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The Football Show · 8 October 2026
"Ronaldo has thrown the dummy out of the pram." Peter Martin, Alan Rough and Gordon Parks on Cristiano Ronaldo's falling-out with Portugal manager Jorge Jesus.
Peter says Ronaldo should have asked to announce his retirement rather than wash the dirty linen in public, but he's no fan of Jesus either. The panel agree it's a sad end for a class act who dragged Portugal through games, Gordon says sometimes the greatest act has to be dragged off the stage, and Peter isn't having the pundits who say "he only scores goals".
Filmed on 2 October, before Ronaldo and Jesus patched things up.
Transcript:
International football. I wish we'd had Ronaldo. I wish we'd had Ronaldo now, at 41. Where are we going with this? Because I hate to see this whole thing being played out, washing their dirty linen in public. Ronaldo has thrown the dummy out of the pram. He's not been happy with Jorge Jesus, the Portuguese manager, who wants to pick his own team, wants to decide when the subs are coming on, whatever. Ronaldo could have actually said, listen, Jorge, I understand where you are. If I'm not going to feature, even if I'm only going to do 10 or 15 minutes, that's not for me. Do you mind if I announce my retirement? I think that was the best way to handle it.
100%. And I think there's a sadness here, because what an absolute legacy, what a history, what a goalscoring ratio, what a player. To end on a sour note isn't becoming of a guy who was a class act, and it lacks a bit of class, to be honest.
Yeah, it does. Roughy, I have to say to you, I'm a huge Ronaldo fan. I think his scoring for, never mind Portugal... the actual ability to get them to the final, albeit he came off, but to actually win a tournament and get to the latter stages of it, it's been down to him at times, because when he was younger he was literally dragging them through games, winning them games. This is a sad end to it. And by the way, although Ronaldo was wrong in the way he handled it, I'm not a fan of Jorge Jesus, because he has been controversial throughout his managerial career, and I think there could have been a bit of mediation to handle this better.
Yeah. Unfortunately in the game, some managers come in and they want to do their own thing. Sometimes they identify a superstar to put down a marker. Unfortunately, he's putting down a marker with the wrong person. I think you're right. I think he's actually won championships, Euros, World Cups for Portugal, and that's the stature that he's at. And any team he's gone to, he's been amazing. He's a one-man band, and I think anybody who's been part of football would love a player like Ronaldo on their side.
Yeah. The problem is, though, in any industry, the entertainment industry, sometimes the greatest act has to be dragged off the stage.
Well, listen, I'm all for that, Parksy, eventually, when you can't fulfil the role. But I'm not having any of the pundits turning around and saying he waddles about and he only scores goals...
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