Rice completely ruins his chance of Manchester United move

Boro have issued a non-BAN that has everything and nothing to do with Cristiano Ronaldo, while Declan Rice has infuriated Manchester United.

Crock of old shirt

“It’s not a sightseeing tour for our players. It’s not a shirt-swapping situation. I don’t want people to go into Old Trafford and enjoy the visit. I want them to play well. I want the players to play well. I want to give a good account of ourselves and make it really competitive and make it a dangerous night for Manchester United.”

Simon Bird of the Daily Mirror sensed gold and pressed the matter a little further, the specific bit of which can be seen here:

And that small excerpt of a 40-minute press conference – when Wilder agreed with a journalist’s throwaway comment that “if they want a shirt they’ve got to do it in the changing rooms after” – is obviously the headline news.

‘Middlesbrough boss puts in place Cristiano Ronaldo ban ahead of Man Utd tie’ is the Mirror website‘s take. Wilder, of course, never mentioned Cristiano Ronaldo. But clicks.

Still, at least their Caps Lock is working fine. The same cannot be said for this pair:

‘Boro boss BANS players from swapping shirts with Ronaldo & Man Utd stars’ – The Sun website.

Middlesbrough players are BANNED from trying to get Cristiano Ronaldo’s shirt’ – MailOnline.

You can SHOUT it all you want but that doesn’t change the FACT that all Wilder has done is tell PLAYERS to swap shirts in the DRESSING room and not the pitch if they absolutely must. And that he never once referred to RONALDO.

Press START

‘Pogba set to START as Rangnick tells contract rebel to remind fans how good he is’

Oh wow. Player who is available and has been back in training for over a fortnight could play. More as we get it.

It’s raining MEN