Rio Ferdinand

Logan!

New Member
Newbie
Joined
Jun 21, 2008
Messages
6,120
An unsung hero. He's been immense in the last two games and his return has coincided with two fantastic performances.

Could maybe have done better for Tevez's goal tonight, but overall it's great to have such a natural leader in the back four again.

He brings a real sense of calm to the defence and his return has also coincided with an upturn in Jonny Evans' form. He looks much more assured when alongside Rio than he does alongside Brown and the whole defence feels more secure with him in it.

Fingers crosses he can stay fit for the remainder of the season because there are some massive games coming up.
 
Agreed, he'll probably miss the next 3 games now though, the bellend.
 
Is Vidic definitely back for the Arsenal game ?
 
Shame he had to be a bit of a twat and get a probable 3 match ban, its clear to a blind man how much stronger and far more composed our defence looks with him in the side.....makes it even more annoying that this ban was totally unnecessary.

Jonny Evans also to me looks a far better defender when hes alongside either Rio or Vidic, tonight he was excellent yet partnered with Brown hes looked a shambles at times, just hope Vidic comes back for Sunday and we don’t miss Rio to badly….
 
Did anyone see Fergie's pre match interview?

I can't remember exactly what he said, but it was something along the lines of "I think he had justification for it(swinging at Fagan)."

There were rumours that Fagan made a comment about Van der Sar's wife. Could this have something to do with that?
 
Logan! said:
Did anyone see Fergie's pre match interview?

I can't remember exactly what he said, but it was something along the lines of "I think he had justification for it(swinging at Fagan)."

There were rumorurs that Fagan made a comment about Van der Sar's wife. Could this have something to do with that?
Click to expand...

He was asked about challenging the charge and he said they were challenging it because he thought they had a case to make against it.
 
R_Nick said:
He was asked about challenging the charge and he said they were challenging it because he thought they had a case to make against it.
Click to expand...

Yeah I know that, I just didn't remember the wording.

It's hard to imagine what case he's going to present to defend whacking someone round the head?
 
Well, I hope the case isn't about Fagan saying something about Edwin's wife. Disgusting as it may be, it won't get him off the hook.

I wouldn't hold my breath. Having a good case is pointless when you are up against the FA. The make up their own rules as they go along. The four games out is not happening, IMO. It'll be three. Some people have jumped to conclusions. It's rare that a player receives an extra match ban. And you do NOT get an extra match ban just for asking an appeal and losing it. It doesn't work that way.
 
In the interview he said they are going to go with that they were jostling and he was being held and he tried to get free and resulted in him fling around and catching Fagan. He said hopefully they'll be reasonable and take that into account

I don't think it will wash with the FA.

But, for me based on that argument and what has been caught on tape, not sure if the FA can prove their case of violent conduct, it's difficult to see. The bias was set ahead of time with the commentators saying a punch by Rio - never was a punch. Eh can always hope but, glad to see Vida back on the bench. Hopefully he is ready for Sunday.

Edit: just listened to SAF again and he mentions that Rio was getting punched.
 
I think he'll have a good chance if he uses the Mascherano against Leeds incident as an example. For me, the incidents were almost identical, yet Mascherano received no punishment.
 
I hope that isn't true that Fagan said something about VDS's wife, if he did he's a despicable little cnut. Not that we didn't already know that.
 
Sir Alex feels optimistic about the outcome. He said: "If it’s a fair hearing then he has a good chance. He was wrestled and punched, all sorts of things happened to him, and he was just trying to wrestle free from it. Unfortunately for us he’s caught him [Fagan] on the back of the head. But we will contest it."
 
Logan! said:
Yeah I know that, I just didn't remember the wording.

It's hard to imagine what case he's going to present to defend whacking someone round the head?
Click to expand...

Sorry I thought you were asking what he'd said. I didn't get the impression he was saying Rio was justified, more that they thought they had a good case against the charge. From what I've heard they are going to argue the inconsistency of the decision from the FA and point to other incidents that have gone ignored.
 
Best defender in the world for me. And the Tevez goal, well he couldn't do much when he was going to head the ball and Tevez swung his boot, right?
 
Amir said:
Well, I hope the case isn't about Fagan saying something about Edwin's wife. Disgusting as it may be, it won't get him off the hook.

I wouldn't hold my breath. Having a good case is pointless when you are up against the FA. The make up their own rules as they go along. The four games out is not happening, IMO. It'll be three. Some people have jumped to conclusions. It's rare that a player receives an extra match ban. And you do NOT get an extra match ban just for asking an appeal and losing it. It doesn't work that way.
Click to expand...

It did for Aliadiere.
 
Yes, Rio was brilliant. Evans also looked much more comfortable and confident playing alongside Rio.

A fully fit and in form Rio Ferdinand will give us a tremendous boost. There's not a better central defender in the world.
 
Solius said:
and Michael Turner.
Click to expand...

That was a ridiculous decision. I don't quite understand these extended bans for wasting their time. Is it not their fecking job to listen to appeals? It seems rather silly to punish people for making them do their jobs.
 
He def is a quality player to have makes the backline look a lot more assured
 
Tumbling-Dice said:
It did for Aliadiere.
Click to expand...

No. Some people are treating this as if appealing and losing the appeal means an automatic extra match ban. It is not, and wasn't in those cases. It's a possibility, but it depends on how good a case we present. Obviously, we'll never really know that.
 
Amir said:
No. Some people are treating this as if appealing and losing the appeal means an automatic extra match ban. It is not, and wasn't in those cases. It's a possibility, but it depends on how good a case we present. Obviously, we'll never really know that.
Click to expand...

Aliadiere's was a joke of a banning anyway (as was Turners) but he received an extra match ban just because Boro appealed it. He just patted Mascherano on the cheek and he went down in a heap.
 
Tumbling-Dice said:
Aliadiere's was a joke of a banning anyway (as was Turners) but he received an extra match ban just because Boro appealed it. He just patted Mascherano on the cheek and he went down in a heap.
Click to expand...

I haven't a clue as regarding to any of the incidents. But you do NOT get an extra match ban just for appealing. You could if your appeal is pointless.

In any case, this really is a weapon that should only be used in extreme cases.
 
Amir said:
I haven't a clue as regarding to any of the incidents. But you do NOT get an extra match ban just for appealing. You could if your appeal is pointless.

In any case, this really is a weapon that should only be used in extreme cases.
Click to expand...

Yes, you are 100% correct there, but what the FA deem as frivolous/pointless is down to interpretation and as we all know that interpretation will be dodgy at the best of times.

This is what happened in the Aliadiere case, taken from Wiki.

Aliadière got a red card in a 23 February 2008 Premier League match against Liverpool, for slapping Javier Mascherano. This sending off of Aliadière (who had previously had his nose squeezed by Mascherano in full view of the referee), and Middlesbrough's consequent appeal being deemed as "frivolous" by Football's governing body, has drawn great debate. Boro's chief executive Keith Lamb labeled the decision a 'travesty of justice' and said "it seems strange that only recently Chelsea's appeal against Michael Essien's three-match ban was rejected but not considered 'frivolous'.... It appears that there is one rule for the big boys and another for the rest of us."

Meanwhile, chairman Steve Gibson stated live on BBC One's Match Of The Day that "I think they are of a level of competence which should not be tolerated at an organisation of that importance." The club received widespread support from (for example) Match Of The Day broadcasters, and fellow premiership manager Harry Redknapp added that "one gets sent off, one doesn't, and then they appeal and he gets an extra game" before continuing that "Middlesbrough felt they had the right to appeal and to give him another game - I think it's scandalous."
Click to expand...
 
Rio was superb last night and it's nice to have that reassuring presence back in the back four. Hopefully he can help us retain some stability in defence and keep fit, as he'll be an integral part of our title challenge if he can.

Good signs though. I was impressed by how well he slotted back into the side against Hull and last night, but I guess that's what top-quality players can do.
 
He wasnt tested too much in the Hull game - for me, he did well in that game, but looked a litttle rusty - though thats to be expected.

Last night we was good, though far from his best.

The biggest thing about having Rio back is that whoever he plays with always plays better. I thought Evans was fantastic last night.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.