Steve Bates: Cristiano Ronaldo forces Glazers to act with complaints over Man Utd training ground

[darioterios]

Cristiano Ronaldo has forced a revamp of Manchester United's training ground swimming pool - after complaining it was old and a health hazard.

The United striker told bosses at the club's Aon training complex at Carrington he didn't want to use the main pool and plunge pool – because loose , chipped and missing tiles made it a danger. And he urged the club to re-tile and refurbish both pools telling them he couldn't believe it hadn't changed in the TWELVE years he's been away from Old Trafford.

https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/cristiano-ronaldo-man-utd-training-27089194

 

[MDFC Manager]

Make him the chief intiative officer

 

[dinostar77]

Hopefully we can get the training ground back to the state of the art standard it was in the 2000s. Just another example of penny pinching from glazers. Fingers crossed things improve.

 

[Dwight Corke]

What a sad state of affairs. Another clear indication that we are has-beens who will fall decades behind the top teams and struggle to attract high quality senior and academy players.

 

[Sir Erik ten Hag]

Cristiano Ronaldo has forced a revamp of Manchester United's training ground swimming pool - after complaining it was old and a health hazard.

The United striker told bosses at the club's Aon training complex at Carrington he didn't want to use the main pool and plunge pool – because loose , chipped and missing tiles made it a danger. And he urged the club to re-tile and refurbish both pools telling them he couldn't believe it hadn't changed in the TWELVE years he's been away from Old Trafford.

Club bosses took his complaints seriously – and ordered remedial works on the pools which will be upgraded in time for pre season training which starts in mid July. The 37-year-old star – United's top scorer last season with 24 goals - is said to have been disappointed by the declining standards in facilities both at Carrington and Old Trafford since his shock return last summer.

And the pools in the main building of the training ground have been on his hit list since re-signing.


It's believed the Portuguese icon made sure his rented home in Cheshire had an indoor swimming pool so he could perform water-based exercises without having to use the Carrington pool. Pool-Gate is the latest in a series of issues with facilities at the club.

It's understood the club has also spent in excess of £200,000 installing a new boiler system at the training ground after problems causing intermittent hot and cold water affected the training ground last winter. United's training centre was once a state-of-the-art complex when it was unveiled in 2000.

But in the last few years, like Old Trafford, it's fallen behind those of rivals like Manchester City, Liverpool and Tottenham who have all built impressive facilities which have eclipsed Carrington. A United source said: “Cristiano is an important voice at the training ground.



Cristiano Ronaldo was dismayed at how United had let their training ground decline (
Image:
Manchester United via Getty Imag)



“In the past players might have said something but nothing happened. If Cristiano speaks up, people listen, take notice and things tend to change!” Last year United applied for planning permission to build additional changing rooms, offices, gyms and catering areas at Carrington.

That followed a request to planners to erect new LED floodlights, an all-seater stand for 500 spectators including wheelchair access. Collette Roche, Chief Operating Officer explained last year: “Longer term, we are looking at fuller redevelopment plans for Carrington to ensure it will be a state-of-the-art, fully integrated facility for our men’s, women’s and academy groups.

“Significant, game-changing investment will be made into our training facilities to take Carrington to the next level once again.”
https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/cristiano-ronaldo-man-utd-training-27089194

Say what you want about Ronaldo, but there isn't a single player in our squad as obsessed with training and success as him.

People all said Ronaldo was too old for United, but Ralf Rangnick and Erik ten Hag (both demand very high work-rate from players) only speak highly of him. That should be enough to tell the whole story.

Cavani was praised for a "good season" last year. Yet Ronaldo boasted even higher figure this season, only to be declared as a past-it version of himself. This proves how high of a standard he has set for himself throughout the years.

If any young players out there want to learn directly from the best and be infected with winning mentality, they should be eager to join United. A chance to train and play alongside Ronaldo does not come around that often (And United are in need of new young blood, fresh legs in their side too).

 

[Telsim]

God, I hate the Glazer scum so fecking much.

 

[sglowrider]

Make him the chief intiative officer

Thats exactly my thoughts. Or Chief Player Welfare Officer

 

[sglowrider]

God, I hate the Glazer scum so fecking much.

That ain't healthy.

 

[DevilRed]

Just make him CEO already.

feck the glazers too.

 

[haru krentz]

the previous ceo didnt even visit carrington on daily basis and those who did dont even have authority to fix it. jose was right calling us a very bureaucratic club.

 

[Compton22]

Surely if you want to be the best football club, you need to have the training facilities and football ground that befits a team that can be the best?

Honestly, looking at Man City's training facilities and the technology they utilise and have access to, no wonder their team is so much better than everyone else's. Pair world class coaching with world class conditioning and you only get 1 outcome. Even Spurs' facilities seem a million miles better than anything Utd has access to.

ETH needs all the tools at his disposal to even come close to challenging City/Liverpool and having a second rate training ground that is falling into disrepair is not helping. Find it hard to believe it has taken Ronaldo to say how shite it is for them to act. Hope they don't stop at the pool, but we all know this club by now. Cheap ********

 

[VP89]

Just make him CEO already.

feck the glazers too.

Whats wrong with Arnold. Im assuming you're just joking, or being emotional.

 

[tenpoless]

Thank you Steve Bates for disguising as a water bug spying on Ronaldo

 

[The Firestarter]

Some Ted Laso stuff here

 

[DevilRed]

Whats wrong with Arnold. Im assuming you're just joking, or being emotional.

Im dead serious.

Its a pathway to making him the chairman of the club and then eventually supreme leader of the unified European empire within the next 10-15 years.

 

[Revaulx]

Whats wrong with Arnold. Im assuming you're just joking, or being emotional.

Arnold basing himself close to the “coal face” in Manchester rather than in a remote plush Mayfair office speaks volumes, surely. If the top management becomes detached from the operations of the business this sort of neglect is the result. The same thing happened to Boeing when the HQ was moved from Seattle to a glitzy skyscraper in Chicago.

 

[VP89]

Arnold basing himself close to the “coal face” in Manchester rather than in a remote plush Mayfair office speaks volumes, surely. If the top management becomes detached from the operations of the business this sort of neglect is the result. The same thing happened to Boeing when the HQ was moved from Seattle to a glitzy skyscraper in Chicago.

Exactly. At least Arnold turns up.

 

[Pronewbie]

If true, I'm sorely disappointed that the club haven't taken comprehensive action to improve the training facilities since complaints from coaches and players a decade ago, especially after City's impressive overhaul.

We really are a dysfunctional corporation with incompetent management. Flash over substance.

 

[TwoSheds]

Ronaldo might be quite a good club director actually when he retires. He's already got lots of seemingly very successful business interests, knows football inside out, and has a desire to continuously improve both himself and what's around him. I think he'll try his hand at management tbh but board level might actually make as much or more sense.

 

[pascell]

Nearly 2 months to re-tile a pool? Not sure what contractors we're using but we might want to change them.

 

[Luffy]

Nearly 2 months to re-tile a pool? Not sure what contractors we're using but we might want to change them.

You need time to build a proper team for a tile challenge. And pool tile challenges are known to end in disaster by the merest of margins, so it is harder than it looks.

 

[Dempsey19]

We should appoint him leak inspector too while we are at it.

 

[Classnordic]

Nearly 2 months to re-tile a pool? Not sure what contractors we're using but we might want to change them.

My initial thought when i read it aswell.

 

[sunama]

This is just one thing which is wrong, that has been highlighted.
There must be 100s of things which are wrong, which have not been made public.
Add up all these small niggles and you end up with a team which is very talented/expensive, but finished 16th (out of 20) in the form table, at the end of the season.

 

[Laurencio]

Someone tell Ronaldo to go full diva and demand they fix everything, clearly he's the only person they'll listen to.

Nearly 2 months to re-tile a pool? Not sure what contractors we're using but we might want to change them.

Knowing us we probably spent time finding the cheapest possible contractor we could find, and was very surprised when they weren't efficient enough.

 

[RedRonaldo]

Let's make Carrington training ground great again.

 

[Ralph1386]

Knowing us we probably spent time finding the cheapest possible contractor we could find, and was very surprised when they weren't efficient enough.

They took time to consider the contract, then they took time to prepare it. They also had to do their due diligence

 

[Classical Mechanic]

Sounds like nonsense. He’s always had a pool in his home in Cheshire since he first joined.

 

[Woodzy]

Someone tell Ronaldo to go full diva and demand they fix everything, clearly he's the only person they'll listen to.



Knowing us we probably spent time finding the cheapest possible contractor we could find, and was very surprised when they weren't efficient enough.

My bigger concern is that he is the only person involved with the club with standards high enough to identify this stuff.

 

[clarkydaz]

Sounds like nonsense. He’s always had a pool in his home in Cheshire since he first joined.

There was a report last week he joined some local gym/healthclub

 

[Ish]

Say what you want about Ronaldo, but there isn't a single player in our squad as obsessed with training and success as him.

People all said Ronaldo was too old for United, but Ralf Rangnick and Erik ten Hag (both demand very high work-rate from players) only speak highly of him. That should be enough to tell the whole story.

Cavani was praised for a "good season" last year. Yet Ronaldo boasted even higher figure this season, only to be declared as a past-it version of himself. This proves how high of a standard he has set for himself throughout the years.

If any young players out there want to learn directly from the best and be infected with winning mentality, they should be eager to join United. A chance to train and play alongside Ronaldo does not come around that often (And United are in need of new young blood, fresh legs in their side too).

Tbf, there aren’t many/any players as obsessed with training, diet and winning as him in the history of the game. But yeah, our squad is certainly in a league of its own, when it comes to desire, hunger, professionalism and work rate - when compared to what they earn/their supposed status within the game.

 

[Grande]

You need time to build a proper team for a tile challenge. And pool tile challenges are known to end in disaster by the merest of margins, so it is harder than it looks.

Damn, beat me to it

 

[Oldyella]

This is just one thing which is wrong, that has been highlighted.
There must be 100s of things which are wrong, which have not been made public.
Add up all these small niggles and you end up with a team which is very talented/expensive, but finished 16th (out of 20) in the form table, at the end of the season.

Yup. It's why when people talk about the transfer money we spend defending the Glazers it doesn't mean much. We are penny pinching behind the scenes and that also has knock on impact.

 

[Galactic]

The mirror.

 

[Buster15]

Say what you want about Ronaldo, but there isn't a single player in our squad as obsessed with training and success as him.

People all said Ronaldo was too old for United, but Ralf Rangnick and Erik ten Hag (both demand very high work-rate from players) only speak highly of him. That should be enough to tell the whole story.

Cavani was praised for a "good season" last year. Yet Ronaldo boasted even higher figure this season, only to be declared as a past-it version of himself. This proves how high of a standard he has set for himself throughout the years.

If any young players out there want to learn directly from the best and be infected with winning mentality, they should be eager to join United. A chance to train and play alongside Ronaldo does not come around that often (And United are in need of new young blood, fresh legs in their side too).

Very well said.

 

[Brophs]

Might get him to have a word with our local swimming pool. Well over a grand for family membership and the cnuts are essentially running a pube museum.

 

[Offside]

This will definitely be Bollocks. Media loving the narrative that United are literally in pieces. Our team might be shit but our training facilities will be top notch.

 

[2 man midfield]

This is a product of the short-termism we’ve been used to in the last decade. Managers come and go without really putting their stamp on the place, whereas Sir Alex was here for so long that he ran the place top to bottom.

 

[stw2022]

This is more mismanagement than misownership though isn’t it?

There’s no suggestion they refused to pay the cost but more that probably didn’t know. I wouldn’t expect any owner to be aware of the state of the tiles in the pool

 

[phelans shorts]

This will definitely be Bollocks. Media loving the narrative that United are literally in pieces. Our team might be shit but our training facilities will be top notch.

It sounds entirely believable to me that the training ground is in similar disrepair to the stadium. The “Ronaldo got it changed” narrative is probably bollocks, because:

This is more mismanagement than misownership though isn’t it?

There’s no suggestion they refused to pay the cost but more that probably didn’t know. I wouldn’t expect any owner to be aware of the state of the tiles in the pool

This is almost certainly precisely it. To be quite Frank I wouldn’t expect the Glazers to know this stuff, this was Woodwards remit and we know how ultra focused he was on off field stuff. Now that the inmates are gone from leadership of the asylum we should see a lot of “insignificant” changes that add up.