Ronaldo feels betrayed? Sorry. Pass the sick bag.

Rarely have I read such self-centred self-pitying tripe. Who on earth is advising Christiano Ronaldo these days? Perhaps nobody - which is why he stumbles from one tantrum to the next PR disaster almost daily.

Before I go any further - in case the this blog somehow find its way to him - I respect you Ronnie. I respect what you’ve achieved in football. I believe that you’ve been the greatest player of your generation - proving what a talent you are in four different countries - ripping up record books as you went. You’ve been my favourite player through the Ronaldo/Messi years. You never shirked a sporting challenge and you’ve provided us all with some wonderful moments on the football pitch. Ok?

But here’s the harsh truth - your time has gone. You’re no longer what you were. Your powers have faded. You can’t push back time. You’re at an age now where you should accept that your role is that of cameo - come on for 30 mins every week and enjoy yourself. Turn a game for United or add a couple of goals to a solid win. That’s it. No more. No less.

Re-signing for United was a mistake - and I said so at the time - volunteering for a wave of abuse and death threats from disgruntled United fans.

You’re now destroying your legacy. Whinging, whining and refusing to play for your club does you no favours and the interview with Piers Morgan that I’m reading about this morning is embarrassing. I’m surprised at Piers. I get it - his show is struggling and Ronaldo is a great interview to help draw viewers - but Morgan has offered his mate up on a plate to people like me.

I’ve never fried a mate. I’ve been in many situations where somebody has said something that I’ve felt was inflammatory or reactive and better left unsaid. I’ve stopped interviews - sometimes buried interviews - that could’ve caused the interviewee problems. Isn’t that what friends are for? To watch your back?

A couple of things from the Morgan interview. Ronaldo asks of Ralf Rangnick ‘if you’re not a good coach - how are you going to be the boss of Manchester United’. Er - Fergie? Busby. Neither was a ‘coach’. They employed coaches - good coaches. Both men were motivators above anything else.

Ronaldo says he didn’t know who Rangnick was when United appointed him. Really? Have a look at his record on Google Ronnie. I didn’t think he was the right man for United, but his record speaks for itself. He’s been on everybody’s wish list at one time or another.

Ronaldo says of ten Haag ‘I don’t have respect for him because he doesn’t show respect for me’. Really? What does that mean Ronnie? Does it mean because he doesn’t start you you’ve drawn the conclusion that he doesn’t respect you? Having said that - perhaps he lost respect for you when he asked you to go on against Spurs - but you refused and stropped off down the tunnel before the game had ended.

Respect? How much respect did you show United fans at that moment? What about the kids who’d probably travelled miles - funded by struggling parents - to get a glimpse of the great Ronaldo that night? Perhaps they’ll never get another chance to see you in a United jersey. What about ‘respect’ for a full house that had fallen under your spell again when you re-signed instead of joining City? Or was that all a ploy? Did you have any ‘respect’ for them when you played them in order to engineer the move back to Old Trafford?

With respect to what I’ve just said about young United fans getting a sight of you in red - I carry with me still the memory of seeing Best, Law and Charlton all on the same pitch - in United red - at Coventry in the late 60’s. What a treat. United beat us that day - but I didn’t care. What a footballing moment that was. To see that trio on the same pitch in real life. It never happened again, but once was enough. It was special - very special.

No Ronnie. I think we’ve all lost respect for you now. You’ve become a pampered egotistical disgrace of a modern day footballer whose every whim is catered for by an army of simpering hangers on too scared to tell you the truth. So let me repeat some of what I’ve already said and add a little bit more.

Your time is done. It’s over. You’ll get the odd two - maybe three - against second rate opposition - but you won’t affect many big games anymore. Show some respect and contrition for the people that help pay your ridiculously inflated wages and stop whining. What a ride you’ve had - funded by the people who once adored you. And ask yourself this - how come Real Madrid were happy to see you leave after all your done there? They got tired of the tantrums And Juventus - where the dressing room also grew fed up of you?

Perhaps the best option now is a written apology - posted in Alderley Wedge - with your minders accompanying you. You know where the Post Office is. You were pictured there once doing ‘ordinary’ things - with your minders! You know - the things that the people who pay your wages have to do for themselves. Or perhaps you should call another team bonding meal - which you turned up to with the same minders in tow - immediately making yourself different. Respect? United have ‘betrayed’ you? No. I don’t think so. United made you.

A quick word on VAR - Brighton should’ve had a pen v Villa when Digne mis-timed a challenge on March I’m tired of asking how VAR misses these things. We know now - because the operators aren’t good enough. 

And Forest’s goal v Palace shouldn’t have stood. Gibbs-White was off-side from the original cross. I didn’t need lines to see that. 

And finally - well done Brentford, who proved that City can be beaten if you have a plan and some belief. I hope Brendan Rodgers was watching.