[Football] Rio Ferdinand Man United Quote

[Palacefinder General]

Former United defender Rio Ferdinand labelled the night an "embarrassment" and urged those in charge of the club to take action.

"These young kids now in schools around the country, they are not going to be wearing Manchester United shirts.

"They are not going to be wanting to come here and support Manchester United based on what you are seeing out there. It's just not going to happen.

From a guy who grew up in Southwark and came up through the youth ranks of West Ham, lamenting the fact that United will lose their plastic fans from Dorset, Surrey, Kent, Sussex etc. Complete tool.

 

[vegster]

Fitting comment from Duck Face, It's all about buying the shirt.

 

[A1X]

While I agree with the sentiment from the OP I'm not sure it's exactly a good thing if it's just one high-achieving plastic club being replaced by another

 

[SAC]

Former United defender Rio Ferdinand labelled the night an "embarrassment" and urged those in charge of the club to take action.

"These young kids now in schools around the country, they are not going to be wearing Manchester United shirts.

"They are not going to be wanting to come here and support Manchester United based on what you are seeing out there. It's just not going to happen.

From a guy who grew up in Southwark and came up through the youth ranks of West Ham, lamenting the fact that United will lose their plastic fans from Dorset, Surrey, Kent, Sussex etc. Complete tool.

He is correct though. Man U are the biggest club in the country and one of the biggest in the world. To remain this big, they need to be more successful otherwise those fans will be buying the shirts of Liverpool or City (possible both).

 

[Paris]

He is correct though. Man U are the biggest club in the country and one of the biggest in the world. To remain this big, they need to be more successful otherwise those fans will be buying the shirts of Liverpool or City (possible both).

I like it. Cover every angle. Oh matron!

 

[hans kraay fan club]

Former United defender Rio Ferdinand labelled the night an "embarrassment" and urged those in charge of the club to take action.

"These young kids now in schools around the country, they are not going to be wearing Manchester United shirts.

"They are not going to be wanting to come here and support Manchester United based on what you are seeing out there. It's just not going to happen.

From a guy who grew up in Southwark and came up through the youth ranks of West Ham, lamenting the fact that United will lose their plastic fans from Dorset, Surrey, Kent, Sussex etc. Complete tool.

Fun fact: Rio's son plays in the Brighton academy.

 

[Stat Brother]

Fun fact: Rio's son plays in the Brighton academy and is frequently boooed.

 

[Palacefinder General]

He is correct though. Man U are the biggest club in the country and one of the biggest in the world. To remain this big, they need to be more successful otherwise those fans will be buying the shirts of Liverpool or City (possible both).

100%, but in a parallel universe the interviewer could have turned round and said “Is that a bad thing? Now they can support their local clubs?” rather than the world pandering to such imbecilic comments. How fantastic would that have been?

 

[peterward]

He is correct though. Man U are the biggest club in the country and one of the biggest in the world. To remain this big, they need to be more successful otherwise those fans will be buying the shirts of Liverpool or City (possible both).

Who cares. Couldn't give a flying f### about Man U.

 

[lawros left foot]

“They’re not going to be wanting to come here, and support Manchester United “

They don’t go there to support Manchester United anyway. I’ve been to Old Trafford mire times than nearly all Utd fans I know, and I can’t stand their club.

 

[Pavilionaire]

Rio is correct and it's already happening.

I recall 8 years ago when my son started playing club football he was the only one in an Albion shirt and most of the other kids were Chelsea or Man Utd. Fast forward 6 years and there's one Man Utd shirt, one Chelsea, four or five Albion shirts and the parental chat on the sidelines is largely about the Albion.

 

[JBizzle]

He's spot on from a United perspective, and if it means more local kids support local clubs, fine. If they end up just supporting the next successful club, that's just replacing one glory club with another.

That said, for as long as I can remember there are kids who choose a club to support because they'e good. Let's be honest, if we were still in Div 3 there'd be a lot more Liverpool and Citeh shirts around Brighton than there currently are so let's not pretend that our supporter base all chose the Albion for righteous reasons.

 

[Ninja Elephant]

I thought he was wildly emotional last night and it was totally out of sync with the game/situation. It was a poor performance and they lost to a well organised team. Yes, it's Old Trafford and no team wants to get rolled over at home. But they're 5th in the league with a pretty poor (although extremely expensive) squad. When they needed a bit of creativity last night, they had to call on Jesse Lingard who is less creative than Liverpool's goalkeeper. Ole started a regeneration project last summer transfer window and the signs are they intend to change the transfer policy which takes a few windows, not one or two. What I found most amazing about Rio's outburst was that chopping and changing managers is what caused their squad to be patchwork and the lack of vision is the reason the club are floundering where Liverpool were in the 2000s and most of the 2010s. They need to calm down, get the recruitment team right, identify and sign the right profile of players and build a squad without getting overly emotional at the bad results which are inevitable when you're hoping Andreas Pereira is going to be a useful right winger and Phil Jones is going to be a capable centre back alongside arguably the world's most overrated centre back.

 

[el punal]

It does amuse me when people go on about “plastic fans” supporting so-called big clubs like Man.Utd, Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal and therefore not supporting their local team. Would the same apply if English fans went over and watched Barcelona or Real Madrid or Juventus - would they be “plastic fans” too.

Supporting big clubs is not some new phenomena, it started decades ago, minus the need for the now obligatory merchandise tat. So, a couple of examples - back in 1967 I went to Craven Cottage to watch Fulham play Man.Utd. The crowd that day was a whopping 48,000+. Two thirds of that were United fans. Roll onto the mid - 1970s, I was based in Manchester for my job. United at that time were not exactly pulling up trees and Liverpool were the top dogs, with Forest about to make their presence felt. Going up the M6 on a Wednesday afternoon I passed coach after coach of United fans (they were playing at Old Trafford that evening), each coach proclaiming Torquay Reds, Exeter Reds, Bristol United Fans and so on.

It’s never got my goat who supports which club, that’s their choice and for whatever reason. What does irritate me is when a “fan” jumps ship and decides to support another club because they happen to be more successful. Now to me that Is traitorous and that person should be hung, drawn and quartered for the most heinous football crime of all.

 

[oldboyroy]

Hope olly stays in charge till we've played them at our place despite our recent results we will have a good chance against them

 

[nicko31]

Rio also said last night "fans leaving so early was unheard of at Old Trafford"

This made me laugh, When we were there for the FAC QF couple of seasons ago it half empty at the final whistle and they won 2-0. There are a lot of plastics there, league or cup...

 

[Napper]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_e5gxuX5gI

changed his mind then

 

[blue-shifted]

Rio is correct and it's already happening.

I recall 8 years ago when my son started playing club football he was the only one in an Albion shirt and most of the other kids were Chelsea or Man Utd. Fast forward 6 years and there's one Man Utd shirt, one Chelsea, four or five Albion shirts and the parental chat on the sidelines is largely about the Albion.

It’s true

Down my boys football club, I’d say 6 out of every 10 shirts are Albion. Then there’s one Messi, one Ronaldo shirt and the other two are a smattering of other clubs, eg Spurs, City or Liverpool. Crucially, I’ve seen the kids wearing Argentina shirts, when they are lining up a volley, yell, “MAUPAY!!!!!!”

 

[schmunk]

Crucially, I’ve seen the kids wearing Argentina shirts, when they are lining up a volley, yell, “MAUPAY!!!!!!”

Errrr....?

 

[blue-shifted]

Errrr....?

So although their parents have bought them shirts of other teams or nations, (and presumably they want to associate themselves with Messi etc In the way that kids do) they’re still talking with each other about Albion.