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Posts Tagged ‘anton ferdinand’

In the tone that an underworld criminal might use to refer to a fellow gangster, ‘We’ll deal with it, don’t you worry,’ were the words Sir Alex Ferguson used when referring to Rio Ferdinand, and his latest cause of controversy. The irate manager has opened a debate on whether his comments were justly or not, on a weekend when other Premier League managers supported their players who opted against promoting the Kick It Out campaign.

Opting Out: Rio choosing to ignore his manager and not wear Kick It Out t-shirt against Stoke City

Throughout his career at Old Trafford, Ferguson has been known for his man-management – the ability to deal with high profile players and the determination not to let any player become bigger than the club. His attitude has not come without trouble in the past. Stories of boots being thrown around the Manchester changing rooms have been well published. Ruud van Nistelrooy soon left United after a training ground row with Ronaldo and Roy Keane was shown the door following his criticism of younger players at the club. On the whole though, players who play for United know the score and they know the manager is not to be disrespected.

So how should, or more importantly, how will Sir Alex Ferguson react to this latest tension around the club?

Rio Ferdinand, one of a number of players who refused to support the Kick It Out campaign this weekend, is perhaps closer to the issue than anyone else. After all it was his younger brother, Anton, who was victim of racial abuse from John Terry twelve months ago, Terry who was given a minimal punishment of a four game ban this week. With recent events in Serbia with Danny Rose experiencing racial abuse when playing for England U21’s, and the cases of Patrice Evra and Anton Ferdninand over the last year, fears that this stain on the game is not completely abolished have been heavily sparked.

Club problems: A red-faced Ferguson shows his anger at Rio’s decision

So Rio’s view, along with players like Jason Roberts and Joleon Lescott, is clear, he does not feel the Kick It Out campaign is doing enough to abolish racism in football. An opinion entitled to him. The problem the defender faces is that Ferguson made it clear to Friday’s press that all players would be wearing the campaign’s t-shirts. Either a break-down in communication between manager and player has occurred, or Mr Ferdinand simply stood by his views and ignored Ferguson, either way it has left Sir Alex red-faced and Ferdinand no doubt facing disciplinary action, formal or not.If this wasn’t enough for the English defender, then a shaky performance in United’s defence would not have helped his situation. The 33-year-old was at fault for Stoke’s second goal in Saturday’s 4-2 win when he let midfielder Michael Kightly ease through the centre of Manchester United’s defence.

As well as all of this, his contact expires at the end of this season; do not expect renewal talks to be imminent.

What’s your view on the Rio/Ferguson saga? Who was right, who was wrong, and what actions should now be taken?

Written by Alfie Long. See more of his work at: pitchsidetalk.wordpress.com or follow him on twitter @pitchsidetalk
 
Edited by Charlie Cook @charlie_cook09
 
Thoughts and comments welcome, all support appreciated!

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The pre-game handshakes should be scrapped

John Terry looks longingly at Anton Ferdinand after the he refuses to shake his hand.

PFA chairman Gordon Taylor suggested yesterday that the row over Anton Ferdinand’s refusal to shake John Terry’s hand could descend into a “Mafia feud”. Having watched the Sopranos I know what a Mafia feud looks like, and this is not about to become one. However, it is rather pathetic that we end up spending half the weekend talking about a handshake, or the lack therof, rather than another brilliant weekend of Premier League football.

These pre-game handshakes have caused more trouble than they are worth. First we had Terry v Bridge, then Evra v Suarez and now Terry again v Anton Ferdinand. Next weekend, we are going to have to go through the whole sorry debace again as Evra and Suarez come face to face. The PFA should have a look at how it’s done in the world of rugby and cricket. In rugby, they belt eachother relentlessly for 90 minutes but at the end of the game the mutual respect is clear. Whatever kicks, punches and eye gouges that are suffered stay on the pitch and that’s it. Similarly in Cricket, they sledge eachother and compete fiercly for 5 days but will sit down in the changing room at the end of the match and have a beer together.

They should scrap the handshake and let the players, who are grown up enough to do so, shake hands at the end of the game. This way, it doesn’t give them the opportunity to ruin what we are all actually all there to see, the football.

How long is it going to take to implement the obvious?

Anichebe’s disallowed goal against Newcastle last night

Ever since Frank Lampard had a goal disallowed in the 2010 World Cup quarterfinal, it has been clear, especially in the Englishman’s mind, that goal-line technology needs to be introduced. So, why hasn’t anything been done about it? Unfortunately, last night another fantastic game was marred by a poor decision that could have been easily rectified with it’s introduction. If Anichebe’s goal had been given Everton would have gone 2-1 up with 10 minutes to play against Newcastle.

There is an argument that says football is unique amongst sport because it is the same from the professional ranks all the way down to your average Sunday league kick about, but it no longer makes sense to not use the resources that are available. Enough is enough, the sooner it is introduced the better. Then we can get back to talking about football and what an enthralling match it was on Monday night.

Southampton are not as bad as they look

Rickie Lambert celebrates his goal against Manchester City with Southampton captain Adam Lallana

Southampton are stuck at the foot of the table with no points, but they have played both Manchester clubs and Arsenal and we are only four games into the season. Very few teams would have come out of those games with anything to show for it. It is fair to say that their loss at home to Wigan was the big disappointment, but the performances against the two sides from Manchester suggests they have a lot to give to this season. They were 3 minutes away from victory against Manchester United, and 2-1 up at The Etihad against City only to be beaten 3-2 in both.

They have a young side, with bags of talent. Jason Puncheon and England call-up and captain Adam Lallana terrorised Manchester United from the flanks. Top scorer in The Championship last season, Ricky Lambert has shown that he has the quality to score goals against the big boys with strikes against United and City. 22 year old Morgan Scneiderlin who signed for Southampton in 2008 despite interest from Arsenal and Chelsea, has represented France from U16 up to U21 level. He is a calm head in the middle of park and combined with 17 year old James Ward-Prowse who has started every game this season they look like an exciting young duo. Gaston Ramirez is still to be added to the midfield so they have enough good attacking players to trouble many teams. Nigel Adkins will have to temper his teams attacking instincts with a bit of defensive stability before they can truly flourish, but expect a lot more from Southampton in the coming weeks.

Just one final thought…

Last week we mentioned that Stoke’s run of draws may be worth a punt and they came up with the goods against Manchester City holding on for a 1-1 draw. This week, that run could well end. Stoke have a poor record at Stamford Bridge having conceded 10 in the last 3 seasons and scoring none, so expect a comfortable Chelsea win.

Elsewhere, Manchester United have not won in the League at Anfield since 2007 and Wigan have not beaten Fulham since 2006, both could be worth a dabble.

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