It would be fair to say that there has been plenty of media attention focussed on Rio Ferdinand and Sir Alex Ferguson this week, after the United defender seemingly angered his manager after failing to wear a Kick It Out T-shirt prior to the weekend game against Stoke. However, the situation now appears to have completely turned on its head, with Ferguson claiming that the incident is in the past and he wants the former England captain to remain at Old Trafford for the considerable future.
Ferguson was clearly seething following the victory over Stoke on Saturday, after reporters asked him his opinion on Ferdinand’s decision not to wear the T-shirt that the vast majority of Premiership footballers had worn. It was only one day previously that Ferguson had questioned the stance of Reading’s Jason Roberts who had openly said he wasn’t going to wear one, so to see one of his own players do the exact same was certainly embarrassing.
However, despite his anger, Ferguson has since stated that he has discussed the situation with his defender and claims that both parties are satisfied with what has been said. Following on from that, he has given his views on a possible new deal for the former Leeds man.
He said, “Rio can play for two or three years. He has different issues from Paul (Scholes) or Ryan (Giggs) in terms of injuries over the last couple of years. He is not as quick as he was but that is not a big problem because his experience is important. He is still a great footballer and, even at 33, there is no reason why he can’t stay on. We have always adopted that policy of offering one-year contracts, so we will see as the season progresses. I didn’t even realise his contract was up. You are making me panic.”