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Jamie Carragher says Marcus Rashford ‘was never the saint he was made out to be’ as he credits his ‘inner circle’ for ‘PR around him’… and suggests Man United ‘won’t win anything big’ with under-fire star as their best player

  • Marcus Rashford has endured a miserable season for Manchester United
  • He was fined two weeks wages for his boozy night in Belfast 
  • Will Sir Jim Ratcliffe dip into his pockets to sign players for Manchester United? It’s All Kicking Off Transfer Week podcast 

Jamie Carragher believes Marcus Rashford was never ‘the saint he was made out’ to be in the wake of his ’12-hour tequila bender’ in Belfast last week and that he’s not the player capable of leading Manchester United back to the top of English football.

The England international called in sick on Friday and was subsequently fined £650,000 – two weeks wages – when details of his boozy antics emerged.

Rashford was ‘clearly on a mission to get drunk’, according to accounts of his night out in the Northern Irish city, and collapsed into bed fully-clothed at 3am.

While the United forward has since accepted responsibility for missing training last week, Carragher suggested the incident was not entirely surprising. 

‘I don’t ever believe he was this saint that he was made out to be, and this inner circle, I think they have done a great job with Marcus – there was a lot of PR around him,’ he said speaking on the Stick to Football podcast, sponsored by Sky Bet

Marcus Rashford is enduring a miserable season at Manchester United and was fined two weeks wages after missing training last week

Marcus Rashford is enduring a miserable season at Manchester United and was fined two weeks wages after missing training last week

Jamie Carragher believes the Man United forward was never 'the saint he was made out' to be in the wake of his '12-hour tequila bender' in Belfast

Jamie Carragher believes the Man United forward was never ‘the saint he was made out’ to be in the wake of his ’12-hour tequila bender’ in Belfast

‘It put him as if he was this guy that was almost going to save the world, when he’s just a young lad from Manchester, with a few quid and is a brilliant footballer.’ 

His decision to skip training is alleged to have angered his team-mates with one source saying: ‘They couldn’t believe that he would do that given the situation the club is in.’ 

United boss Erik ten Hag declared over the weekend he ‘would deal’ with the issue and seemed determined to draw a line under the matter with his side playing at Wolves on Thursday night.

Asked on Wednesday if Rashford’s behaviour showed a lack of respect towards his manager, Ten Hag said: ‘Nothing to do with that with me but in football, you need discipline and that is on the pitch but also off the pitch. 

It is the second time this season he has upset Ten Hag by going to a nightclub – and it is thought the club have been worried about him since autumn 2021. 

Ten Hag criticised him for partying on his 26th birthday hours after losing to Manchester City back in October.

The two incidents prove a stark contrast to the image Rashford has developed over the past few years, when he received an MBE for his role in campaigning against child poverty.

First spearheaded on a mass scale during the 2020 Covid-19 lockdown, Rashford’s partnership with food waste charity FareShare and usage of his platform to raise awareness for his campaign saw over £20million raised to support children who were missing out on free school meals. 

Rashford was pictured walking down a flight of steps at the night club with several members of his party

The forward was subsequently pulled away from cameras he walked into the bar

Rashford had been seen entering Belfast night club Thompsons Garage earlier on this week

Rashford went on a 12-hour bender in Belfast on Thursday after being out previous day too

Rashford went on a 12-hour bender in Belfast on Thursday after being out previous day too

The United forward later lobbied UK government on the issue of child poverty and his campaigning helped force a Conservative U-turn on the extension of free school meals during the summer holidays. 

In September 2020, Rashford set up the Child Food Poverty Task Force, an organisation made up of a number of UK charities and businesses with a view to ensuring the aims of his campaign were met. 

His work also prompted the government to pledge over £400m in a winter grant scheme in late 2020 to offer support with food and bills. 

Speaking on the same podcast, Roy Keane echoed Carragher’s stance.

‘I don’t think he [Marcus Rashford] was ever that perfect. The stuff he was doing off the field, which he gets a lot of credit for,’ he said.

‘I never thought he had some halo above his head, but I also don’t think for one minute that he’s some sort of nasty lad. 

‘I think he’s certainly made a few mistakes very close to each other. The profile of Manchester United, the fact United are struggling, he’s an easy target – his decision-making currently is obviously not very good.’

Rashford’s struggles off the pitch have mirrored his poor form on it,  


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