Published: July 27, 2010
He knows he owes a great deal to England and Manchester United.”Cantona, always a quixotic character, may now feel that debt has now been erased. Should he want to leave, there will be no shortage of potential buyers, with both Internazionale and Barcelona linked with him already this season.If he goes, there will be rejoicing in Leeds, and across much of the rest of the country But it will be no cause for celebration. His brother Jol, interviewed in the Independent earlier this month, said: “Like me, Eric thinks English football is the best He loves Manchester United and he loves Britain. He will also not be able to play for anyone until 30 September, due to the FA’s ban, extended worldwide by Fifa. By then emotions may have cooled.He has been, until now, genuinely happy in England. He has been punished three times for the same offence.”Cantona may, on appeal, be spared a spell at Her Majesty’s pleasure.
“We are dumbfounded and absolutely shocked because Manchester United’s English lawyers advised a guilty plea so English justice would show clemency.”At Old Trafford these words would have been greeted, as was the verdict, with horror Martin Edwards, the club chairman, said: “This is a shock The whole thing has got out of hand. I think people are trying to make Cantona disgusted with England and, obviously, I believe he is going to have to leave the country.”There was even the suggestion from Amorfini that Manchester United were partly to blame for his client’s plight. As Eric Cantona ponders his future this morning, his club, and indeed all those who care for the English game, are left to wonder whether a Croydon magistrate has managed to achieve what the best defenders in the Premiership, the Football Association hierarchy and their referees have failed to do: bring an end to Cantona’s brilliant but controversial career in English football. That is Manchester United’s fear after Cantona was sentenced to two weeks in jail yesterday.
He may have been released, eventually, on bail, but the punishment has left both club and player stunned. There will be an appeal, in a week’s time, but already there are indications that Cantona has had enough.
Last night Jean-Jacques Amorfini, Cantona’s agent, said on French radio: “They are all out to get him and I can tell you, he won’t stay in that country a lot longer. Sunday’s semi will be much tighter: Belper take a 1-0 advantage to Oxford City.. Kidderminster’s Graham Allner, Altrincham’s John King and Geoff Chapple of Woking have all triumphed in Trophy finals.
In the other Trophy quarter-finals tomorrow, Marine entertain Hyde United while Enfield are home to Rushden and Diamonds, whose Northamptonshire neighbours, Raunds, are well placed to secure a Wembley trip – they defend a 3-0 lead at Arlesey in tomorrow’s second-leg Vase semi-final tie. Although he played at the national stadium several times, he is the only one of the four not to have tasted success there as a manager. Macclesfield’s manager, the former Manchester United and Northern Ireland midfielder, Sammy McIlroy, is the odd man out among the managers of these four sides.