"Kick It Out", England's leading anti-racism organisation, according to the Grauniad, is considering issuing a statement condemning Hodgson for his handling of the Ferdinand 'affair'. Why stop there? The FA should explain why Kark Henry, Nigel Reo-Coker, Wes Brown, Jermain Beckford and Brendan Batson, among many others, have been left out too. And David N'Gog as well, left out on the spurrilous reasons that he's 'Not English'! That old standby... Then again, maybe their club managers also said they're no longer able to play two games in four days? Fascists...
There's no evidence of racism except for Rio X's suspicisions, the clamour of single-issue race-relations groups and the mendacious opportunism of the gutter press that Roy and the FA are guillty of anything they're accused of: surely then they should promply assemble an 'independent' panel to investigate themselves? We know how fair they are....
As John Barnes said Ferdinand should just accept he's over the hill and not part of Woy's bwight Engwand future.
At the risk of making this into a serious thread... Does anyone else think that Rio's omission was out of Hodgson's hands...? The FA overruled Capello in stripping the captaincy from Terry. IMO, this was an effort to show the public that they were taking the issue seriously but not removing their beloved John Terry from the England setup. Then, in conjunction with Chelsea, they requested for the Terry-Ferdinand court case to be delayed until after the seasons end, obviously including the Euro's as part of the 2011-12 season. Plus, Roy Hodgson is a known yes man, hence Hicks (****) and Gillette (****) being keen on him at Liverpool. IMO, the FA have ruled that Terry should go to the Euro's and Hodgson has not selected Rio to avoid disharmony in the squad because he is that yes man and likes to keep things very simple.
This may be an unpopular view, but I believe it was a political decision, rather than a purely footballing one.
Well, I was being a bit sarky, but even so I don't think everyone has the same view. Some believe Rio should accept he was dropped because he's over the hill, but if that was the case then half the squad wouldn't get a look in. It's just the FA taking the line of least resistance again.
A west London magistrate granted JT time to complete his club season and represent his country in the Euros after requests from Chelsea and the FA. That was in january and he must have had to provide written evidence of his being chosen for the England squad,if not the magistrate would have set the trial date for the week after the CL final.
Yeah, i realise that. I meant the FA have told Hodgson to select Terry after getting the court case was postponed.
This whole thing has been handled poorly from start to finish. My opinion all along has been you either keep Terry as captain and in the team or you ban him from playing for his country until the court case is over. The FA basically said you can be a possible racist and still play for your country you just cant captain it.
Yep,i was agreeing with you GCOS,the FA have been involved in 'covert' actions for years and this is just one case they couldn't disguise. As has been stated in other threads Suarez was treated like a leper by the FA,yet in contrast JT has been wrapped in cotton wool by them.
IMO the fa/roy took the best option. prior to the selection the overwhelming notion was that rio and terry would be an awkward combination especially after rio's refusal to shake our #7. if u were the manager who would you pick of the two? terry for me.
Gotta feel sorry for Kelly in all of this whining from Ferdinand,the 'press' have put him and his career stats under the microscope to further their cause to get at Hodgson.
I know it's all a matter of opinion, but I just think differently. Rio is an over-the hill whiney manc who looks like Joseph Goebbels but John Terry is John Terry- which is much worse imo.
Terry is a better player than Ferdinand. Terry is fitter than Ferdinand. Ferdinand hasnt had a cosistant season for 2 years now. Fergie publicly told Hodgson that Ferdinand wasnt in good shape for the Euro's. In fact. Why has no one considered this. Ferdinand was left out because Fergie didn't want him picked. What Fergie wants, Fergie gets when the FA is involved. That is all there is.
