Charlton tells Ronaldo to face down boo-boys

BOBBY Charlton has warned Cristiano Ronaldo he faces a barrage of abuse during the opening weeks of the new season.

Ronaldo returned to Manchester United training on Monday for the first time following a World Cup campaign which saw him identified as public enemy number one by England supporters for his involvement in Wayne Rooney’s dismissal during the quarter-final defeat to Portugal.

Alan Shearer and Frank Lampard lambasted Ronaldo for his card-waving antics, with even Rooney initially expressing “disappointment” at his team-mate before apparently making peace with the 21-year-old.

Nevertheless, just like David Beckham eight years ago, Charlton believes Ronaldo will be forced to face down his terrace critics once the new campaign gets under way, a problem the legendary United player accepts is of the winger’s own making.

“Cristiano realises he has made a mistake which he will have to pay for.

“I am sure the fans will have a little go at him at the start of the season.

“He is only a young lad. He is inexperienced and doesn’t know a lot about the game. But he will come back better because of this. It is going to be tricky for him at the beginning but he is a great player and that is what people should focus on.”

Charlton was speaking at the launch of the groundbreaking It’s a Goal initiative, which will be based at Old Trafford and is aimed at tackling the onset of depression in young men.

The former England skipper first became aware of the project just after it was launched at Macclesfield Town two years ago. Aware that many young males were reluctant to visit GPs or hospitals and admit to suffering from depression, local businessman Malcolm McClean came up with the idea of running clinics at football clubs.

The programme allows men aged 16 to 34 to take part in discussions and activities with a football theme and develop the means to deal with the issues affecting their lives.

Ronaldo’s aims for the season are a little less worthy, although Charlton does feel there would have been an element of running away about the former Sporting Lisbon player’s actions if he had failed to return to United.

“I don’t see how he could have solved that problem in any other way than coming back to us.

“The only way it will ever go away is by coming back here, playing alongside Wayne Rooney, doing well for Manchester United and by being seen to be working really hard to put right the little errors he has made.”