Ronaldo, Tevez risk wrath of Ferguson

LONDON - Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez should know better than to show discontent in front of Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson. They might wind up going the same way as David Beckham, Ruud van Nistelrooy and Roy Keane.

Off the team.

Ronaldo sat on the substitutes' bench petulantly shaking his head after being taken off during Sunday's 2-0 victory over Manchester City. A frustrated Tevez, meanwhile, whipped up the crowd to support his fight to stay with the club.

But no amount of sulking on the bench or attempts to win over the fans will change what happens at Old Trafford.

Ferguson's decision is final.

The Scottish manager, who has amassed 24 titles in 23 seasons at the club, has also won virtually all his battles with stars who were unhappy at some of his decisions. Even the likes of Beckham, Van Nistelrooy and Keane — all hugely popular with the fans — left the club sooner than they expected.

Annoyed that Beckham was making too many headlines away from Man United, Ferguson once lost his temper with the England star in the locker room, kicking a boot that struck Beckham above the eye. That signaled that Beckham's time at Old Trafford was virtually over, and United sold him to Real Madrid.

Angry that he had been dropped from United's League Cup final lineup in 2006, Van Nistelrooy went into a moody spell and a slump. When he was left off the team's final league game of the season, he stormed out of Old Trafford before kickoff and was left off the lineup for Keane's tribute game against Celtic. He, too, was sold to Real Madrid.

Keane had a very successful time at Old Trafford before he felt the wrath of Ferguson.

Interviewed by the club's own MUTV, he was strongly critical of some of his teammates and Ferguson wouldn't let the channel show the program. The Irish star wanted more than the one-year contract he had been offered but was denied and went to Celtic.

Going back further, Ferguson sold Gordon Strachan because the midfielder — now manager of Celtic — said he no longer felt motivated. He also got rid of the talented Paul McGrath and Norman Whiteside when their prolonged injury spells led to heavy drinking.

Ferguson has always dealt firmly with players who step out of line. But he is strongly supportive of those who do things in the club's interests even though they may break the rules.

Now Ferguson has to deal with two stars who took the edge off Sunday's victory by sending messages the manager clearly didn't want to see.

Ronaldo looked shocked when, standing in front of the bench taking a drink of water, he was told by Ferguson he was coming off. The game was only an hour old and the star was having another standout game, having scored his 18th league goal of the season with a trademark free kick.

Ronaldo walked to the bench, snatched at his tracksuit top and, once sitting down, shook his head several times. Within 15 minutes of the game finishing, he drove away from Old Trafford without waiting to celebrate the victory with his teammates.

"He's in great form but I have to look at the bigger picture," Ferguson said. "He's had an incredible performance on Tuesday night at Arsenal. He ran his socks off. We have got to think about how we can get through the game and keep him as fresh as we can."

Tevez' goal celebration — cupping his ears with his hands as he ran toward the sideline — was a message to the fans to persuade Ferguson to let him stay. It came on the day he was quoted as saying he was resigned to leaving because United had not turned his loan deal into a permanent transfer and he wasn't being treated like "one of the family."

Ferguson appeared angry when asked about the newspaper reports and said he hadn't read them.

"I'm not going into that at all, OK?" he said.

The Ronaldo-Tevez gestures came with United now only four points away from winning its third Premier League title in a row and the chance of back-to-back Champions League triumphs when it faces Barcelona in the May 27 final in Rome.

Ferguson could take it out on them by leaving them out of that showpiece final. Or he might give Ronaldo the transfer to Real Madrid he has been craving and leave Tevez in limbo by ending his loan spell.

Maybe Ferguson will repeat what another famous Man United manager, Matt Busby, did in the late 1960s to one of the club's greats, Denis Law.

After being refused a better contract, the Scottish striker angered Busby by complaining to the media. The manager placed Law on the transfer list. Law backed down and Busby made him apologize in public at a news conference.