Viv Anderson Claims Rio Wrong

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Former Manchester United defender Viv Anderson has claimed Rio Ferdinand was wrong to go against manager Sir Alex Ferguson and refuse to wear a Kick it Out T-shirt ahead of Saturday's Premier League encounter with Stoke.

Ferdinand was United's only outfield player not to wear the shirts during the warm-up, with skipper Patrice Evra putting one on despite his recent spat with Luis Suarez.

A visibly angry Ferguson said the incident was "embarrassing" afterwards given he said on Friday all his players would be wearing the shirts and stated ominously that the matter would be dealt with - "don't worry about that".

It is difficult to see what financial sanction could be imposed in such circumstances, which instead points to a private dressing down for undermining Ferguson's authority.

Yet Ferdinand clearly feels passionately enough about the situation to stand his ground, which raises the potential for future problems.

Ferguson is not one for backing down in such situations, so evidently some delicate discussions lie ahead.

But Anderson, who became England's first black international when he played against Czechoslovakia in 1978, does not feel the United manager should have been put in such a position.

"I don't agree with Rio," Anderson told MUTV. "You can see the manager was fuming and clearly he didn't know anything about it.

"He expects his senior boys to set an example. He is the manager. If he says we are all doing it together, it should be the end of the story.

"But Rio has gone the other way. I don't see where he is coming from and I don't know what it is going to achieve."

Anderson suffered awful racial discrimination, at a time when it was commonplace for bananas to be hurled at players from the terraces.

Such occurrences do not happen in England these days.

However, there is clearly annoyance with the Football Association for what is perceived to be the lenient manner in which John Terry has been dealt with over his racist taunt at Rio's brother Anton Ferdinand.

And just days after England Under-21 star Danny Rose was subjected to fearful abuse in Serbia, Anderson feels it is time for the game's authorities to clamp down hard.

"Uefa or whoever the governing body are should be more stringent with the fines," he said. "Some of the fines are bordering on being pathetic.

"The Kick it Out campaign is very good. They are doing their best to alleviate this problem. But it has to come from a higher source.

"Rio has made his point but it is the higher echelons, people like (United chief executive) David Gill, who are on all these committees.

"In one instance the fine was £40,000. It is a nonsense. If it was millions the associations would soon react to it and say we don't want these people in the grounds.

"With CCTV we could have them out completely."

Anderson's issue with Ferdinand's refusal to wear a T-shirt yesterday is that it breaks a collective attitude amongst the players which he believes is the only way to get genuine progress.

"The Kick it Out campaign has the backing of the PFA and the LMA, and it is through them that you make your point," he said.

"You have to stick together. It can't be fragmented. If it's not working, you do something about it. But we haven't got to that stage yet."

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Hodgson Apologises to Rio Ferdinand

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Roy Hodgson has apologised to Rio Ferdinand after discussing the defender's England future with London Underground passengers.

The England coach admitted he told commuters that the Manchester United defender would not be in his latest squad, a day before it was announced.

But he denied saying Ferdinand's England career was over.

Hodgson said: "I'm disappointed that a story like that came out and I apologise to him."

On Thursday morning the Daily Mirror reported details of Hodgson's exchanges with passengers as he travelled to watch Arsenal play Olympiakos in the Champions League on Wednesday.

"I have to say it is over for him and England. It has got to be the end of the road," Hodgson was quoted in the paper as saying.

But Hodgson, speaking at an England news conference, said: "Of course I didn't say that Rio's career was over.

"What I remember saying is talking to quite a lot of people on the tube, and one guy said, 'Is Rio in the next squad?', and I think I might have said 'I don't think so'. But I think that's about as far as I went.

"But I shouldn't say that of course. That's a mistake and I need to apologise for that.

"But this is one of the hazards I suppose of travelling on tube trains which is the best way for me to come into London - and then speaking to people on the tube train who ask me questions rather than sitting there tight-lipped refusing to ever open my mouth.

"I've paid for it. I shall learn in future, and maybe this will be a lesson for all those people who see me on the tube.

"Please don't be too offended if I refuse to answer any questions you ask me."

Hodgson said he had tried to speak to Ferdinand since the story was published. "I will apologise to him because there's no way I would ever indicate I wasn't going to use a player in that way," he said.

"But the thing is, I didn't choose him in the squad this time, and it's for the same reasons as before. We have other players, but certainly I'm not suggesting it's the end of the line.

"I would never dream of telling a player when its the end of the line or whatever I'm supposed to have said. That's up to the player to decide for himself, and hopefully that won't be the case.

"When I speak to him I'll make it clear I haven't selected him - who knows if I will select him in the next one - but it would be up to him whether he wants to be a part of it or not."

Ferdinand, who has won 81 caps, last played for England in June 2011 and was left out of the Euro 2012 squad for "footballing reasons" .

The following month England team-mate John Terry was cleared in court of racially abused Ferdinand's brother Anton.

Following Terry's international retirement, ahead of a Football Association disciplinary hearing last week, there was speculation that Ferdinand, 34, could return.

Ferdinand made his England debut in 1997 and has played in three World Cups, representing his country under five different managers.

On Wednesday it was announced that Stoke defender Ryan Shawcross, Everton's Phil Jagielka, Chelsea's Gary Cahill and Joleon Lescott of Manchester City are the central defenders named in Hodgson's squad for next week's World Cup qualifiers with San Marino and Poland.

Rio Ferdinand's England Career

Born : 8 November, 1978

1997: Makes England debut v Cameroon at Wembley

1998: Named in squad for 1998 World Cup finals but does not play

2000: Left out of Euro 2000 squad

2002: Scores first England goal in 1-0 win over Denmark at 2002 World Cup

2004: Banned for eight months after missing a drugs test

2006: Plays five games at World Cup in Germany

2008: Captains England for first time in defeat by France in March - loses out to John Terry in battle for permanent skipper role

2010: Terry is stripped of captaincy and Ferdinand is given the armband but injury rules him out of the 2010 World Cup

2011: Makes his 81st appearance in a Euro 2012 qualifier against Switzerland

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Ferdinand Questions Hodgson Tactics

Rio Ferdinand has questioned Roy Hodgson's willingness to cultivate talent claiming that England's euro 2012 tormentor Andrea Pirlo "may have been overlooked" for the European Championship had be been English.

Ferdinand criticised Hodgson's management at Euro 2012, claiming the England manager underused his younger players and was too defensive in his tactics.

The 33-year-old defender, who was overlooked by Hodgson for his squad for the tournament in Poland and Ukraine, wanted to see Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Phil Jones given more game time.

He also criticised Hodgson's choice of formation, and questioned whether Andrea Pirlo, the Italy playmaker who was instrumental in England's quarter-final exit, would even have been selected for the Three Lions squad.

He told The Sun: "I am a fan of The Ox and I wanted to see more of him but in the end he finished up as a spectator."

He went on: "Phil Jones is one of the most adaptable players we have in our country and where was he?

"When we need to take the ball from midfield, run 40 yards with it and put the other team on the back foot, he is the man for the job.

"Instead, we stayed cautious and Jordan Henderson was used instead.

"That's not a criticism of Jordan, he is a different player to Phil, but I thought it showed we were being too conservative."

Since England's exit, Hodgson has talked about getting more young players into the team for the forthcoming World Cup qualifying campaign.

Ferdinand said: "I'm reading a lot of stuff about how it's time to get the youngsters in and all of that but you only find out if they can do it when you throw them in there.

"What did we learn about Alex and Phil at this tournament?

"Do we know how much influence Alex can have on a game in a finals?

"He did fairly well against France, so why not persist with him and let him grow into it?

"As for Phil, we will now have to wait until the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, provided we qualify, to see how good he can be at the highest level. Expectations were low so the manager had a free shot to find out about our youngsters and I feel it was a missed opportunity."

Ferdinand was impressed by the performance of Pirlo, but added: "If Pirlo was English would he have made the squad let alone been on the pitch?

"I don't know as his qualities may have been overlooked ... not by just the current manager but maybe those before him too."

One England player who impressed Ferdinand was his Manchester United team-mate Danny Welbeck.

"The only time we really kept the ball properly was when Danny Welbeck dropped short to collect it and linked the play," he said.

"But, usually, he was having to stay up and wasn't allowed to drop too much because we had set out a certain way with a 4-4-2 which didn't offer a great deal of flexibility."

He added: "It's OK saying we were very good defensively and hard to beat but if you set out to be defensive then that's your first priority.

"I'd love to see us running at other teams. I want to see Alex and Theo and Adam Johnson, who I thought should have gone too, causing problems instead of worrying about covering back as the first thought."

Cahill Ruled Out; Kelly Ruled in; No Rio

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