Simon Jordan says he has “fallen out of love” with Bruno Fernandes after the midfielder’s disappointing first half of the season with Manchester United.
Fernandes has produced five goals and three assists in his 17 Premier League games this season, compared to 18 goals and 13 assists in his 37 league games last term.
Fernandes and Cristiano Ronaldo were criticised by former United defender Gary Neville after Monday’s 1-1 draw with Newcastle.
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Sky Sports pundit Neville hit out at the pair for “whinging” at their team-mates during the match at St James’ Park.
talkSPORT pundit Jordan agrees with Neville and has slammed Fernades for his petulance, highlighting an incident earlier this season when the Portugal international reacted angrily to United fans booing former manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer following their 4-1 defeat to Watford.
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Speaking on talkSPORT, Jordan said: “Should Fernandes and Ronaldo have such influence? Well here rages the argument. We were talking about Ronaldo coaching from the sidelines earlier on in the season. We are talking about his influence full stop.
“That was when you had a lightweight manager in the dugout. Nice fella, decent manager but not a Man United manager in Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
“You’ve now got Rangnick that, credentials-wise, is not a Man United manager, but football nous-wise is in the same sort of category as [Marcelo] Bielsa in terms of reputation.
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“He doesn’t necessarily have the silverware to go with it.
“I’ve well fallen out of love with Fernandes. I think he’s been reading his own press for some time. I think he is probably the chairman of the Bruno Fernandes fan club.
“He’s got a view on how he will play and that ridiculous remonstration to the Man United fans after the Watford game was absurd.
“His performances have not been where they started. Maybe that’s because of tortoises and hares mentality.
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“I still think Rangnick will make a fist of turning this ship around at Man United, but in terms of personalities, you’ve got big personalities in there.
“You can’t have a big personality like Ronaldo and then don’t have a personality. He is a big personality.”
United will start the New Year outside the top six for the first time in 32 years if they fail to beat Burnley at Old Trafford on Thursday night.
Interim manager Ralf Rangnick has suggested striker Edinson Cavani could return to the starting line-up after coming off the bench to score against Newcastle.
When asked if Cavani was fit to face Burnley after recovering from a tendon injury, Rangnick said: "Yeah, actually, in the last two days, I was also considering to play him from the start.
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"I spoke with him yesterday and the day before yesterday, and he didn't feel comfortable to play from the beginning [against Newcastle] and because he didn't know how fit he really was.
"But after being one down at half-time, it was clear to me that we have to take more risks that we need to change something, and that's why we decided to bring on him and Jadon [Sancho] at half-time."
Featured Image Credit: AlamyTopics: Football, Manchester United, Simon Jordan, Bruno Fernandes, Premier League