fergie's handling of the ronnie-madrid saga

good or bad?

not a thread (please) about the rights and wrongs of it all - we've had enough of those. i'm more interested in how fergie handled it all.

imo he made only one mistake, which was when he suggested ronnie might get stuck in the stands. there was a possibility that that might force the issue and end up with a transfer request (lack of respect la la la). apart from that i'd say he handled the whole thing superbly. madrid have come out of it very badly - no ronnie (to go with no fabregas and no kaka in recent years) and the impression that united are too big for their games. together with the ec win i think us facing down real has really contributed to a sense of a shift in who the really dominant teams are in world football.

poll to follow...

"imo he made only one mistake, which was when he suggested ronnie might get stuck in the stands. there was a possibility that that might force the issue and end up with a transfer request".

IMO, that was the best thing he did.

He knew his man faced him and them down they didn't get him and he didn't hand in a transfer request.

Fergie = Legend!
Ronnie = @#%&!!
Real = Bunch of @#%&!s!

Handled it very well indeed.

For me the way he didn't rise to the comments made about slavery by Blatter and Ronaldo showed the class of the man.

He was superb.


What a guy.

Fergie > Real Madrid

It was Brilliant. Madrid made big noises, failed to get him and unsettled one of their own players to the point where he's on the verge of leaving.

Game, Set and Match.

Originally Posted by denis lawless

I nearly good rep'd you for that until I saw how you voted.....

Handled it brilliantly, slapped down Ronnie like a silly schoolboy and £#%&!ed off Madrid.

I don't see any difference between Utd's handling of it and what Munich did when we first approached them for Hargreaves. I also think the end result will be the same, a departure 12months down the line.

Whether Utd get top money for him will - I suspect - be determined by Ronaldo and his performances this season.

I'll contradict myself slightly here, but if Utd do decide to increase his current contract and make him THE top earner then I doubt we'll hear any talk of a move to Madrid for another few years.

If Utd had given in to him and increased his contract I very much doubt we'd have had that rather dull will he/won't he saga all Summer.

Originally Posted by Whalefish

I'll contradict myself slightly here, but if Utd do decide to increase his current contract and make him THE top earner then I doubt we'll hear any talk of a move to Madrid for another few years.

If Utd had given in to him and increased his contract I very much doubt we'd have had that rather dull will he/won't he saga all Summer.

Maybe they will now but on their own terms after a "show of strength" eh? That or like Bayern with Hargo, he'll go in a year but at least we showed a bit of strength about it?

Originally Posted by Whalefish

I'll contradict myself slightly here, but if Utd do decide to increase his current contract and make him THE top earner then I doubt we'll hear any talk of a move to Madrid for another few years.

If Utd had given in to him and increased his contract I very much doubt we'd have had that rather dull will he/won't he saga all Summer.

But wouldn't that have opened up a can of worms with every one of our quality first teamers at the end of every closed season.

I know how to get a new improved contract.....they did it with Ronnie.

Where would it have stopped?

Originally Posted by fergieslovechild

I nearly good rep'd you for that until I saw how you voted.....

well.....i agree Fergie did handle things well on the whole.

but if it was me, id have stamped it out straight away and told the player to give an interview and kill all speculation....in doing so it would have avoided all the shite we've had to put up with all summer

ronaldo was making us look foolish with all the %@#$&!s he was saying to various reporters and all this "god only knows what will happen"" i will decide what my future holds next week"

i'd have kicked his arse back in early June

Should have sold him; the silly money being offered was way above what he was worth and that money wont ever be there again. Also remains to be seen how well he'll play for the rest of the season.

Handled it suberbly imo.

Originally Posted by denis lawless

well.....i agree Fergie did handle things well on the whole.

but if it was me, id have stamped it out straight away and told the player to give an interview and kill all speculation....in doing so it would have avoided all the shite we've had to put up with all summer

ronaldo was making us look foolish with all the %@#$&!s he was saying to various reporters and all this "god only knows what will happen"" i will decide what my future holds next week"

i'd have kicked his arse back in early June

No, through the summer Ronnie though he held all the cards and 'all the wrong noises' or not in some instances.

But from the outset Fergie was adamant he was going now where said as much kept it simple, plus with the 'sat in the stand' comments let him and his team mates who was boss. Now Madrid have been put back in their box and Ronnie is back in the squad (for the time being at least) I believe if he plays up he will be sat in the stand ala Liar 23 against Leeds a few years ago.

This issue is far more than Ronnie/Madrid Fergie knew/knows how he had to play it to prevent and other slapped arse prima donnas causing him arse ache further down the line.

He dealt with the biggest slapped arse prima donna and wiped the £#%&!ing floor with the @#%&!.

Fergie = Legend.

Originally Posted by Lou_Macari_Chippy

Should have sold him; the silly money being offered was way above what he was worth and that money wont ever be there again. Also remains to be seen how well he'll play for the rest of the season.

Read above.

This issue was more than Ronnie/Madrid and had greater implications......

Yeah, yeah accept the money and get rid of the trouble maker then what.

What happens when Rooney, Anderson, Rio, Nani, Berbie (?) has a blinding season and is coming up to the end of their contract?

he handled it superbly, but without the support of the glazers he would not have been able to, as he admitted himself.

I think there are two issues here.

First and foremost, I think the club and Fergie handled the situation well - eventually.

But to my mind, it was a situation that could and should have been avoided. For whatever reason, the club were not able to control Ronaldo's stirring of the situation - a situation that was being actively instigated by the player before we had even finished the season. He was interviewed before the Champs League final and gave it - not sure where my future lies - we'll have to wait and see etc.

I can't quite reconcile why the player was allowed to precipitate this scenario publically and the club not come down hard and fast before the silly @#%&! left the club for the summer.

So no, they reacted well but only after they had £#%&!ed up.

Originally Posted by Lou_Macari_Chippy

Should have sold him; the silly money being offered was way above what he was worth and that money wont ever be there again. Also remains to be seen how well he'll play for the rest of the season.

what money was ever offered?