There was a time when they would have been giddy.
Football supporters these days are no mugs. There was a time when we were all perhaps a little naive and far too happy to take every statement, claim and quote at face value. Agents, clubs and players would play us like a fiddle as we believed their carefully worded spin, counter-spin and all round rubbish.
But with the social media age has come an heightened savviness about what certain stories and statements mean – and more importantly what they don’t. These days most of us can tell when a story has been leaked for a very specific purpose, and we are far better attuned to what quotes really mean.
Take Cristiano Ronaldo. He is forever being linked with a return to Manchester United. It has been going on for years. Certainly the player himself has done nothing to stop the speculation. He knows that his old club can act as a very useful bargaining chip in Spain. He can leverage the links for more money.
The only problem with being the footballer who constantly shouts wolf (or Red Devil) is that there comes a point when people get sick of it. He was at it again on Friday, during a court case concerning his tax situation. The 32-year-old threw his toys out of the pram and complained:
“In England, I never had these problems [regarding tax] – that is why I want to go back there.”
Cristiano Ronaldo: "Nunca he tenido un problema en Inglaterra, por eso me gustaría volver" vía @albert_poux https://t.co/8Oy4EQaAbu pic.twitter.com/af3SX7i5Dt
— Cadena SER (@La_SER) August 4, 2017
Cadena Ser: Cristiano Ronaldo to court investigating his taxes: “In England, I never had these problems, that’s why I want to go back there”
— Kaveh Solhekol (@SkyKaveh) August 4, 2017
Cue hysteria amongst giddy Man United fans excitedly hoping that their old hero will return, right? Wrong. They’ve seen and heard it all before. They know full well that this is Ronaldo having a tantrum and basically threatening Real Madrid, the Spanish authorities and everyone that unless all his problems go away, he will.
The Old Trafford faithful seem to have had enough. They don’t want to be used as pawns every time Cristiano wants his own way. They don’t want their hopes to be continually raised for nothing. As you can see below, they’ve lost patience with the same old bullshit…
We don't a crybaby who use us for contract renewal at old Trafford
— Rui United (@RuiUnited_) August 4, 2017
Here we go again..
— Retro United (@Retro_Utd) August 4, 2017
https://twitter.com/utdcover/status/893595211833724928
https://twitter.com/KaneLewis18/status/893595217047302144
Which translates to "I want a new contract Madrid"
— Daniel Hooley (@DanielH19) August 4, 2017
https://twitter.com/Gta5_Mw2_Messi/status/893596032726073345
you are not welcomed in #MUFC
— Getso (@bakarabdull) August 4, 2017
https://twitter.com/OwaisKhan708/status/893561334738157572
