Cantona: Forever the enigma
Cantona the funny man also craves to be creative
There does seem to be a curse over the post of England football manager.
Shame, humiliation, worst day in history… the same strong words that were used just before Roy Hodgson left the position cropped up again this past week, as Sam Allardyce was sacked.
The English FA are once again on the hunt for a new manager and they said this: "We will be looking for the best person for the job, not necessarily the best Englishman."
Manchester United legend Eric Cantona, who memorably christened himself the "self-appointed Commissioner of Football" during Euro 2016, had also made a hilarious pitch for the England manager's post back then.
He was in Singapore on Wednesday to promote the Hautlence Vortex Primary watch that he helped design, and perhaps because of his travel schedule, didn't know about the Allardyce scandal, and even asked this reporter: "He died?"
Or maybe that's just the way of the "King", who captured the attention of the world when he led Man United to four league titles in five years wearing an upturned collar before stunning everyone when he suddenly announced his retirement in 1997.
In an exclusive interview with The New Paper, Cantona confirmed that the Eurosport sketch he was involved in, where he pledged to take on the England job, and "take Sir Alex Ferguson as my special adviser and my good friend Peter Schmeichel for the assistant job", was not for real.
A JOKE
"That was a joke. I don't want to be a manager, but you never know. After all, more than 300,000 voted #CantoYes. That's 95 per cent of votes," said a smiling Cantona, casually drinking his red wine.
"If I do become a manager, I want to be a creator, I don't want to be like any other manager.
"I want to create something unique, like Ajax in the '70s with Johan Cruyff and Manchester United in the '90s.
"It could be successful, or maybe not, but it must be different."
Providing an insight into his mind, Cantona drew reference from the watch he helped design, and provided some hints as to why he may still return to football.
He said: "For the Vortex Primary, I started with the concept of a cage, as we are in a way prisoners of time. Also, the idea of making the watch with primary colours is interesting, because by combining primary colours, you can make thousands of other colours.
"There is an element of freedom in that, and I see it as escaping from the cage. To be able to escape is a great feeling.
"All my life it has been like this. After finding something to do, I always want to do something else."
Indeed, after hanging up his boots in 1997 at the age of just 30, Cantona went on to act, direct, make a cameo appearance in a rock album, design and sculpt. He also managed the French team that won the 2005 Beach Soccer World Cup, in which he also played and scored.
He added: "Creativity is a necessity for me. Sometimes I get paid for it, sometimes I'm not. But I'm very lucky that I've always had the opportunity to express myself ever since I was a kid, and that I'm surrounded by crazy people and geniuses.
"The possibility to create something has always appealed to me. I can be inspired by a painter, a sculpture, the man on the street or even just light itself. It keeps me curious and observant and it makes me feel alive."
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