HAVING seen a Eurosport clip of Eric Cantona singing Don’t Cry for Me Argentina beforehand, I was a bit trepidatious about what to expect from An Evening With Eric Cantona at The Lowry.

Has he really become a buffoon? Has he transformed into a cartoon of his former self? Has he fallen victim to vanity and showboating?

Happily, this was not the case. Instead, he came across as a modest, slightly embarrassed, humorous and sometimes shy man.

I was expecting a cryptic, enigmatic figure of myth but what I encountered was an engaging conversationalist who could hook your interest even without discussing football.

He has been touring the show for some time now and, despite the best efforts of some over-emotional fans to shout out questions, the interviewer asks him the same questions at all the venues.

Considering this, Cantona managed to seem spontaneous and authentic, giving careful consideration to the unadventurous questions he’s been asked many times before.

Would he accept the manager’s job at Old Trafford?

“Of course. You would see wonderful football for sure.”

What does he think of Phil Neville’s management abilities?

“He’s a good pundit”.

On Mourhino, he said: “I think he is a great manager but I’m not sure if the fans want to see that kind of football…we want to win in a good way through creative football.”

Asked what he thinks United could win this season, he drew laughter by replying: “Friendly games”.

What was apparent, was how much he respected and admired Alex Ferguson’s style of management.

And it was impressive to hear how modest he was about his own talents.

“I never feel that I can be successful, I just have to work hard…I don’t know why they love me, and I don’t want to know why. If you understand why, it’s over.”

Similarly, he wouldn’t be drawn on his best goal, preferring instead to talk about his best pass.

“It’s a team game,” he said. “I say to my nine-year-old son when he’s playing football: ‘Give a pass that you’d dream of receiving’.”

Interestingly, he has been a film actor for longer than he was a footballer, having made around 30 films, most recently in China and Croatia.

“I love many things. I have many passions. I am lucky,” he said, before recounting his lines, “I’m not Father Christmas” and “Where are my socks” in fluent Chinese and Croatian.

It was fascinating to hear him explaining how he is the grandchild of refugees – his maternal grandparents spent two years living in a camp after fleeing Franco’s Spain.

Family is clearly very important to him and he cited his parents as his biggest influence (along with Johan Cruyff).

If he wasn’t Eric Cantona, he said he would like to be Banksy, “a great genius”, and posited: “Maybe I am Banksy. And maybe Banksy thinks he is Eric Cantona.”

It turned out that Banksy would be one of his three people he would choose to have his last meal with, the other two being Alex Ferguson (“a man of humility and humanity”) and Ken Loach.

Loach, of course directed him in Looking For Eric, and Cantona delighted fans by repeating his famous line from the 2009 film.

He also treated them to “The Seagull Speech”.

That, of course, came about because of his violent physical assault on a member of the public.

“I really enjoyed it. My one regret is I would have liked to have kicked him even harder,” he said, to a round of applause.

At one point during the evening he explained: “I never wanted to be an example to anybody, in football or life.”

Perhaps buried in this was the message to fans: “Don’t try to be me. Be yourself.”