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THE AFTERMATH: EUROPE NOT IMPOSSIBLE 22-3-07
Tom Warnock
I almost didn't want to write this week's column, not only for fear of being overly bitter but also to ensure I had more time to embark on my Cristiano Ronaldo hate campaign. My elected chairman is James Morrison, and Vice-Chairman will be Jonno Woodgate.
Seriously though, now that I've turned my attention to the column, let's not beat about the bush and get the professional, impartial bit out the way; Ronaldo is a class act, without a doubt. That's that over with, and apart from Alex Ferguson and the prawn-sandwich brigade, the entire nation agrees unanimously that Ronaldo has plagued our league and our beautiful game with shameless cheating.
Without fear of overreacting, I'm outraged at the way our club has been treated over the course of the two games. Its not sour grapes, because video tapes don't bear grudges, and the video tape showed a dive.
Let's put the scenario into context. This is one of the Premiership's most in-form defenders against the most notorious diver in world football. Given the reputation of the two, it would be nice if Mr Dean would have used his head and applied a bit of common sense, or maybe paid attention to events on the pitch for a change.
For me, this game and the first tie epitomised how corrupt football has become, from the hierarchy at the Premier league all the way down to the referees. Even Alex Ferguson had the nerve to accuse Middlesbrough's staff of having a guilt complex regarding Ronaldo. I wonder if Ferguson actually knows what it means?
There's such a thing as a coincidence, and then there's such a thing as the same player winning penalty after penalty versus various opposition. I'm sorry Alex, you are a managing great, but stop defending a cheat. Alex should take a leaf from Stuart Pearce's book and have the bottle to criticise cheats in his own team.
We find ourselves in a similar position to last season to a degree having gone for broke in the cups and being left with nothing to show for our magnificent effort. It was a magnificent effort at Old Trafford and we pushed the best team in the league to the limit. They will not be looking forward to playing us again in April, least of all a certain Ronaldo.
It seems Boro are very much in the firing line this week, and everyone wants to say something about us. We had Neil Warnock criticising Gareth's team selection, only for Stuart Pearce to leap to Southgate's defence and Malcolm Crosby demanding an apology from Warnock.
All this came to a head at Old Trafford and the frustration of the team was shown when Morrison perhaps deservedly scythed down Ronaldo, only to be red carded and subsequently man-handled by half the Manchester United team. I for one was applauding Morrison's 'tackle' because it's about time we sent a message to Manchester United that we just won't take it any longer.
The debate really has heated up, with Woodgate and Giggs since contributing opinions. Woody has very professionally said he didn't believe Ronaldo dived to win the penalty. Whether or not he would say that off camera, I'm not so sure. And Ryan Giggs has claimed it was a penalty.
Woodgate did come out and make a valid point, that we shouldn't let our season die out on the back of one penalty. The team are highly paid professionals, and they must continue to fight for every point to achieve the highest possible league position. It's not impossible to get European qualification - difficult yes, but not impossible.
We can use this international break to attempt to calm our frustrations and regroup the team; we have winnable games coming up with West Ham, Watford and Aston Villa. Victories in those three games would change the shape of the league table and give us something to play for.
The team didn't leave the pitch shamed on Monday night. They left the pitch with pride and belief and we must take those things from the game and carry them into our remaining fixtures. Then who knows - we might even get a bit of revenge on April 21st.
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