Rio Ferdinand’s humiliation at the hands of Fabio Capello this week is not only total and deliberate but it should also lead to the 32-year-old defender’s international retirement. After all, Ferdinand’s pride at being made England captain in the wake of John Terry’s affair with Vanessa Perroncel has been shattered at the hand of Capello’s boorish mismanagement. Publicly defenestrated with no just cause, Ferdinand can now achieve little by remaining with the national team.
Capello’s decision to return the England captaincy to John Terry after “a year of punishment” – as the Italian put it – is not only deeply insensitive but threatens to split the England camp. Not every player under Capello’s management, it is said, shares the former AC Milan coach’s predilection for Terry’s peculiarly British form of captaincy.
“One year is enough punishment for anyone,” Capello said on Friday.
“In that time, Terry has come to understand the mistake he made. And I have come to understand the importance of the England captain in this country. Now is time to forgive. From the moment I came in, he was always my number one choice as captain.”
Yet, the crass manner in which the news was leaked to the media without so much as a phone call to the now former England captain is seemingly typical of Capello’s bumbling handling of the England team. That the manager first failed to inform each party of his decision before telling journalists – and as it turns out lying to Ferdinand over the permanent nature of the switch – is grounds for dismissal in itself. It can do little to foster a camp spirit that will take England beyond the severe technical limitations inherent in the squad.
It begs the question of what Ferdinand is likely to gain by adding to his 80 caps in a subservient position to Terry, and under Capello’s unique leadership. England, drawn in a favourable group for Euro 2014 qualification, will surely reach the tournament in Poland and Ukraine only to be knocked out of the tournament at the hands of the first decent outfit it faces. The truth of this predication was amply demonstrated last summer in South Africa – a tournament that Ferdinand was retrospectively fortunate to miss.
Even more importantly Ferdinand should now consider his place in the Manchester United squad as his priority. Indeed, Ferdinand’s position at Old Trafford is devalued by persistent injuries over the past two years. Now into his 30s and beset by ongoing physical problems, Ferdinand would surely do well to follow the lead set by Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs, Dimitar Berbatov and Park Ji-Sung in retiring from the international game. After all, retirement has prolonged the United careers of Scholes and Giggs, and prompted the best campaign of Berbatov’s time at Old Trafford.
Predictably, Sir Alex Ferguson refused to be drawn on the issue when meeting the media at Carrington on Thursday morning. Privately, it is seemingly inconceivable that the 69-year-old United manager will not have raised the spectre of international retirement with Ferdinand.
And while some elements of the nation’s media might position an early retirement as ‘throwing his toys out of the pram’ Ferdinand is well within the bounds of reason to no longer work with Capello on principal alone. Indeed, the former West Ham United player is reportedly deeply insulted with the Italian coaches actions – as he should be.
Yet, far from apologise for his handling of a delicate matter Capello has – quite unbelievably – chosen to lay the blame at Ferdinand’s door, accusing the United defender of not meeting his at Old Trafford following the Reds’ victory over Marseille last Tuesday. It was a meeting that was never formally arranged, according to the player. It’s not for the first time Capello has played fast and loose with the truth some might add.
This, of course, is Capello all over. The man who, under pressure during the World Cup, turned the England hotel into a monkish prison camp, heaping pressure on his players. Capello also chose the post World Cup period to launch another crass invention – the ‘Capello Index’ in which the Italian would publicly rate and slate his players. Then, in a crime perhaps on a par with his humiliation of Ferdinand this week, the coach ‘retired’ David Beckham to the nation’s media without consulting the player himself.
Ferguson would never treat a player in this matter – at least not one that mattered to him. And that is an important point. Capello is not blessed with a swathe of proven defenders in Ferdinand’s class. Indeed, Terry has been repeatedly exposed at international lever, no matter how forceful the British Bulldog bluster.
This fact offers Ferdinand the opportunity to leave the international game with his pride and dignity intact, head held high, self-esteem stronger than ever. The Londoner has fought to build his reputation both as a respected member of the footballing community and a campaigner. For his many faults and mistakes, Ferdinand is worth more than the lack of respect shown by Capello this week.
Ferdinand should never play for Capello, or England again. It would be even better if Rooney walked away in support.
Terry should never have been sacked in the first place it was a private matter. Beckham had an affair with Rebecca Loos while he was England captain but he rightly was not stripped of the captaincy.
Talkssense (sic, surely?!) – Rebecca Loos wasn’t involved with any of Beckham’s teammates, Peroncell was and that’s why it became a footballing matter. The affair led to Wayne Bridge’s early retirement from international football and threatened dressing room harmony.
I’m not a fan of Rio or Terry but a fan of England. In my opinion Capello is stupid. He should have stick with Rio if he was injury free or otherwise he still has capable leader in Gerrard and Lampard. No disrespect to Terry’s footballing qualities but how good Terry can be a leader now when he has lost respect from most of the England players? The squad has supporter of Gerrard and Lampard as well. Do you think they gonna give a shit to Terry? Capello too will loose respect from the players for stripping Rio of his armband. Total stupidity
Couldn’t agree more.
I can understand Rio losing the captaincy though… he’s always crocked these days… but Capello has all the tact of a rapist… he may be a tactical master… personally, I’m not so sure, but what other reason could there be for his appointment… cause his man management skills are right up there with Scholes’ ability to tackle.
Anyway… Rio should tell Capello to fuck off… focus on his club… he’ll get proper summer holidays that he can use to rest up and get ready for what really matters… helping United.
Agreed.
Capello had do a stupid mistake again to reassign Terry be england captain….
Disappointed!
Im surprised Capello keeps fucking up like this. Shocking interpersonal skills…..even if Rio is crocked these days, surely Terry, who is undoubtedly one of the biggest cunts in world football, is also never far from his next injury. I wouldnt even say he’d be a guranteed starter for England. Anyway fuck him and fuck England its for the best if Rio retires from England, follows Giggsy’s lead and uses his spare time to do yoga and play for United for another 3 seasons.
Another example of England FA’s ineptitude. Fabio Capello. The man who doubted David Beckham’s professionalism at Real Madrid.
The man is a fool.
The fact that Fabio has reinstalled Terry as captain again after a hiatus of 1 year proves that he has always felt Terry as a more capable captain than Rio.
The thought of giving Rio the captaincy on a permanent basis never ever crossed Fabio’s mind.
Rio being injured all the time doesn’t help his cause either.
I can understand why Fabio chose Terry as captain even though this was handled in a shoddy manner.
Yeah, fair enough that Rio’s crocked all the time, but why give it back to Terry anyway? His performances are deteriorating in any case, and he was a fucking embarrassment against Germany at the WC. Good national teams will target him as England’s weak point now ffs. If Capello had any sense he’d be looking for replacements for both Rio and Terry, like Fergie already did with Smalling.
bman – at the rate Smalling is progressing he’ll be in the Euro 2014 ahead of Ferdinand anyway. Rio’s played 3 of the last 11 internationals. Should just do the decent thing and knock it on the head.
And besides,we should not forget that Terry was removed as captain for non footballing reasons which was a pretty harsh punishment inflicted by Capello.
Rio on the other hand Rio should consider himself very lucky to be getting a taste of captaincy despite failing a drugs test in the past.
@Ashish
You are a WUM and a fool of the highest order…an ignorant cunt….
Rio never failed any drugs test you idiot….He was just a victim of the FA’s bungling up.
Yeah, you can play for that British Bulldog Captain leader legend cunt, when he’s out shagging his team-mates wife behind their back and using his captaincy to sell his Captain’s quota of seats at Wembley….Terry is a disgrace for a human being and people like you who idolise and him is what is wrong with football and the world in general these days…absolutely no morals whatsoever…
Get your facts right next timw you speak you idiot..
Look on the bright side – let’s hope “JT” (“leader, captain, legend” or whatever it is that the residents of Notting Hill call him) gets all fired up in the match against Wales now that he’s captain again and goes in hard on a 50/50 with Aaron Ramsey, with the result that poor old Aaron gets his leg kicked off again while Terry rips his groin in half…both out for the season…what a dream night that would be for United supporters…and for Mrs Terry…
Hmmm…
What a load of horseshit!
First of all, saying they were “non footballing reasons”… suggests it had NOTHING to do with football… he fucked his team mates missus… what a cunt of a man, nevermind a captain… and you think Capello was “harsh”?
And secondly… Rio didn’t “FAIL a drugs test”… he missed it… by a matter of hours, and then passed it the very next day…
You’re entitled to your opinion, of course… but in MY opinion… you… are a twat!
“Badges, to god-damned hell with badges! We have no badges. In fact, we don’t need badges. I don’t have to show you any stinking badges, you god-damned cabrón and ching’ tu madre! Come out from that shit-hole of yours. I have to speak to you.”
lift Ashish. LIIIIIIIFFFFFTTTT. That was a poor post.
Yeah, KOLO TOURE FAILED a drugs test. Let’s see if the FA can ignore the blood oil money and ban him.
Word. He has to be banned for at least the length of time Rio was.
English cunts.
What a bizarre post
One thing i will guarantee you. Toure will not be treated as harshly as Rio was. But then again we always get preferential treatment dont we according to everyone not a United fan. Its enough to make your ass laugh.
Yeah man with you 100% – if you listen to other fans, all the refs do exactly what Taggart says…
Who gives a feck about England?
Rio could get another quality 3/4 years in if he jacks in playing for those under-performing twats.
BTW, Chelski play the Hammers at Stamford Bridge on 23 April, 2 weeks before Chelski turn up at OT. Let’s all hope Bridgey does us all a favour and elbow-smashes JT in the back of the head when Terry heads up into the West Ham penalty box for a corner.
Also looking forward to “Handshakegate II” – I reckon it will become a semi-annual tradition as Bridgey refuses to shake Terry’s hand at least twice a year (maybe more depending on how the cup fixtures go, or maybe the FA will make it compulsory for Bridgey to change clubs every January to try and maximise the number of times each season that he plays against Chelski)…eventually we’ll all get sick of the wall-to-wall coverage on Sky and JT will let Bridgey shag his missus so we can all move on…
Probably the best move would be to retire at this stage. He needs to solidify his United place at this stage and that should be priority. United are better than England anyway. We should challenge them to a charity match!!
They should have given the capt to Lampard temporarily until Rio got fit. Cappello is a buffoon!
What an unbelieveably stupid decision by Fabio Capello; the England players will be bemused and embarassed by what seems like a backward step; Capello’s credibility was badly damaged by England’s no-show in the World Cup and I think some of the players will have given up believing in him and in England.
Whatever about Rio being injured all the time, Terry is no better and apparently has missed 4 out of the last 6 internationals, same as Rio. England should be looking for a brand new captain and a brand new crop of players; there’s too much dead wood in that side and if they qualify for Euro 2012 I can see them bottling it again!
Ingurland, eh?
Oh right.
Yeah I like them to do well, but as long as our players don’t come back injured and out of form from the disasters that that shower of complete dross seem to produce.
Rio needs to jack it in, and Rooney needs to jack it in too.
I’d be interested in the rantings of Ingurland fans if Rooney did jack it in, by the way. Because they’d be hilarious, bitter and largely hypocritical from the bile spewed at the lad over the last year or so.
Terry WISHED it was private… and he tried to keep it that way didn’t he? Because he knew what everyone would think of him… that “John Terry is mushroom soil”.
Red Devil, you’ve proven yourself to be a biased disgrace. Furthermore, how dare you insult Ashish, a true United fan (plus season ticket holder) like that. It’s people like you that make old trafford such a terrible place these days. Most footballers shag around. It’s just that not everyone gets exposed. I’m surprised bridges ex wasn’t involved in some orgy with the entire Chelsea team to be honest (with Bridge involved). Yes, Terry is a cunt. However, from my experience, all non United fans think the same about Rio. Footballers are not role models. Anybody who labels them as such is frankly irresponsible.
Being a season ticket holder gives you the privilege of saying whatever comes in your mind? What kind of place is England really?
To be fair I do read comments on here after the match, and wonder how many actually go. Actually know where OT is…
I think you will find that children immitate adult behaviour, especially when that behaviour is witnessed in the flesh or via some sort of media.
Players diving on a Saturday will lead to an increase to the same action copied in junior games on a Sunday.
Footballers are paid a large amount of money and they can at least conduct themselves in the right manner. They are the irresponsible ones.
That Ashish is someone else. Not who you think it is!!
LOL pwned
It’s not a private matter when you’re shagging a fellow England team-mate’s partner.
According to a report on the Beebs Football page a source close to Rio has said that he will not jack in his England Career.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/9431805.stm
Should have retired at 28
rio should do what he feels is best for the team – united that is. he should retire from england, get himself fit whislt hopefully winning some more ‘domestic and european’ trophies and then come back when capello has shuffled off to another overpaid post….. possibly the worst england manger of my lifetime.
harry, sort out your taxes and the job is yours!!!
or bring back graham taylor or sven – all is forgiven.
You’re joking Mate… Sven was the worst by a long, long way.
Not even a manager… just an overpaid baby sitter, who was too busy blowing his boyfriend in the pantry, to see that the kids were out in the garage, swiggin dads Bushmills, and playing with matches.
A bit of respect is needed for Sven, because he got England further than an any manager has done since
Well, the team he had should have made the final… best team we’ve had in years.
like sidney says, sven got us to 2 quarter finals. credit where it is due.
the current crop are not good enough, with or without rio…
I disagree. I think the quaters were about right for that team. The game against Portugal was pretty shite as my memory recalls, and then Rooney stamped on Carvalho’s bollocks and got himself sent off. Nothing to do with Ronaldo’s wink of course.
Hi guys, re. Rio and the England captaincy, got a funny little piece that’s just gone on FF about the whole saga:
http://www.footballfarrago.com/2011/03/rant-captain-capellos-mandolin.html
Ferdinand is becoming another Hardgreaves. He does have a recurring spine problem and it could be getting worse. That could be a reason why Capello gave the captaincy back to Terry. Ferdinand spends a lot of time out injured. But the way it has been done, Capello shows no respect for Ferdinand. SAF has also been concerned recently about Ferdinand and he will be 33 years old this year. If he can stay injury free, no need looking for a replacement and once Ferdinand retires, we will need a backup for Smalling.
Who the fuck is Hardgreaves? We’ve been through this several times Herbs!
In fact, that’s BS mate. Rio has managed more than a few minutes in the last two years!!
// once Ferdinand retires, we will need a backup for Smalling //
Stating the obvious… are you Andy Townsend in disguise?
Credit to Sven Goran Erection? Are we losing the plot on here? The bloke was a cabbage
Watching BBC news this morning… they’re doing a piece on football development for kids… the journo, talking to a group of school kids… I can’t remember the question but, the kid answered… “cause Capello’s rubbish”… perfect…
Checkout the USA Today. United are now 590 pounds in debt, up from 566 pounds. It is the leading story today. They claim the debt is higher because we did not sell any players since we last sold Ronaldo for 80 million. Are they now going to start selling players to get out of debt?
“590 pounds” in debt? you were born for this site.
you shld pitch up on the match day threads – bring mongo along too¬
i liked svens sole tactic of going one up early then throwing vassel and heskey on and taking rooney and scholes off
The Glazers published their accounts today. Don’t take my word, go and read the story for yourself. Its now appearing in other newspapers. What will be David Gill’s response? Aso read the FC Business Report.
The story is now all over the London news.
What you doing posting it in here you crazy loon
Why, am I breaking the rules? If so let me know? Are we just to comment on the topic?
Because this is not a thread or sub forum about the Glazers or Finances if you want to comment on the Glazers or whatever either choose a thread in this forum https://www.nqatpod.com/forum/forum/red-knights-glazers-finances or start a new one there.
there are so many shite rules on here, stay on topic, dont be racist etc.
Unapologetic middle aged sexism is still allowed though e.g. the Gray & Keys Martyrs thread
LOL
Since 66, England has consistently proven we’re not good enough to win major tournaments. Christ there’s at least five tournaments that we’ve not even qualified for. Can you name any top 10 teams that England has beaten in the knockout stages since 66?
1. Spain in 1996 – on home soil on penalties.
2. Cameroon in 1990 – hardly top ten, but they were a good team then – albeit with a lot of injuries and suspensions by the time they played England.
There are no others. None. We’ve got to face it that we’re just not good enough. What Sven did is about our upper limit. I’m not saying that the recent England managers have done well in the job, but the remaining constant since about 2004 has been a core of players and they’ve consistently failed at the top level – whoever has been in charge.
Yes we create the odd class player: Gazza, Rooney, Wilshere but the majority are technically and tactically inadequate. We have a fantastic league, but being a good PL player does not mean you are a good international footballer. James Milner just about sums up the English game. A fantastic athlete, but technically woeful. These are the kind of players that are lauded by the idiotic fathers on the touchlines berating kids for trying some skill or a pass as opposed to a hoof forward to run on to. It’s a problem endemic in the sport in this country. Skill, flair and creativity is treated with suspicion. Aggression, athleticism and ‘passion’ are what we Ingerlanders want.
Because of the media’s obsession with who’s captain, Capello has had to nominate Terry. We all know that no other nation does this, but we do it anyway because its part of the tradition of losing we’ve picked up over the years and it would be shame to let that go. Christ, any other top team would have ended Terry’s international career after his absolute shower of a performance against Germany – we’ve just handed him a guaranteed starting place in the team. “Proper fucking lionhart ain’t he”. FFS the last time he was captain we didn’t even qualify for a tournament.
I don’t agree with Brian ‘Wooly’ Woolnough on much, but I think we should scrap the whole thing including a manager on a huge wage and start from scratch. Hart, Smalling, Cahill, Wilshere, Rooney, A Johnson, Carroll are not the future they’re the NOW. All the crumbling former golden generation are international failures and should be put out to pasture. If we’re ever likely to even compete in the future and reach QFs, these younger guys need to get games asafp.
Instead we’ll stumble through to 2012 and then the likes of Gerrard, Lampard, Terry, Barry et al will fail again and we’ll probably force Wilshere out on the left wing – because obviously Gerrard and Lamps are top, top players, right? The media will savage Capello leaving the players’ reputations unharmed.
Yes Rio should definitely retire and let Capello play Terry alongside some random player, for example Bridge.
But what is this all hype about?
What does England captain do anyway?
It is not a spirited role like Keano’s surely.
Or wait. Probably Rio should tear a leaf off Keano’s book.
What was that rant on McCarthy lol?
didn’t Ed close that thread? there was also a homo thread and all my posts got deleted.
danni – the only thread I have closed since the relaunch of Rant nearly two years ago is the Steven Davies thread, for exactly the reason that you’ve just outlined there.
Don’t care for Terry, nor England. Ferdinand should call it a day with England get fit and have a good final 3/4 years at United helping Smalling come of age. This article is worth reading, its slightly off topic but interesting all the same.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/aug/22/john-terry-vanessa-perroncel-sex-scandal?INTCMP=ILCNETTXT3487
It goes some way to demonstrating (not explaining)the peverse logic of the press and people in this country towards its sporting hero’s.
Have a read. On balance it’s unlikely that she or Terry had an affair. The press have recently been scrambling over themselves to apologise in the hope they can reduce costs brought against them regarding the incident. Why are the press so hell bent on ruining things and why do we suck it in and let them. Baffles me! I can’t remember the last time I bought a red top.
the Grays and Keys thread is a classic; on par with Scot the Reds,
“OGS and Scholes is like having two new players”, and
“Fergie dealing with the Italian situation”
way back in the day.
I remember the shit storm when we sold Joe Red, that was also brilliant.Some radical ranting on those classics.
RedDread and UrbanLegend having a flight over Tupac to the point where Urbanlegend left was good.
There was also a spanner who couldn’t handle the heat, wrote some diatribe about us all being wankers labelling us UnitedCunt and then fucked off.
Spike / Robbo – have you got somehwere – that was hiler.
danni – mind you there was some outrageous cyber bullying on the old Rant!
Yep, I myself was a victim
… still have memories of Brian sending me a PM threatening to “touch me” in a private area :0
what an absolute loads of old bollocks from this triggs cunt
But this is true
“It’s a problem endemic in the sport in this country. Skill, flair and creativity is treated with suspicion. Aggression, athleticism and ‘passion’ are what we Ingerlanders want”
Only defensible if Capello named somebody who would start at the nex WC. Neither Terry nor Ferdinand fit that bill. He could have named Rooney. That might have made sense. But Terry? He was awful against Germany…
Unclekiddyfiddler, just because you sit at the back of the spastic bus, doesn’t make you any less of a windowlicker.
yeah, except every time a rooney gascoigne wilshere or hoddle come along theyre treated as saviours
Only to be ultimaely booed, hated and dismissed
None of our most talented players are allowed to play
4 of England’s top 5 players are hated and have been booed regularly by their own fans – Rooney, Terry, Cole & Gerrard
We are the only league in the world who boo skillful players – the greasy, foreign, diving, Ronaldo, Nani, Berba types. We boo them because they are good at football, and we fill the void with bullshit rhetoric about passion and lions and other bollocks
The above comment is ridiculous. England players are only booed if they are playing poorly or have behaved stupidly off the pitch. That’s the fans only form of expressing their feelings, but you would have them silenced in favor of mindless applause, regardless of a player’s form and actions? I don’t want to live in that world. Sorry.
only the foreigners that cheat get booed, if an english players ever cheats he’ll get booed also, but none ever have
That’s bollocks
Why do England fans boo those 4 players then? Have they cheated? Do they dive? No. They boo Rooney because he didn’t perform at the World Cup – not because he dives or cheats. They boo Terry & Cole because the press and the Ingerland mob attach a bullshit sense of morality to the England shirt, which, believe it or not, the players don’t adhere to
I’ve witnessed Hull fans boo & abuse Berbatov at the KC for no other reason than he is good at football. They also used to shout “straight off the boat” whenever Olofinjana’s name was announced, and he used to play for them. so they are pretty fucking low
But yeah, if you look at the Prem, we create physical atheletes before footballers, and as England fans we appreciate work ethic and runaboutalotness over skill & ability
It might have sounded like I meant those 4 players are booed because they are talented. That’s not what I meant. I was just pointing out at how fucking, fucking stupid some England fans are.
SKW, if you’re an England fan then support the team FFS don’t boo. At best just be indifferent. When Terry is in position, let him play by keeping your fucking gobs shut.
Would you boo his every touch in a World Cup Final?
The first time Terry was booed he played a simple 10 yard ball straight out of play, and Brown gave him a look
He initially started playing well after that, but then hit a terrible run of form which lasted months, and should have been dropped. After the embarrassment against Germany, the panel on MOTD (that comprises of Terry’s mates) said he should not be first choice anymore – that’s how bad it got
http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,12040_6834655,00.html
Don’t tell me, that Capello doesn’t have a bias.
This is the respect that Terry gets…
“Capello claims he was ‘upset’ for Terry during the game with Denmark when the captain’s armband was handed out to a number of players while the Chelsea defender watched on.”
—————————————————————————————————————-
And this is what Rio gets…
“Capello said: “It didn’t happen, he didn’t come. He didn’t come.”
Asked why the pair did not meet, he added: “This is a question for him, not for me. I was in the directors’ box.
“I tried to meet him (Ferdinand) when Manchester United played against Marseille but he told me no.”
He’s doing his level best to get sacked. What a cock.
the point of the main article stands. rio should really just quit. i think he likes the publicicty that comes with playing for england, he wants to whore his magazine and stuff.
When asked how it felt to lose his armband Rio Ferdinand said
Braap Braap
That fucking England fans band should be shot. Or at least forced to learn some new tunes.
No rhythm, no grace, no fluidity… much like the England team on the pitch
Brazil have some top music at their games. Those lads can play… lot’s of complex rhythms and what have you
England is now the Tezza show.
Its a circus – it was the Becks show under Swen but look at the political powers Tezza now has.
England will win FUCK ALL. England is not about the football – its about the latest twist in the soap opera.
Its brilliantly entertaining but its not football.
Its about Tezza ordering 6 bottles of “Bolly” in China Whites and getting in the Bizaare section of The Star.
I predict a Wales win
Bellamy get stuck in with the abuse straight away. Cunt
2-0 England game over
“Rio boosts Man Utd with shock return”… this would be nice…
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/3503070/Rio-Ferdinand-boosts-Manchester-United-with-shock-return.html