Laurent Blanc is flavour of the month at the moment after winning the league with Bordeaux and currently standing top of his Champions League group, which contains Juventus and Bayern Munich.

Back in May, RoM looked at the reasons why Blanc should replace Sir Alex Ferguson, but Eric Cantona wants him to be the next manager of France.

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Every man and his dog has been asked what they think of Thierry Henry disgraceful cheating this week which denied Ireland a place in the World Cup.

Eric Cantona is the latest to give his opinion on Henry and seems to imply if he had been playing, and if was Irish, he would have kicked the shit out of the smarmy twat.

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What are the laws of football for?  You get sent off for dangerous play because it's dangerous. You get sent off for fouling too much because you shouldn't foul too much.  But what are the implications of these dastardly acts? Usually nothing. Just the general cleaning up of the game and allowing it to be the free-flowing attacking game we all love.

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For many in England, last week's news that the Premier League would not be inviting Rangers or Celtic to join anytime soon was a welcome relief. After all, the Premier League has already done enough damage in some eyes to the traditional feel of English football, despite unquestionably expanding the international reach of the English game.

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The papers over the weekend were linking Wayne Rooney with an £85m move to Barcelona whilst Cristiano Ronaldo said he would welcome Wayne at Real Madrid.

Rooney has moved to put an end to end rumours before people start getting carried away by again claiming he wants to spend the rest of his career with us.

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Mit viel Freude kann ich euch heute verkünden, dass wir hier auf Fritten, Fussball & Bier ein Gewinnspiel zum Kinofilm von Eric Cantona machen dürfen. Sein neuer Film „Looking for Eric" spielt er sich selbst und versucht einem gescheiterten Fan das Leben auf seine Art und Weise nahe zu bringen. Der Film des britischen Meisterregisseurs [. Click to continue reading...

Saturday's FA Cup First Round Proper match against Grimsby Town was my first ever visit to Lincolnshire. I'm ashamed to say, it was only my third foray north of Birmingham. On that count alone, I looked forward to the journey.
Of course, most everyone else I know thought the idea of going to Grimsby and back in a day was crazy. Click to continue reading...

To celebrate the launch of our brand new members' area Arsenalinsider, in association with Icons, are giving one lucky reader the chance to win a signed Fabregas shirt.

To be in with a chance, all you need to do is sign up for a free account.

Each members' account will enable you to communicate with other Arsenal fans, just like on Facebook.

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Being a Manchester United fan and choosing the best player who played at Old Trafford is not easy. This is so because we tend to remember only those players who have played during our era. Though we do remember some of the Red Devil legends but they are very few and can be counted on fingers. We can easily associate people like George Best, Sir Bobby Charlton or Eric Cantona with the red shirt Click to continue reading...

Fans turn up wearing masks that don't feature Eric Cantona's face These Peterborough fans obviously worked out that the swine flu outbreak at Blackburn, plus the official warning that spitting is spreading the virus, and the fact that they could find themselves close to El-Hadji Diouf meant that they were at substantial risk of getting sick! Click to continue reading...

Ahead of Liverpool's game with Manchester United later today, I answered a few questions for Scott over at 'The Republik of Mancunia'.
Here is the text of the interview, which was published on RoM yesterday:
Scott the Red: What do you make of the beachball fiasco at the Stadium of Light? Click to continue reading...

Phillippe Auclair has written a brilliant book on Eric Cantona which gives a really interesting look behind the scenes of our hero's career.

RoM gave away a copy of this book last month and previewed the book using part of one of the chapters over the weekend.

Phillippe has given an exclusive interview with me which explores his understanding of Eric's relationship with the fans, his feelings on that incident at Selhurst Park and how he sees Eric as an untamed man.

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Fernando Torres and substitute David Ngog left Manchester United reeling as Liverpool brilliantly halted their four-game losing streak.
Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez had said prior to the game that one win would change everything, and what a result his team delivered to ease the pressure on the Spaniard. Click to continue reading...

Tomorrow Man United take on a Liverpool side who have been beaten four times in a row. Form goes out of the window because it is such a massive game. Last weeks 1-0 loss for Liverpool and 2-1 win for United will be thrown out of the window.
Liverpool played at Anfield on Tuesday night whilst Man United had to fly to Russia to play CSKA Moscow on Wednesday. Click to continue reading...

Manchester United fans plan to rub the Kop's noses in it even more on Sunday - and it is nothing to do with beachballs.
After a thrilling 3-3 Anfield draw in January 1994, Liverpool supporters unfurled a taunting banner which read: "Au revoir, Cantona and Man United. Come back when you've won 18. Click to continue reading...

Ahead of Sunday's match at Anfield, Jamie Kanwar from Liverpool Kop has given a few minutes of his time to answer some of my questions.

Scott the Red: What do you make of the beachball fiasco at the Stadium of Light?
Jamie Kanwar: It was a very unfortunate incident, and according to the laws of the game, the goal should not have stood.

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In 1994 the Liverpool crowd decided to taunt Man United fans by putting out a banner which read- ‘Au revoir Cantona and Man United... come back when you've won 18'.
Man United have now equalised Liverpool's record of 18 League titles. Tomorrow Man United will be returning to Anfield for the first time since winning 18 league titles. Click to continue reading...

In the summer, RoM offered you the opportunity to win a copy of Philippe Auclair's excellent book about Eric Cantona, 'Cantona: The Rebel Who Would Be King', which was won by Ged Hanley.

The biography documents Cantona's life from his time in France to his departure from Manchester United, describing the glory, the mistakes, the combat and the inspiration.

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This week has been crazy in pretty much every sense of the word. From insane results in the Champions League to a magic fight in Madrid to Wes Brown's Zombie Corpse making an appearance in Moscow, it's been a bit of a random week. So, how better to cap it all off then another dose of The Weekly Links.

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This week has been crazy in pretty much every sense of the word. From insane results in the Champions League to a magic fight in Madrid to Wes Brown's Zombie Corpse making an appearance in Moscow, it's been a bit of a random week. So, how better to cap it all off then another dose of The Weekly Links.

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"Au revoir Cantona and Man United... come back when you've won 18" read the banner at Anfield all those years ago. Back then it appeared laughable that this rejuvenated United team, under the guidance of Alex Ferguson, could even dream of going on to win eighteen titles. But if we were ever to win eighteen, they certainly would have added another ten or twenty league titles to their collection.

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- QPR REPORT...UPDATED THROUGHOUT THE DAY: Checkout the TWO QPR Reports! This QPR Report site. And, the second combination messageboard and quasi-blog QPR Report Messageboard. If you're interested in constantly-updated news re anything QPR-related and also QPR nostalgia, this site has both - along with assorted eclectic non-QPR football material. Click to continue reading...

Looking for Eric is now out on DVD so if you're planning on buying a copy please do so through RoM to give us a few pennies to go towards our competitions.

"Looking For Eric DVD" was originally published at The Republik of Mancunia. Click to continue reading...

En un partido de futbol femenino en Brasil entre Cesmac y Soesporte se armo una bronca entre las damas de ambos equipos. La diversion empieza cuando la numero 3 empieza a regalar unas patadas que hiciera a Eric Cantona llorar de orgullo. Me parecio ver a Semenya en el video? Click to continue reading...

En un partido de futbol femenino en Brasil entre Cesmac y Soesporte se armo una bronca entre las damas de ambos equipos. La diversion empieza cuando la numero 3 empieza a regalar unas patadas que hiciera a Eric Cantona llorar de orgullo. Me parecio ver a Semenya en el video?

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Let's now jump forward from Crystal Palace and the Kung-fu nightmare at Selhurst Park in January 1995 to Crystal Palace at Villa Park on Sunday 9th April. Old antagonisms from the league encounter had hardly had time to subside when United were to face Palace again, this time on neutral turf in the FA Cup Semi Final which United had reached by beating Sheffield United, Wrexham, Leeds (yes!

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The day after Eric Cantona's astonishing Kung-fu kick at Selhurst Park in January 1995 I had to attend an all day BBC senior management seminar on 'The Digital Revolution'. Roy, the deputy head of Children's TV, a Manc and life-long United supporter came up in a state of agitation about it all and it was the main topic of conversation off and on all day, especially when it became known that I'd 'been there' last night.

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In Part I of 'Hitting the fan with United' I revealed that I had been an eye-witness to both of the most serious match-day assaults perpetrated by players on spectators in Manchester United history, jaw-dropping events which happened 35 years apart.

The first and now less-remembered incident happened in April 1960 and involved Harry Gregg, not only one of the greatest goalkeepers ever to play for United but also a genuine hero for his bravery at the time of the Munich Air Crash two years before, when 23 people were killed including 8 'Busby Babes'.

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New football book titles out this month include an autobiography of former Saints' icon Matt Le Tissier Taking The Tiss: My Autobiography, a biography of Eric Cantona Cantona: The Rebel Who Would Be King and a book on African football Feet Of The Chameleon.
Other new books published in September are Celtic's Lost Legend an autobiography from George Connelly and No Smoke, No Fire by David Jones, an account of the false accusations of child abuse brought against the former Stockport County, Southampton, Wolves and now Cardiff manager. Click to continue reading...

Craig Bellamy
Crime: Slapping a restrained United fan in the face
Punishment: Warning

Shay Given
Crime: Turning to face the Stretford End, fists clenched, jumping up and down, celebrating Bellamy's last minute goal
Punishment: None

Gary Neville
Crime: Celebrating Owen's injury time goal in front of the South Stand, where he was sat, in front of United fans
Punishment: Warning

Yet another example of when the FA have come down hard on United and let another team get away with murder.

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Seattle Sounders 0 Chivas USA 0

Seattle Coach Sigi Schmid threw out the first pitch Friday at the Mariners-Yankees game. (AP Photo)

Ghastly offense (as usual), generally excellent defense (as is customary) gave Chivas USA the road point today.

Marcelo Saragosa excepted, of course, after throwing the most blatant kung fu kick at a soccer game since Eric Cantona.

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Yet another brilliant advert from Nike that we have to show you this week, they should really pay us for this. This weeks is the Portugal vs Brazil Ole advert, which includes brilliant skill, funny moments, the obvious Eric Cantona cameo and a great tackle by the ref. I love how they all look battered at the end and what a soundtrack.

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PFA chief Gordon Taylor has urged football fans, pundits, and the FA to put a stop to the lynch mob mentality that is surrounding Manchester City striker Emmanuel Adebayor. The targetman stirred up controversy over the weekend by first stamping on Robin van Persie's face before scoring a goal and sprinting the length of the pitch to celebrate in front of the angry Gunners fans.

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Manchester United were more or less written off when we sold Cristiano Ronaldo, given the great contribution he made to our team over the past few years. Similar things were said after Ruud van Nistelrooy was sold, when David Beckham joined Real Madrid, when Eric Cantona hung up his boots etc. It seems as though the media and rival fans just don't learn.

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Much is made of Alan Hansen's infamous quote 'you won't win anything with kids' at the start of the 1995-1996 season, with our lads going on to win the Double in May.

In the squad on the first day of the season were 20-year-olds David Beckham, Gary Neville, John O'Kane, Nicky Butt, Paul Scholes, and 18-year-old Phil Neville.

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