Very interesting from Daniel Taylor at the Guardian:
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.
As an added twist, you have to wonder about the article itself. Taylor is the regular United ‘beat’ reporter for the Guardian, to the extent that the British press have such things. We know that Sir Alex is not always forgiving of bad press. Taylor relies on Ferguson for access. So he wouldn’t cross him without permission, would he?
Am I reading too much into this? I just can’t see Daniel Taylor writing this story unless a) Ronaldo is already gone, or b) he’s got clearance from Old Trafford. I don’t know – Rob from FtF is a journalist, perhaps he can add something – but this is far beyond the usual sort of information we usually get. Intriguing. Or maybe not, maybe Taylor’s just made a judgement call. Or maybe it doesn’t matter; it’s not like we all thought Ronaldo was a Saint is it?
Makes me all the more proud that Roy seems intent on making our club one of dignity, of correct behaviour, etc (see FulTime for more).
Rich,
I think that your initial instinct is correct. There’s no way that this article gets written without SAF’s consent, Taylor wouldn’t do this unless he knew that there would be no long-term ramifications to his access to the club.
This just further confirms what everyone has known for months that Ronaldo is going to Madrid. I just hope that Madrid has the sense to not include Ramos in the deal, Robinho, I’m OK with him being used as a make weight.
I was excited to see the latest copy of FulTime in my mail yesterday. They had stopped sending it to me even though I still had an active membership. Looks like a good read.
Interesting article indeed. Difficult to believe that behaviour really. I’ll be glad to see the back of Ronaldo – he’s far too good for my liking and apart from anything else, it’ll make fantasy league a bit more interesting next year!
I continue to smile whenever very young, very talented, and very rich young men and women act in such a way — be they actors, footballers, or musicians. There’s no way I’d expect Ronaldo to live in my world without ruffling my feathers daily, unless I also was in my 20s and on the cover of magazines printed in 80-90 languages. So he’s a bore. So what?
If he goes to Madrid, so be it. I don’t really care about United in any event, but it has been nice having the best footballer in the world appear regularly on my television for the last couple of seasons — as opposed to playing in either Italy or Spain as most do.
And so it goes.
[...] Ronaldo: not a great person Taylor is the regular United ‘beat’ reporter for the Guardian, to the extent that the British press have such things. We know that Sir Alex is not always forgiving of bad press. Taylor relies on Ferguson for access. … [...]
There is nothing incongruous between Ferguson’s recognition of Ronaldo as a truly great player and his recognitin that Ronaldo is far more Commodus than he is Marcus Aurelius. The brute fact is that great players can be awful people. It happens, and to say so is to simply describe reality.
The question has become, at what price to Manchester United the presence of this great player? Now, at last, the answer may well be: “a price we do not wish to bear”.
A true journalist should never have to ASK for permission to right for a story…
Even if it does mean a fallout with a coach, player, press officer. When did journalism become glorified PR?