'I will definitely sack him' - The untold story of how Man United handled Eric Cantona kung-fu kick fall-out

Part of Eric Cantona's punishment for the kung-fu kick aimed at Matthew Simmons at Selhurst Park 30 years ago today was to go on a scouting mission for Manchester United, joining a few other hardy souls at Wimbledon's old Plough Lane ground to watch the Dons youth team face Sheffield United in FA Youth Cup action.

At least, that's what Eric Harrison, the iconic former United youth coach, said. Harrison, who died in 2019, is heard talking about Cantona's in-house reprimand on a new podcast series 'Manchester United: The Lost Tapes', which was released on Friday.

In an interview conducted with BBC Radio Manchester's United reporter Tom Tyrrell a few weeks after Cantona threw himself feet first over the advertising hoardings at Selhurst Park, reacting to abuse from the stands after he had been sent-off against Crystal Palace, Harrison reveals Cantona's first task is to return to London.

"We’ll see how good he is at assessing youth teams. It’s snowing, so I don’t know how pleased he is about that, but he’s definitely going," said Harrison. The way he delivers it, it's hard to tell if he is actually joking or not. It's probably safe to assume that Cantona did not rock up at Plough Lane, wearing a disguise to avoid being recognised as he assessed players he would never have heard of.

The interview with Harrison is one of several featured in the first episode of the new podcast, which looks back on Cantona's career and includes his first interview as a United player, as well as thoughts from Sir Alex Ferguson and David Beckham at the time.

The series uses the archive of Tyrrell, one dubbed the 'voice of Manchester United’. Tyrrell, who spent 40 years covering the club, died in 2017, but in 2023, his family offered his audio