Cristiano Ronaldo appears to bury the hatchet with Gary Neville after two years after awkward Sky Sports snub
CRISTIANO RONALDO appears to have buried the hatchet with Gary Neville — two years after his awkward snub live on Sky Sports.
Ronaldo and Neville were teammates at Manchester United for six years between 2003 and 2009.
During their time together they won three Premier League titles and a Champions League.
But their relationship soured after Ronaldo completed a sensational return to United in 2021.
At the start of the 2022/23 campaign, Neville urged Ronnie to “stand up now and speak” after the striker promised a bombshell tell-all.
The Portugal legend then had a bust-up with new boss Erik ten Hag after being dropped from the starting XI.
And in October 2022, Ronaldo brutally blanked Neville live on Sky Sports ahead of United’s 1-0 win over West Ham.
A month later Ronaldo’s Red Devils contract was no more.
He spilled the beans on his tempestuous relationship with Ten Hag in a sit-down with The Sun columnist and TalkTV star Piers Morgan.
But Ronaldo also let rip at Neville, accusing the former right-back of criticising him to get more fame before declaring the TV pundit was no friend of his.
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Neville came out in defence of Ten Hag as he accused “petulant” Ronaldo of “sulking and stomping.”
However, Ronaldo — who now plays in Saudi Arabia for Al-Nassr — looks to be over the spat after naming Neville as a Man United legend who the club and Ten Hag would be wise to listen to.
Appearing on the Rio Ferdinand Presents podcast, he cited Neville alongside Paul Scholes, Roy Keane and Sir Alex Ferguson as icons who Sir Jim Ratcliffe should be taking advice from in his attempts to rebuild United.
But it could be new assistant Ruud van Nistelrooy who ends up keeping Ten Hag in a job.
Ronaldo explained: “If Ten Hag listen to Ruud, maybe he can (help himself). I think it can help a lot because he knows the club and the club should listen (to) the guys who were there.
“You [Rio] or Roy Keane or Paul Scholes or Gary Neville, whatever, Sir Alex Ferguson. You cannot, you cannot rebuild a club without knowledge. Not guys who work in office. They understand.
Cristiano Ronaldo's red cards
Ronaldo picked up his 12th career red card against Al-Hilal
- Aston Villa vs MAN UTD (2004) – Yellow cards for diving and chipping goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen after the whistle had gone.
- Man City vs MAN UTD (2006) – Straight red card for a high tackle on former United legend Andy Cole, of all people.
- Portsmouth vs MAN UTD (2007) – Straight red card for headbutting midfielder Richard Hughes.
- Man City vs MAN UTD (2008) – Yellow card for a cynical foul on Shaun Wright-Phillips, second yellow for a deliberate handball.
- REAL MADRID vs Almeria (2009) – Ronaldo’s first home red card. One yellow for taking his shirt off to celebrate a goal. A second yellow for aiming a kick at midfielder Juanma Ortiz.
- REAL MADRID vs Malaga (2010) – Straight red card for a stray elbow which fractured defender Patrick Mtiliga’s nose. Ronaldo said afterwards: “If he wasn’t 5 foot 6, I might have caught him in the chest.”
- REAL MADRID vs Atletico Madrid (2013) – Ronaldo received a straight red card for a high kick in Atleti captain Gabi’s face as Real lost the Copa del Rey final 2-1 on home soil.
- Athletic Bilbao vs REAL MADRID (2014) – Straight red card for striking an opponent in the face during a skirmish before a corner.
- Cordoba vs REAL MADRID (2015) – Straight red card for kicking left-back Edimar and pushing centre-back Jose Angel Crespo
- Barcelona vs REAL MADRID (2017) – Ronaldo made it a red card in the Manchester derby, Madrid derby and El Clasico in the 2017 Spanish Super Cup. The Portugal star received yellow cards for removing his shirt to celebrate a goal at the Nou Camp and diving. He made matters worse by aiming a slight push at the referee after getting sent off.
- Valencia vs JUVENTUS (2018) – Controversial red card after defender Jeison Murillo threw himself to the ground as the pair jostled for position.
- Al-Hilal vs AL-NASSR (2024) – Little doubt about this one as Ronaldo appeared to swing his elbow twice at defender Ali Al-Bulayhi.
“The people who understand the football, it was, 99 per cent is the people who were there in the dressing room. They know how to deal with the players. It’s the people who understand these things.
“So I believe that Ruud is going to help because he was inside the club. He knows the club. He knows the fans. If the coach listens to him, I think they can improve a little bit the club.”
Ronaldo, who scored 27 goals in 54 outings during his second United spell, also used the time to slam Ten Hag’s management style.
He added: “As I told you, Manchester, they need to rebuild everything, in my opinion.
“The coach, they say they cannot compete to win the League and Champions League.
“(As) Manchester United coach, you cannot say that you’re not going to fight to win the League or Champions League.
“You have to be, to mentally say, listen, maybe we don’t have that potential, but I cannot say that. We’re going to try. You have to try.”