

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Ronaldo Admits Work Is Needed On His Anger

Manchester United winger Cristiano Ronaldo has come in for no end of criticism for his reaction to opposition defenders on occassions this season and he has now admitted he needs to improve his reaction to challenges following a series of high-profile incidents this season.

So far this year he has had bust ups with Celtic's Scott Brown, Stoke's Andy Wilkinson, Spurs' Micheal Dawson and Newcastle United defender Steven Taylor last week.

"I am a target of course, so it is difficult to avoid certain things, I try to control my anger. Sometimes it's not easy, though, and it is something I have to improve on. Sometimes it is difficult because of the atmosphere in the stadium and the importance of the game. I'm only 24 but I have a lot of experience of big games and that helps because you learn through situations.

"If someone kicks me, I get up and I go again. I am not afraid of being kicked, it is part of the game. I see it as a challenge that they have to kick me to stop me."

“The peak of my career is now. I don’t have a weakness but I do have parts of my game that need work. If you stop trying to improve and think that you are complete, you go backwards — so I am not finished yet.”

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It's time to tackle the real thugs and put them before a proper jury

I read this today in The Daily Mail and I thought it was absolutely brilliant. It's by Des Kelly and I think it is the best article I have read for a long, long time on this subject. I felt compelled to share it with your good selves.

The game is dizzyingly fast, referees are incapable of keeping up, the disciplinary process is downright feeble and footballers cannot trust one another. Combine all those factors and you have the perfect conditions for a career-ending tackle.

Which is why the sneaky studs-up stamp and the wild, uncontrolled lunges have continued to feature again this season despite the empty promises about a crackdown.

Only luck and the occasional miracle of modern medical science have prevented a string of early testimonials. And Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is absolutely right to call for harsher punishment. The solutions are straightforward and simple to introduce but, before we come to that, let us clear something up. The game is still nothing like it was in the 1970s. It might sound vaguely controversial to argue we have slipped back into the brutality of that age, but equating today’s high-speed ballet to the vicious conflicts of 40 years ago is like comparing ballroom dancing to cage fighting.

Ex-referee Graham Poll argued on these pages yesterday that West Ham’s ugly win at Wigan was ‘a throwback to the ’70s — all it needed was Ron “Chopper” Harris and Norman “Bites Yer Legs”Hunter and the tear-up would have been complete’.

I could hear Harris and Hunter choking on their cornflakes from here. First, both were essentially ‘enforcers’, players whose sole purpose in life was to eradicate the threat of a more skilful rival. As a football species, they are practically extinct today.

They were undoubtedly masters of their dark art, but both would have been sent off following their first touch — which was usually to dispatch a nippy winger over the advertising hoardings. Anyone with any experience of football before satellite dishes and PlayStation 3 should know that.

Harris and Hunter could actually tackle, however. When they wanted to collect the ball, they did so. It is a skill that has all but disappeared from today’s Premier League, as Wenger rightly pointed out.

This is because football is practically a non-contact sport today. It’s part pinball, part basketball, part five-a-side, with many of the finest players spending more time honing their acting skills than learning how to tackle.

It is in this climate of artful deceit and constant cheating, where every trick in the book is employed to con a referee, that an official finds himself disbelieving the blur of evidence before his eyes.

When two individuals collide, the referee has maybe half a second to decide if it was a dive, a trip, or a disgusting assault. The only thing he can be certain of is that gesticulating players will surround him and an angry crowd will bay for his blood. Some over-react and some crumble and lose control, as Stuart ‘Babyref’ Attwell did at Wigan.

But it’s the players’ fault. They did this to themselves. They complain they are not protected and yet constantly employ the morals of a thief to cheat their way to any advantage.

Cristiano Ronaldo is a perfect case in point. I watch him being kicked by opponents in every match and I see referees wave away perfectly deserved free-kicks time and time again. But he expends so much energy falling over and overdramatising contact on other occasions it’s no surprise officials cannot unravel real from fake.

Looking back at the grotesque lunges of Kevin Nolan and Lee Cattermole, Wenger said: ‘If you tackled anybody in the street like that, you go to jail.’ The trouble is, footballers genuinely believe they are above the law.

The cure? For starters, managers could begin by dealing with the violence in their teams. How many bosses do you hear complaining about a perceived injustice, while shrugging off the bad behaviour of their own dressing room? If managers want a cleaner game, they can begin by dealing with their own dirt.

Secondly, it’s time to bring players to account before a proper jury. The Football Association should adopt the perfectly sensible system employed in rugby union where players can be cited for offences missed or incorrectly dealt with on the pitch.

Managers lodge an official protest, an independent panel reviews all the evidence — regardless of whether the referee has shown a card or not — and they then dole out punishment accordingly. Players don’t receive a statutory rulebook ban of three games for a violent offence, they can be looking at weeks and months on the sidelines if it is appropriate. A second offence might equate to a season’s ban and a third can result in someone being told to clear their locker.

It works in other sports, it can work in football.

I’d say that might clean things up rather quickly, wouldn’t you?

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Steve Bennett - Referee Extraordinaire - Or Just A Tosser

Steve Bennett, the referee who is blind to any all out assaults on Cristiano Ronaldo, should have gone to Specsavers. It now transpires that he issued Steven Taylor with a yellow card for the tackle he made on Ronaldo and the three officials at the game saw nothing of the forearm smash he delivered to Ronaldo, so it looks like Steven Taylor is in the clear, maybe.

Bennett is accustomed to 'victimising' Ronaldo, as Sir Alex puts it, he has sent him off twice before, one time at Portsmouth and again at Manchester City earlier this season. Sir Alex Ferguson has claimed Cristiano Ronaldo is an 'easy target' for Premier League referees. The Manchester United star was booked for diving during last Sunday's Carling Cup semi-final when TV replays proved he was knocked over by Ledley King.

And at Newcastle on Wednesday night, Steven Taylor escaped a red card when he caught the world player of the year with a flailing arm. Ferguson was sure the Football Association would take more action against the England Under-21 captain once they saw the incident again, claiming afterwards: "I don't think he is out of trouble."

Speaking on MUTV Ferguson said he feels the 24-year-old's extreme talent is making him fair game. "Ronaldo is an easy target for the referees, it is easy to give decisions against him because he is such a great player and he is so celebrated. When he is away from home every crowd boos him, so he has to handle that. But it is not helping him."

The unsavoury incident - and the subsequent tunnel row involving Taylor and Wayne Rooney with has also now been dismissed - has largely obscured another three points for United who had to come from behind for the first time this season to win the game. Since returning from Japan United have won ten straight league games.

With just 11 games remaining, Ferguson knows just eight more triumphs will be enough to seal an 18th championship, allowing them to move alongside Liverpool, who led the personal feud 18-7 when the Premier League era began in 1992.....Back To Home Page...

Ronaldo A Fost Lovit Peste Faţă In Mod Laş

Partida dintre Newcastle şi Manchester United, încheiată cu victoria oaspeţilor cu scorul de 2-1, şi care a însemnat şi finalul perioadei de invincibilitate pentru olandezul Van der Sar, a consemnat şi un moment mai puţin plăcut, al cărui protagonist involuntar a fost portughezul Ronaldo.

După ce a fost pocnit de Steve Taylor, căpitanul naţionalei de tineret a Angliei, gest pentru care a primit doar un galben de la arbitrul Benett, lusitanul i-a aruncat cuvinte grosolane în tunelul care duce la vestiare, spusele sale, consemnate de Daily Sport, fiind, textual, "eşti un rahat de jucător şi joci un fotbal de doi lei!"

Replica britanicului, care nu s-a lăsat prea mult aşteptată, a făcut referire la ancheta revistei Esquire, care îl desemnase pe iberic ca fiind fotbalistul care se îmbracă cel mai prost din toată Europa. "Mai tacă-ţi fleanca, pocitanie", Taylor dixit.

La cabine, totul s-a încălzit la maxim, şi doar intervenţia arbitrilor şi a lui Ferdinand a făcut ca Ronaldo să se calmeze. Oricum, îl aşteaptă o mică suspendare, susţine mass-media din Insulă.....
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Ronaldo And Rooney In A Bust Up At Half Time

It was handbags at dawn during the half time break at St James Park last night. Steven Taylor was at the centre of it along with Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo. Earlier in the game Taylor had executed a perfect forearm smash to the back of Ronaldo's neck, but he only got a yellow card for it. Ronaldo 'supposedly' dived last week and was booked for that but a physical attack using your forearm seems to be the same crime in the eyes of the referees these days.

The rough-house stuff at half-time came about after United striker Rooney took exception to Taylor’s attempted forearm smash on Cristiano Ronaldo just before half-time and was overhead in the tunnel saying to Taylor: “You’ve always been a shit footballer.”

The Newcastle defender responded with: “I might be a shit player but at least I’m not ugly like you. You’ll always be ugly.”

They lunged at Taylor but were restrained by team-mate Rio Ferdinand as tempers flared. The FA are certain to investigate if referee Steve Bennett saw the incident and includes it in his match report.

The game had another shock as Edwin van der Sar was finally beaten after 1,311 minutes when Peter Lovenkrands put Newcastle ahead in the ninth minute, but Rooney equalised 11 minutes later and United moved seven points clear of Chelsea and Liverpool when Dimitar Berbatov fired the winner after 56 minutes......Back To Home Page...

Ronaldo 'v' Ronaldinho

Ronaldo 'v' Ronaldinho....

Who will win ?



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CR7 Slates Ibrahimovich, Mourinho And Inter

Cristiano Ronaldo, while speaking to Italian television company RAI, has sent a message out to Zlatan Ibrahimovich. Manchester United are stronger than Inter and he is better than Ibrahimovich. Not that any of us United fans had any doubts about this, but Zlatan has been shooting his mouth off a bit lately along with the 'Special one'. Maybe we call them the 'Special Two' as they both have their heads up each others arses.

United clash with Inter later in the last 16 of the Champions League and we all know who Ronaldo thinks will win. When does he ever suffer from lack of confidence or being afraid of anyone ?

“Inter are a strong side with great players, but we are better than them and I firmly believe we’ll be able to beat them, by eliminating Inter, we can feel a step closer to the Final.”

Jose Mourinho began the 'mind games' last month by declaring that Ibrahimovic was “a better player” than Ronaldo and more deserving of the Ballon d’Or.

“I respect everyone’s opinion, but the trophies that count are in my house.

He was also critical of Inter and Mourinho for failing to get the best out of Ricardo Quaresma, who was sent on loan to Chelsea just six months after signing.

“Ricardo has great quality and it’s a shame he didn’t get the chance to prove his true value, he was wonderful at Porto and with the Portugal jersey, so he cannot be judged on the basis of just a few games that were not up to his usual standard. It's probably the fact he was bought for so much money that put excessive pressure on him and it's not easy to do well in Italy right away".......Back To Home Page...

Cristiano Ronaldo Wallpapers

I found a few more Cristiano Ronaldo Wallpapers while surfing. Even More Here. So thought it would
be nice to add them here as many people have asked for new ones if I can find any.

Some beautiful ones here. As I said before, these have been sourced on the
internet, some have the artists name on them and some don't. If your work appears
among these then let me know and I will add credit for you or take them off here.

Click on the thumbnail to get the big version.




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Ronaldo Plays Monopoly

Cristiano Ronaldo has developed a new habit, that of purchasing properties just like you and I would during a game of Monopoly. His portfolio currently consists of four homes which include a £4 million home in Cheshire.

He recently added to his property portfolio further by buying a hotel, which overlooks the sea on Porto Santo, an island near his native Madeira, according to The Sun. A Manchester United insider reportedly told the newspaper: "If he carries on like this he'll have more properties than a Monopoly board."

Ronaldo already owns a villa and a flat near Lisbon, has bought a house in Madeira for his mum and invested in boutiques for his sister. He is also set to build a £6.1m home in Portugal.

Last month it emerged that Cristiano Ronaldo had reportedly registered 'CR9' as a trademark - as sources in Spain suggest he has been promised the number 9 shirt by Real Madrid.

The Manchester United star had already claimed CR7 for use on merchandise and his agent Jorge Mendes registered the new motif with the National Institute of Industrial Property in Lisbon. Mendes is said to have been in talks with Madrid president Ramon Calderon over a £77m summer move to the Bernabeu.

I have this bizarre image in my head of Ronnie running his hotel and becoming a rather ropey charatcter not unlike Basil Fawlty.....Back To Home Page...

Manchester United 'v' Everton HT Roundup

2 min: The first attack for Manchester United - who, incidentally, are wearing black armbands for the 51st anniversary of the Munich disaster, which falls next Friday. Tevez, Ronaldo and O'Shea ping it around down the left, but the final ball of a crisp move is chipped through straight to Howard. Everton have barely touched the ball yet.

4 min: Fellaini clips the back of Carrick's legs just outside the Everton area. Ronaldo takes the free kick, but it's straight into the wall; Fellaini makes up for his earlier misdemeanour by spiriting the ball upfield and away from danger.

6 min: Cahill gets on the end of a long Howard punt and, running down the inside-right channel, unleashes a low shot towards the bottom-left corner. Van der Sar is forced to tip round the post, but there's no corner as Cahill is judged - incorrectly - to have been offside.

8 min: Park hits a cross from the right-hand edge of the box which somehow nearly creeps into the bottom-left corner. Howard fingertips away brilliantly, and the danger is cleared. This is a lively end-to-end start.

10 min: Some nice interchanges between Fellaini, Osman and Cahill on the edge of the United box. Fellaini looks to have sprung clear down the left, but again the offside flag goes up. The linesman is on a bit of a hair trigger today by the looks of things, because again that decision was marginal at best.

12 min: A superlative challenge by Hibbert here. Ronaldo was about to latch onto a Tevez pass down the left and scoot clear of the Everton defence, until the full-back's boot pops up to deny him.

13 min: More staunch defensive work from Everton, this time from goalkeeper Howard. Berbatov returns a poor Lescott header straight into the Everton area, and the ball ends up at the feet of Tevez, six yards out and facing the goal. It's surely the opener, but... well, think Shevchenko v Dudek at the end of extra time in the 2005 European Cup final, and that's pretty much what happens here. A wonderful save from Howard at point-blank range.

16 min: Vidic takes a smack in the mouth after smashing his face into the back of Fellaini's head, the Everton midfielder's luxurious bouffant failiing to cushion the blow.

18 min: Both teams are flinging crosses into both boxes from either side. At some point one of these keepers is going to make an almighty ricket. At the moment, however, they're both claiming tricky high balls with ease. A really open game with both teams going for it, this.

19 min: Ronaldo nearly scoots free on goal but is flagged offside. Hibbert was across to slide in just before he reached the box anyway, but that's yet another dubious decision from the linesfolk; Lescott looked to be playing him on in the centre.

21 min: Cahill nearly gets on the end of a deep free kick at Van der Sar's left-hand post. But doesn't. Still, at least Everton are getting forward regularly.

24 min: Tevez tears down the inside-right channel. Baines can't make a challenge as the United striker races into the box. Tevez dinks a ball across the front of the six-yard box. It's dangerous, and it's brilliantly cleared by Jagielka.

28 min: United are beginning to turn the screw a bit. Ronaldo has another whack at goal, a much better curling strike from the left of the D which nearly creeps in the top-left corner. Howard palms the effort over the bar. The corner is a complete waste of time.

30 min: United are flinging a lot of high balls into the Everton area. Everton are just about dealing with them, but there's a sense their opener is just a matter of time. That means their manager should take off Berbatov and replace him with Brown. Yes, I've been reading 'How Not To Lose Games But Still Alienate People: The Art of Football Management' by Rafa Benitez."

33 min: Neville rolls a simple ball straight down the middle, into the United area. For some reason Fellaini - free in the centre - lets the ball roll through his legs, when it would surely have been simple enough to trap the slowly-moving pass, turn, and have a crack at goal. United fell asleep there.

34 min: Carrick tries to hook a shot home from an acute angle on the left. His effort is just wide.

36 min: Baines bustles free down the left. He reaches the byline but his attempt to dink a cross over Van der Sar is weakly hit and the keeper snaffles the ball without fuss.

39 min: United have taken their foot off the gas a bit here. Fellaini and Baines are seeing a lot of the ball down the left at the moment.

41 min: Baines has got the better of Neville, for whom it might all be over sooner rather than later on this evidence, six or seven times down the left. If he'd managed to put in one decent cross, Everton could be a goal up. As it stands, every single time he bowls into space, his crossing is either panicky or ponderous.

44 min: GOAL! Manchester United 1-0 Everton. Carrick bustles into the Everton area down the inside-left channel. Arteta nicks his ankles. Carrick attempts to stay on his feet, but it matters not: the ref points to the spot. Upon which Ronaldo places the ball and hammers it straight down the middle as Howard dives off to the right.

HALF TIME: Manchester United 1-0 Everton. Carrick has a wallop from 25 yards out. Howard makes a right song and dance about holding onto the low shot, the ball squirming towards the lurking Berbatov for a split second. And that, pretty much, is that for the first half.

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Fergie Looking For Eighty From Manchester United--And That's Just The Forwards

ALEX FERGUSON reckons the Manchester United strike force can break through the 80-goal mark this season and carry them to glory.

All the recent chat has been about the 1032 minutes since United last conceded a Premier League goal and the fact United haven't conceded in eleven straight games but now Fergie wants his strikers to get themselves in amongst the headlines and start scoring freely much as they did against West Brom on Tuesday night as they dished out a 5-0 thrashing and the United boss believes Dimitar Berbatov, Wayne Rooney, Carlos Tevez and Cristiano Ronaldo can all go on and get 20 goals each this season.

Ferguson said: “I certainly think they are capable of doing it. Quite rightly the defenders have been taking the credit this season up until now. I just hope now that it’s going to be the forwards who take the credit. The case of Ronaldo is a good one. Last year was a miracle season. To score 42 goals as a winger, it is hard to imagine he could replicate that. Yet people are saying he has not had a great season but he’s still got 13 goals for us and had 11 assists.

“If we could dismiss last season altogether you would say that was incredible for a winger to score 13 goals by the half-way mark. So he will without doubt end up with over 20. Berbatov’s record at Tottenham was 20 goals or more a season and we expect that again. And of course if we can get the extra stuff from Carlos and Wayne it gives us a better chance.”

As things currently stand Ronaldo has 13, Rooney 12, Berbatov 11 and Tevez 10. After a slow start Berbatov has now scored in four of United’s last five and Fergie said: “The most important aspect is the other players are understanding him now. They are feeding him with passes, playing to him much more and bringing him much more into the play now. It took the players time to recognise his talents. He’s a different type of player from what we are used to but now they are doing that and you are seeing the benefits of that.”

United look confident on top of the table, two points clear of nearest rivals Chelsea with a game in hand ahead of today’s home task against Everton. If they can chalk up a win today they can sit back and watch at least one of Liverpool or Chelsea drop points as they do battle at Anfield tomorrow.

Fergie said: “If we win I don’t care what happens at Anfield, if they both lose — that would be the perfect day! Look after yourselves is the name of the game. Do your job and you don’t have to worry about elsewhere.”.......Back To Home Page...

Zlatan's Sour Grapes At Manchester United's Ronaldo

Zlatan Ibrahimovic has made fun of Manchester United star Cristiano Ronaldo's Ballon d'Or victory. The award which is voted for by sports journalists around the globe, was given to Cristiano Ronaldo last month for his sparkling season at Manchester United.

United finished the season as Premier League winners and Champions of Europe and on the way to these victories Ronnie fired in an incredible 42 goals in 49 games.

However the Swedish international, currently playing for Inter Milan, believes the award means nothing.

He said: "Now the Ballon d'Or has become a publicity stunt. It all depends on what people see in order to judge. For me it is more important to win with the team rather than anything else."

Sour grapes indeed. Either that or he is trying his hand at some mind games ahead of the Champions League clash between the two clubs which is coming up shortly. I think it will have put paid to him actually winning it himself in the future after he made it sound like a 'Mickey Mouse' award. Nice one Zlatan, looks you just pissed on your own strawberries Mr....Back To Home Page...

Manchester United Prove The "Halcyon Days" Are Over At Stamford Bridge

It is now 4.50am and I am still buzzing after Manchester United's win yesterday. So much so that I can't sleep. Even Jose Mourinho pictured left at Old Trafford couldn't help but laugh. This game showed us a lot and to be honest it showed us most of all that Big Phil Scolari has an out of date team and nothing in reserve to back them up with, basically, the wheels have come off the "Stamford Bridge Steam Roller" that used to be driven by Jose Mourinho!

Until half-time, Chelsea gave as good as they got, albeit without a cutting edge.

Their passing was neat and inventive, little triangles all over the pitch, even if it did not take them in behind a resilient back four. Yet it was their reaction to United’s first goal, from Nemanja Vidic, that exposed the difference in the teams.

United grew in confidence, created better chances, looked utterly assured at the back while Chelsea lost air like a deflated balloon.

Nicolas Anelka arrived to little effect and at the moment Scolari was poised to introduce Juliano Belletti in place of Jose Bosingwa at full back, United scored a second through Rooney and the contest ended.

Apparently, the day after Steven Gerrard was arrested over the fracas in the Southport bar, Ferguson arrived at the Manchester United training ground in a state of high excitement.

Seeing his players poring over the news in the papers he seized his moment.

‘See?’ he snarled. ‘That Liverpool lot are celebrating already. They think they have won it.’ All nonsense, of course, the sort of mind games Rafael Benitez clearly thought were being played in public, rather than private; but it did the trick. Manchester United played on Sunday like a team that had a point to prove, that wanted to knock the League leaders off their perch, in true Ferguson style. Chelsea, meanwhile, have long ceased celebrating those autumn days when they played in the style of potential champions.

At Old Trafford, that particular party was well and truly over.........

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