Down and Out

You would have thought that Ruud van Nistelrooy had been at Manchester United long enough to learn that it does not pay to cross Sir Alex Ferguson, as Jaap Stam and David Beckham discovered to their cost.

So when Ruud drove off in a Dutch huff after the Manchester United boss had the temerity to leave him out of the team to face Charlton it wasn’t exactly the brightest thing he’s ever done in football.

But it’s almost certainly the last thing he did as a United player.