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Ruud van Nistelrooy apologises to United's manager Sir Alex Ferguson

Discussion in 'Man Utd Chat' started by maco, Jan 21, 2011.

    • Staff Member

    maco Manchester Is My Heaven!

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    Ruud van Nistelrooy has sought to end his rift with Sir Alex Ferguson by making a personal apology to the Manchester United manager almost five years since their working relationship began to disintegrate and the bitterness eventually led to his departure.

    Van Nistelrooy told Ferguson he regretted the way he had behaved – the Dutchman once had a fight with Cristiano Ronaldo on the club's training pitch and drove home when he was left out of the starting line-up against Charlton Athletic on the final day of the 2005-06 season – and admitted he had contributed to the reasons why Ferguson had decided he had to get rid of a striker who had scored 150 goals in his five seasons at Old Trafford.

    Ferguson, in turn, told the Dutchman the matter was now finished and that he is happy to end a rift that ignited after he was omitted from the Carling Cup final line-up in February 2006, and had been smouldering ever since. "I was really pleased with that," Van Nistelrooy said. "I told him: 'Those five years at Manchester United were fantastic, and working with you, and it's really unfortunate what happened.' I'm really glad it's finished now."

    Relations between the two men became so fractured at one point that when Van Nistelrooy moved to Real Madrid for £10.3m in 2006 he cited the tensions as the only reason he had left Old Trafford. Nonetheless, they were also key to each other's success during Van Nistelrooy's time in Manchester and, in an interview with the magazine Voetball International, the Dutchman explained why he had waited until now before contacting his former manager.

    "I had been thinking about it for a while and talking it through with my wife," he said. "Two or three times every year I would think to myself what a shame it was that it had ended like it did with Ferguson. I wanted to do something about it.

    "My wife suggested I sent Ferguson a text to see if he was willing to talk and when I sent him a message asking if I could ring him he replied to say, 'OK, call me at this date and time.' I rang him and he answered and said: 'OK, fine, go ahead.' I said I wanted to apologise for what had happened and he replied: 'Fine, I appreciate that, when we meet again it will be OK.' That was great to know."

    Van Nistelrooy had established himself as the eighth-highest scorer in United's history when he left the club for Madrid. After three-and-a-half years in Spain he signed for Hamburg last January but is now in talks about returning to the Bernabéu.

    Now 34, the striker is acutely aware he is coming to the end of his career and made it clear he retains an affinity for the club where he established himself as the most prolific striker in the Premier League. "If I encounter Ferguson again – and I really hope that will happen – I will embrace him and then it will all be finished."

    Ruud van Nistelrooy apologises to United's manager Sir Alex Ferguson

    abojodeh #cutforflash

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    :wub:
    Wish he would get the same appreciation Beckham gets. People wank over that Beckham loves United, well Ruud who's dutch adores the club yet people forget about that.

    Ruud I ******* love you. I ******* love you.

    Clarky101 Regular Members

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    not really, still has his name sung at plenty of games.

    Ruud will always be a legend to many fans

    TFIA TEAM STANNIS!

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    <3 that man.

    Will never forget the countless days I pretended to be him when playing football at school.

    abojodeh #cutforflash

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    Not as much as Becks. If Becks farted people will say he farted because he loves United.
    Ruud ******* legend, Liverpool and Tottenham wanted him but he didn't join then and joined Hamburg instead.

    NONO New Member

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    Sir Alex is The Don!
    SAM10NESS likes this.

    CROoney Berbatov>Tevez

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    this article almost brought a tear in my eye....i knew ruud was a genuine person
    my favourite player in the history of the sport ...my idol...my ruud van nistelrooy:groupwave reversed:

    nirav Change is Inevitable.

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    he really deserves more from united supporters.. its a rarity in todays football that a player talks such things about his ex-manager..also one thing is sure that ferguson is tough tough man he can easily lead some mafia..:cool:

    djpailo Hi

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    I loved the guy so much I convinced myself and others that he was better than Henry.

    pearson77 Regular Members

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    He is indeed. Good on Ruud...it takes a big man to apologise.

    CROoney Berbatov>Tevez

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    is it just me or fergie sounds notoriously cold in that article
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    Jay007 Moderator

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    I think this shows a lot of class. It's fair to say he left under a cloud, but for him to take those steps to try to repair the relationship says a lot about him, and also says a lot about what type of manager Sir Alex is if he wants to make amends.

    He does, but you'd have to hear what he said to really know the truth. Ruud won't remember every word, and will just really be summing up what was said.

    CROoney Berbatov>Tevez

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    yeah, that's what i thought as well

    Nachito Coronel The Mexican Boy George

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    class act, like ive said many times, hes my favorite player of all time, ******* legend.

    lucretius we all walk the long road

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    exactly. it was an interview with a dutch magazine, the dutch are very direct people, and so is their language, so it's not surprising to see it come across as cold when translated into english

    hdcantona Member of the Year 2012

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    Excellent news - love you Ruud! :wub:
    TheManc likes this.
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    TheManc Least popular Moderator

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    Great news. Love Ruud. Always have, always will. Thank god we don't have that "Van Nistlerooy acted like a twat" arguement anymore.

    rezZyREDdevil Señor fluffy face.

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    mate, not alot of convincing needed, he was/is better :D

    Parksey10 crushed like a bug in the ground

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    If anything, that article kind of confirmed that he acted like a twat, but it's great to see that he felt bad about the whole thing and has set things right with Fergie. What a terrific striker he was.

    aditya_reds Regular Members

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    Till date my fav player in football.. def a legend in my eyes... he was class and a very genuine person... love him so much..

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