I have to say that I find it a bit rich that Fergie will 'have to deal with' Rio Ferdinand for refusing to wear the Kick It Out T-shirt yesterday. In what way exactly has he embarrassed Old Purple Nose Blotch Man and Manchester United? Isn't this the same Sir Alex Ferguson that refused for a good many years to fulfil his obligations to provide interviews to the BBC because he was offended by accusations made in one of their documentaries? Given that the campaign is all about respect, shouldn't the Gorbals Guvnor respect Ferdinand's displeasure at the impotence of the KIO movement and perhaps instead challenge his central defender to come up with something more potent? It is also interesting to contrast Old Karl Malden Hooter's reaction to that of Matt Lucas... sorry, Brian McDermott at Reading, who gave suppport to his Jason Roberts for taking a similar stance. [Having said all this, the cynic within me says that initiatives such as the Respect campaign, KIO and pre-match handshakes are pathetic sticking plasters placed over wounds in the game that demand far more decisive treatment. That it took over a year to conclude the John Terry controvery, via both criminal and FA (in)action, was appalling and allowed the sickness in the stands around the country to fester such that Anton Ferdinand (though no angel, given the sledging he has admitted to himself) has been subjected to unwarranted abuse that possibly would not have been quite so severe had the matter been dealt with more swiftly and decisively.]
Such decisions are personal and should always be left to the individual concerned. Fergie is really setting himself up for some serious problems if he does take disciplinary action over this and I hope the media are prepared to shoot him down in flames, somehow I think the old c*nt will regret it...
Fergie's insulting us all coming on TV drunk to comment on racism. It's up to the Black players to do what they feel is right, other managers had the good grace and intelligence to leave it up to the individuals. Respect to the Reading manager on this.
£220,000 fine reported. I don't think we've heard the last of this. Rio may be on his way out of ManU, I think. Be interesting to see how it affects the other players at that club
Ferguson has got this wrong. He is annoyed that rio has defied his instructions but how can he understand a black player's feelings over racism in the week when the England team was racially abused and Chelsea support terry despite accepting him making racist comments and keep him as club captain Laudrap was correct in stating it's an individual's choice to back the campaign, you can't force people to comply especially as footballs track record on the subject is appalling
He should go to the PFA if thats true. It would be a disgrace if that happened. He cant see the the players refusing to wear the t shirts has bough racism and the lack of action to be the top story. Thats exactly what the players wanted, not to have it swept under the carpet. The only one who embarrasses Man U is the old git who does it on a regular basis.
Surely it's any player's right to refuse to wear the shirt if they feel the group is ineffective, not just the black ones? What would be interesting to see is if Anton refused to wear it today (or next weekend if that's the game the club have chosen to do it) what the media reaction would be to a white Sunderland player refusing to in support of their former team mate and friend.
So Fergusson thinks he has the right to make players support whatever politically correct group he wants? IMHO if some black players are not happy with the innefective Kick It Out campaign they have every right to ignore it. The campaign is very well intentioned but unfortunately those in charge at the FA underimined it when they delayed (maybe deliberately) the Terry investigation. This wouldnt have been so that he could play in an international tournement would it? Wearing a T shirt wont defeat racism, it needs leadership and moral courage, something that Rio clearly has and the FA lack.
I thought about that, a white player could be more effective as the media would love the story on that but the only player that would do it is Terry! I will be keeping an eye out to see what Park does as he refused Terrys hand 3 times when we played them so obviously he feels strong about it.
"He'll be dealt with, don't worry about that", says Alex. The lawyers will have some fun with this, if he tries it on. If I recall Alex made a similar xxxx up when he attempted to take on the Coolmore operation. They made a little boy of him and it'll happen again with this.
It will turn nasty if he does anything. Also, the entire Swansea and Wigan teams refused to wear the t shirts yesterday and the top 3 stories in the BBC football section are about racism. It clearly worked.
He's such a pissed up alchie he thinks he's untouchable. Owners should kick him out he's an embarrassment to their club. Shame on the old fool.
I agree. I don't know in what way Fergie can "deal with him". He has a choice and was not contractually obliged to wear the shirt.
I've actually been thinking about this. Someone said KIO was a PFA thing rather than an FA thing. In which case Ferdinand (assuming he's a PFA member) is actually wrong to refuse to wear it. If you join a union, which the PFA is then you're doing it so that you can as a group support causes/other members on the basis that if you are wronged the union will use it's strength and resources to help you in return. Once you're in a union your individual view is only relevent when members are being balloted about things, if the union has decided a cause should be supported then all members should support it regardless of their personal view. And for the benefit, I'm not some pro-union person just using it to bash Ferdinand. Due to that loss of independent thought (and having seen the likes of Bob Crowe are the people who lead them) I'm anti-union and have never voluntarily joined one (as a student I'm automatically a member, the PFA though you have to pay fees so it's voluntary). Either way it's not SAF's job to "deal with" it.
