Cristiano Ronaldo must "stand up now and speak" and not wait to lift the lid on his situation at Manchester United, says Gary Neville.
The Red Devils' failure to secure a Champions League berth last season led to reports Ronaldo told the club he wanted to leave just under a year after returning to Old Trafford from Juventus.
A shambolic start to life under Erik ten Hag, which saw an opening home defeat to Brighton and Hove Albion followed by a 4-0 drubbing at Brentford, has only exacerbated the situation.
However, despite being linked with a host of Europe's biggest clubs it appears there are a lack of viable options for Ronaldo with Chelsea and Bayern Munich said to have rejected the chance to sign him, while a potential switch to Atletico Madrid would be wildly unpopular with the club's fanbase due to his status as a Real Madrid legend.
It was even suggested after the humiliating loss to the Bees that United were considering terminating the Portugal great's contract if his attitude does not improve.
Ronaldo teased offering his side of the story in the coming weeks by writing on Instagram: "They know the truth when [sic] interview in a few weeks. Media only speaks lies. I have a notebook and in the last few months of the 100 news that made only five [accurate] hits, imagine how things are."
Ronaldo's former team-mate Neville has urged the 37-year-old not to wait to speak out, with the club in "crisis".
"Why does the greatest player of all time (in my opinion) have to wait two weeks to tell Manchester United fans the truth?" Neville wrote on Twitter.
"Stand up now and speak. The club is in crisis and it needs leaders to lead. He's the only one who can grab this situation by the scruff of the neck!"
Earlier this week, Neville also expressed his fear letting Ronaldo go could see United slump to a bottom-half finish in the Premier League this season if they do not sign reinforcements.
"As I sit here today now, and I think there’s a massive decision to make on Cristiano Ronaldo, I think they’re damned if they do and damned if they don’t,” Neville said on Sky Sports' Monday Night Football.
"Before these two results, I said the best thing to do is facilitate a move for Cristiano and for the club, because he's obviously not happy and the club are not happy with him.
"The problem is now that if they lose him then there's nothing left in terms of goal scoring.
"I genuinely think that if they don't bring players in, in these next couple of weeks, or if they bring poor players in, and he leaves, I genuinely think they could finish in the bottom half of the table. I think it's a bottom half of the table team.
"That's a massive statement and could look stupid at the end of the season.
"They're absolutely demoralised and shot to pieces, I think it's really bad in there. Ten Hag in pre-season had got them to a really confident level, but basically they've gone back to default and the old things have come back."
United host fierce rivals Liverpool on Monday as they aim to quickly inject life into their season.
St. Mirren 1-2 Rangers: Dessers nets winner as Gers keep touch on Celtic
Rangers boosted their Scottish Premiership title hopes as Cyriel Dessers' strike earned a narrow 2-1 win over St. Mirren at the SMISA Stadium on Sunday.
Rangers were ahead with 32 minutes played as Zach Hemming failed to deal with a cross before James Bolton inadvertently put through his own net under pressure from Dessers.
But St. Mirren hit back just five minutes later as Mikael Mandron nodded goalwards, with the ball flying just past the fingertips of Jack Butland before going in off the post to send the teams into the break level.
Rangers needed a response in the second half, and they got exactly that with 18 minutes left to play as Dessers was left with far too much space in the middle to head James Tavernier's cross into the back of the net.
The hosts huffed and puffed for another equaliser but ultimately could not find one as Rangers held on for three much-needed points that move them level with leaders Celtic but with an inferior goal difference, leaving them second ahead of Celtic's visit to Dundee later on Sunday.
St. Mirren, meanwhile, remain fifth in the Scottish Premiership table.
Al-Khaleej 0-1 Al-Nassr: Ronaldo misfires on return as Laporte nets winner
Cristiano Ronaldo returned from suspension but failed to find the net as Al-Nassr secured a 1-0 win over Al-Khaleej on Saturday, with Aymeric Laporte coming up with the decisive goal.
Ronaldo was in action for the first time since being sent off for an elbow in a 2-1 Saudi Super Cup loss to Al-Hilal earlier this month, with his initial two-match ban being reduced to one on appeal.
He missed three good chances as Al-Nassr threatened to fall further behind runaway Saudi Pro League leaders Al-Hilal, but former Manchester City defender Laporte spared his blushes by nodding Marcelo Brozovic's deep free-kick into the bottom-left corner with 68 minutes gone.
Al-Nassr remain nine points adrift of Al-Hilal at the summit in spite of their win, with Jorge Jesus' team unbeaten through 28 games this season as they close in on a record-extending 18th title.
Data Debrief: Ronaldo misfires on return
Ronaldo was presented with the Saudi Pro League's Player of the Month award for March ahead of kick-off, having scored four goals in three league appearances last month.
However, his sights were off on Saturday as he failed to net despite three of the visitors' four big chances, as defined by Opta, falling his way. He led all players on the pitch for expected goals (1.27 xG), shots (five), shots on target (three) and touches in the area (nine) without reward.
Huddersfield all but relegated from Championship while League Two play-off spots decided
Huddersfield Town saw their relegation from the Championship all but confirmed after a 1-1 draw with fellow strugglers Birmingham City on Saturday.
The Terriers avoided a defeat that would have seen them relegated on Saturday, but even a win on the final day over promotion hopefuls Ipswich Town will not be enough unless they overcome a huge goal difference of 15 goals with Plymouth Argyle.
Birmingham remain in the other relegation place and now must beat Norwich City to stand a chance of staying up with Sheffield Wednesday, Plymouth and Blackburn Rovers also still in danger.
At the other end of the table, the Canaries dropped points in a 2-2 draw with Swansea City, leaving the door open for Hull City, who face Ipswich Town later today.
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