Grudging respect from the best of Liverpool versus Manchester United enemies, circa 1995
Neil Ruddock could not wait to get stuck into Eric Cantona upon his return to up-standing society. The former Liverpool defender famously turned the United forward's collar down midway through the Frenchman's comeback game.
Cantona was returning after an eight-month ban for his Jean-Claude van Damme impression [he kung-fu'ed a Crystal Palace fan for his bawdy jibes] and got the second last laugh by scoring and equaliser from the penalty spot at Old Trafford. His last laugh was mimicking Ruddock as a man with a large gut.
Still, Londoner that he is, Ruddock loved the banter and says he admired Cantona for his 'No Merde' mentality.
'I used to get ten times more abuse then Cantona, and he was brilliant but I was rubbish! I never liked Cantona but after that I was delighted. It took all my frustration away because I always wanted to do that.'
'I watched it on the telly,' Ruddock continues. 'I was as shocked as anyone else but I did think, 'Yeah, good boy, well done!'
As for the build-up to the match itself, Ruddock cleared a path for Cantona to lead the United line after he crumpled his United teammate days before the Old Trafford encounter. He recalls, 'I had broken Andy Cole legs on the Tuesday in a reserve game – sorry Andrew Cole – so, yeah, I was playing on the day and Cantona didn’t want to play he wanted to fight me... He used to turn his collars down after that match.
'He would hit me, kick me up the bum, try just get at me. On my side, he would play in the hole so I would go at him and stamp on his toes and all that. I don’t think he had a kick until the last minute and that was when he equalised and did the famous celebration [swinging around the pole behind the goal].'
Despite the pair's numerous run-ins, Ruddock has nothing but respect for the man United fans referred to as 'Le King'. 'As a player, he was my favourite. Best players I ever played against were Cantona, Dennis Bergkamp and Gianfranco Zola.
'People would say about today’s game but there were no three players better than them. Football has got quicker and they have more knowledge but I think the biggest dramatic difference would be the quality of the pitches the pitch got quicker, the ball got quicker and so the players got quicker.'
*Ruddock was joined by Manchester United legend, Norman Whiteside at an event in Dublin, this week, to highlight the upcoming FA Cup fixtures on the Setanta Sports pack. The weekend’s action includes Manchester United’s trip to Cambridge United, on Friday, the matches between Manchester City and Middlesbrough, and Liverpool and Bolton on Saturday, as well as the game between Brighton and Hove Albion and current FA Cup holders Arsenal on Sunday.
The Setanta Sports pack has five channels in total including Setanta Ireland, Setanta Sports 1, BT Sport 1, BT Sport 2 and ESPN.
