What would you do with £80 million and a weekly salary of £200,000?

Cristiano Ronaldo will join Real Madrid.

Manchester United have accepted a world record bid of £80m (€93 m)for the Portuguese winger.
All that remains is for Ronaldo to agree personal terms with Real - his wages are expected to be in the region of £200,000 a week.



The deal with Manchester United brings to an end one of the longest transfer sagas in footballing history. Ronaldo, 23, who joined Manchester for £12.25m in 2003 from Sporting Lisbon when he was just 18, became the world's greatest player under the guidance of Sir Alex Ferguson. He scored117 goals in 290 games for United, and was crowned World and European player of the year.


Did you know it?

* Cristiano was transferred to Sporting Lisbonne at the age of 12... for 25.000€
* Laslo Boloni, the actual Belgian premierchip Standard coach, gave him his first chance in Sporting Lisbonne A team at the age of 17.
* his weekly salary at Manchester United: 195.000€
* his complete name: Dos Santos Aveiro Cristiano Ronaldo
* Hight: 1.84 M - Weight: 75 Kg.



What could you do with 93 million Euros?

* Buy 375 Ferrari
* buy 10 Falcon flights
* Pay 71 times the anual salary of the Belgian best player (Boussoufa - RSC Anderlecht)
* Transfert 11 players as Vincent Kompany (8,5 million € from Hambourg to Manchester City)
* Buy 372 Very nice houses in Europe


What would you do with a £200,000 weekly salary?... well food for thought.

Good dreams. - coach de Ridder

MASTERCLASS Champions League players no taller than 1,70m. !?!

Incredible Barcelona !!!
Magnificent creative football !!!


Oliver Kay, the Times: "If Sir Alex Ferguson felt beforehand that United are a club who deserve to have more than three European Cups to their name, he could hardly begrudge Barcelona their third success after a performance that was embellished by goals from Samuel Eto’o and Lionel Messi, and illuminated by the midfield artistry of Andrés Iniesta and Xavi Hernandez, two wonderful players, who enhanced their reputations further on a night when no United player came close to living up to his." What happend to certain big names coaches and managers who were discriminating small players and praising tall big guys to play top football ?!?

The Champions League final was a big football lesson for certain "football expert"... and a big victory for those who believe in creative and magic football.

Did you notice that Messi, Iniesta and Xavi, starclass players, are no taller than 1,70 m. !?! What does that tell us?

Well, food for thought... goodbye. - coach De Ridder

SIGN OF QUALITY

"The first sign of quality is consistency."
- Arsene Wenger

I totaly agree with Arsene's vieuw. Beating one of the top teams in Europe is great, but if you can't repeat week after week this performance... - you are not a top team, you are just a "good" team and... certainly not a team who's going to win the championship.

It is important to reconize it and be aware of it.

Consistency is another key of true succes. I've seen a lot of clubs, journalist and fans being "bluffed" by some players or clubs.

A player who plays very well one game and scores a goal but can't repeat this performance two, three, four times in a row is not a top player, is not a star.. he is just a good player not more. You can include him in the team but certainy not make him a player where you build your team around... and certainly not pay him a "star" salary.

"Star"salary comes only when the player can shows his "magical" consistency game after game.

To win a championship or cup, I've always gave my preference to a player who is consistant, even if he is a little bit lesser talented than a player who can once in a while produce some magic. This type of player is going to play well five or six times in your season... but let you and the team down twenty or twenty-five games, because he's not consistant.

The ideal are players like Cristiano Ronaldo, Berbatov, Teves, Gerrard, Lampard, Scholes, Makelele, John Terry, Canavaro..ect. They have it all: consistancy and talend.

A key to consistancy: Great positive mental attitude.

- Coach De RIDDER

The secret behind Wayne Rooney's goalscoring...

Wayne Rooney spends up to 10 hours a week in a flotation tank

The secret behind Wayne Rooney's goalscoring can be revealed ...he spends up to 10 hours a week in a flotation tank.

The Man United and England star installed the £4,000 water pod at his £1million mansion in Prestbury, Cheshire, at the suggestion of financee Coleen McLoughlin.
Pals claim his sessions resting in the salt solution have been responsible for reversing a run of injuries and poor play. He has since scored 12 goals in 26 appearances.
A friend of 22-year-old Rooney said: "At first Wayne wasn't exactly keen to try it out but he was desperate to get fit after spraining his ankle so he thought he'd give it a go.
"He noticed an immediate improvement in his condition and made his return to action a couple of weeks ahead of schedule." By Sean Hamilton Showbiz Editor 2/03/2008

" I can't agree with this article, the flotation tanks are a well know tool to help players relaxing and recovering from injuries (to a certain point) but certainly not the goalscoring secret of any football player. It would be too easy... 10 hours a week in the tank and here you go! you'll be the next top scorer of your league !!!

Come on, lets be realistic, there is only one way to become a goalscoring machine: Hard and smart work on the pitch !!! - trust me on this one. " - De ridder

Until the referee blows for full-time, you are never beaten

Until the referee blows for full-time, United are never beaten.

That was the message from Sir Alex Ferguson after the Reds scored another late goal in Europe to wrestle advantage away from Lyon in United’s Champions League last 16 tie.“It was absolutely vital,” Sir Alex said of Carlos Tevez’s 87th-minute leveller. “Time and time again we rescue games or score late winners and it’s purely down to the players’ determination to do something about it.”

“We showed a lot of determination to try and get back into the game, We lost a goal out of nothing, really, but it showed the qualities of the boy Benzema. It was a marvellous strike but I thought we were in complete control at the time. Lyon’s goal knocked us back a bit and then they defended very well and made it difficult for us.”

Despite mounting pressure, the Reds struggled to create clear-cut chances until the United boss turned to the bench and introduced Tevez and Nani.“I thought Nani provided a real threat for us with his pace and crossing. And of course Carlos Tevez scored a great equaliser. We weren’t magnificent but it was a decent performance and I think we deserved the result. When you’re away from home and 1-0 down with a few minutes to play then you count your blessings when you get back into the match.”

“There was a real urgency from us to get back into the game and I think we’re at our best when we’re up against it,” added the Reds' manager. “It’s now a matter of getting a good performance at Old Trafford. We have a big advantage with the away goal and I’m sure there’ll be an electric atmosphere. We’re looking forward to the return leg.”

"Until the referee blows for full-time, you are never beaten... is the top attitude to have for every one in the team, players, coaches, board directors, fans... but if you are still beaten after the referee blows full-time, and gave 200% of yourselfs to try to win the game... be proud of your defeat because you gave all that you had and tried YOUR very best... just keep training for next match to improve your level." - Philippe De Ridder

Rules for ultimate respect

"People make mistakes but, if they want to be part of this group, they will want to follow the rules. If someone doesn't, then we will analyse why the rules were broken and take the appropriate course of action"
A new era dawns for England’s golden generation under Fabio Capello

At Milan, Juventus and Real Madrid the players knew Fabio Capello as 'Mister', the name bequeathed to generations of managers in Italy and Spain by the British coaches who spread the game around the world.

In England itself, however, he will have another title. The players can call him 'Boss', leaving no doubt that the title is freighted with meaning. To the England football squad the Italian's iron word will henceforth be law.

And that, as we have learnt this week, means no wasting time with computer games, no strolling down to breakfast at whatever time suits the individual... (Richard Williams, Guardian)

"Respect, good players and intelligent club rules are the base of a wining team" - Philippe De Ridder

At big clubs, it’s absolutely paramount that the board show their class.

Fergie wades into Liverpool row

Sir Alex Ferguson has entered the debate about Rafael Benítez's increasingly precarious position at Liverpool by accusing the club's owners George Gillett and Tom Hicks of lacking "class".

The Manchester United manager said for the first time that he believes Liverpool are out of the title race and he questioned whether they would ever be regarded as serious challengers while there were so many political problems behind the scenes at Anfield. - Daniel Taylor, Guardian

"At big clubs, it’s absolutely paramount that the board show their class. Arsène Wenger has had great support at Arsenal and I’ve had great support, too, ever since I came here. So there’s a certain type of unity there." Sir Alex Ferguson on the importance of board room backing for a manager.

"I have to agree with what Sir Alex Ferguson says in this article, if a club wants to stay in the elite of their country, the board of directors have to show their class and maturity in order to keep the club in the top.

Players, coach, manager, director, fans have to show their unity in order to maintain the club at his best... but let's not forget that it is the board of directors duties to manage all these in the best interest of the club.

I remember the time, some years ago, when the big Real Madrid was winning nearly every game with Zidane, Ronaldo, Raul and Roberto Carlos... the board of directors decided not to level up Makelele salary to the other stars... as a result: he left the club. From that date, Real Madrid started to sink and never totaly recovered. The same club hired Fabio Capello as coach and sacked him, even when he brought back Real Madrid and became Champion.

Yes, I agree with Fergie... a touch of class is needed to be a big club board of director member." - Philippe De Ridder