Its been 20 years since the kung fu kick

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But even then he was spared from one of his manager's high-velocity rollockings - according to then team-mate Gary Pallister.

'We all wondered how the manager would deal with Eric after that,' the former United defender told the Manchester Evening News.

'He had never had the hairdryer. Virtually everyone else had, but not Eric. We wondered if finally this was it. We expected Fergie to go berserk.

'But he didn't. Hardly anything was said immediately after in the dressing room. We couldn't believe it!'

Pallister also revealed that the Frenchman, who joined United from bitter rivals Leeds, was often a target of abuse from opposition fans.


The Frenchman was banned from football for eight months and ordered to do 120 hours of community service

'Eric was no angel,' he said. 'We all knew that. He had a short fuse and everybody has a breaking point. That night and moment was Eric's.

'But it wasn't just the tackles and shirt pulling he had to deal with that night that pushed him over the edge. It was the culmination of a lot of abuse Eric had to put up with at every ground he went to.

'You wouldn't believe the kind of vile verbal abuse that was directed at him when we arrived at opposition grounds and got off the bus.

'Even when we went to the horse races, Eric couldn't escape it. I remember at one race meeting he was being spat on from a balcony in the enclosure above where we were standing.

'It was no wonder he cracked. For a guy with a short fuse I actually think he showed a lot of restraint up to that point.'

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On the twelfth day of Christmas my true-love gave to me,
Twelve Cantonas,
Eleven Cantonas,
Ten Cantonas,
Nine Cantonas,
Eight Cantonas,
Seven Cantonas,
Six Cantonas,
Fiiiiiiive Caaaaantoooooonaaaaaaas,
Four Cantonas,
Three Cantonas,
Two Cantonas,
And an Eric Cantona.

U-ni-ted, U-ni-ted, U-ni-ted

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