In case you weren’t aware, Manchester United fans love Eric Cantona.
In the space of five years, the French striker managed to have such an impact on the Premier League club that even today, in 2016, fans still pine for the days when he was at the club.
The arrival of Zlatan Ibrahimovic has somewhat quelled this nostalgia, but Cantona’s somehow endearing arrogance and great footballing ability will probably never be topped for many supporters.
Even at 16, the Manchester United legend’s personality was rather over the top, as described by Régis Brouard, who was with him at Auxerre when they were still youth players.
Speaking to RTBF, the former midfielder said: “I saw Eric Cantona push Guy Roux (Auxerre’s manager at the time) out of the cafeteria on a Sunday night after a game! He was 16 and felt the manager had nothing to do there. It wasn’t his place to be in an area for youth players.
“Guy Roux was intelligent enough to not say anything and leave. Whatever you say about him, Guy Roux remains Guy Roux… A great man.”
The now 77-year-old managed Auxerre for 44 years, from 1961 until 2005, which makes him the longest serving manager of all time in Europe.
At that stage, he’d already been at the club for 21 years, and a teenage Cantona didn’t bat an eyelid in kicking him out.
Another Cantona story to add to the already very long list, then.
