MAKE your mind up! The message from United fans to Rio Ferdinand could not be clearer - sign now or shove off.
And if the dithering defender is still in any doubt about his next move as his interminable contract negotiations meander on, he might go for a pint with Gordon McQueen.
The Scot has a fair bit in common with Rio. Both came from arch-enemies Leeds for record fees. Both were big defenders with even bigger reputations.
But McQueen went on to prove he was worth the '495,000 United paid for him in 1978.
He did not have Rio's talent. But he defended without compromise, scored goals with single-minded intent, and always looked like a man proud to pull on that red shirt and grateful for the financial rewards that came with it.
And, at the weekend, Gordon spelt it out for Rio in big letters - saying that the first thing he should do after the Charlton game was to ask Sir Alex Ferguson for a pen.
McQueen said: "He should be saying: `I will sign for the biggest club in Britain and the best club in Britain.' How lucky can a boy get? I think someone has turned his head."
The United fans waded in as well, with some of the travelling support at The Valley booing Rio. Others sang that he should "sign the deal".
Booing the player is just plain silly. No one truly knows what is going on in Rio's head, and players do tend to be dragged around the houses by their agents.
Rio needs to remind Pini Zahavi who is the employer and who is the employee.
It might sound a little unfair that Rio should be getting stick from United fans and ultimatums from Sir Alex Ferguson, while Ryan Giggs and Roy Carroll - also in the midst of contract talks - get away scot-free.
It is also true that Roy Keane and several other players escaped the fans' wrath when they stalled over signing new contracts.
But if Rio is starting to feel hard done by, he can forget it. The difference is that Giggs and Keane, and quite a few others, proved their value to United BEFORE they started asking for more.
Rock
Ferdinand is a terrific defender, and could go on to be a rock at the heart of United's defence for years.
Or he could sell out to the highest bidder and drift through his life as a football mercenary, willing to play for whoever offers the biggest whack, loyal to no one and believing in nothing.
Rio's mindset has been questioned before.
When he received the eight-month ban for failing to attend a drugs test, he infuriated some United supporters - and surprised the club - when he volunteered to begin his ban pending an appeal.
The feeling among many fans was that he had done so as a gesture of goodwill towards the FA, in the hope that his ban would be cut on appeal, freeing him to play for England at Euro 2004.
At United, putting country before club is seen by many as tantamount to treason.
Whatever Rio's rationale in sacrificing games he could have played for United last season, it did not work, as the ban was upheld and he could not play for club and country for the full eight months.
Still, United stood by him, the fans welcomed him back like a hero - rather than a forgetful fool - only to find, six months later, that he is asking for more dosh and "bumping into" Chelsea officials in a London restaurant.
Rio has said all along that he is happy at United, and now he says the affair will be settled once Zahavi returns from abroad.
Let's hope that by the time the FA Cup final comes around, this sorry saga will have been consigned to history.
If it is not, Rio should be dropped from the team to face Arsenal and told he will not play again until either he signs the '100,000-a-week offer on the table, or his current contract expires in the summer of 2007.
Do you agree with Brennan? Have your say.
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I think that Rio should get stuffed. And take Carroll with you. And Zidane. And Silvestre. And do not forget the South African.
Just one more thing about Stuarts comment about booing Rio. Not a criticism Stuart but do not forget that Giggs and Carroll were not have lunch with idiot features from Chelski. So what ever happens in the booing department Rio deserves it. The ingrate.
Go UTD.
Ryan Giggs and Roy Carrol are not getting booed because they are not asking for 120000 a week after only 2/3 years at the club.
you cant seriously believe ferdinand is worth 100k a week. not even the best defenders in the world get anywhere near that kind of money. if he thinks he can go to chelsea and get that he is havin a laugh what would j terry think about that! i think his agent needs to be sacked as he is very well connected to chelsea. as for fans booeing him we have every right considering we gave him our full backing after his stupid ban.
Let the BUM go.....
I would like rio to stay but not at any cost[as i don't think he is the best defender in the world! He has the potential to become a great defender but i remain to be convinced that he has the desire of a far inferior[technically] john terry who has been immense this season in europe as well as the premiership. I really don't think he is worth the money he is aking for and i think it may well cause resentment in the dressing room; great players impose themselves and i don't think rio does this; perhaps with the B#30 million we could buy the 3/4 quality players we need to challenge next season[could be the best thing he has done for the club!!!!!!]
You've all caught up at last, Khaled SAID IT FIRST AS USUAL! This dispicable man is not worthy of playing for Utd. I said at the time of his ban that he was in breach of contract by making himself unavailable to play for 9 months, and as such Utd shouldn't have paid him a penny. He is payed to PLAY football and his wages should have started up again the day his ban ended. After all HE alone made himself unavailable to play. The F.A. want to look at Rio's attitude and role model suitability instead of picking on Rooney, a commited player to Utd from his debut. He's not even as good as he thinks he is. Fergie MUST be going soft in his old age. At one time he wouldn't have a player make a fool out of him like Rio is doing now. It is another sign that our glorious leaders 18 magnificent years should be ended (that and the fact that he thinks Phil is good enough), otherwise we will end up like Newcastle with players running the roost. And without Fergie we can bring back Beckham, our corners and free kicks are the worst in living memory. Becks would sweat blood for Utd, Rio doesn't even want to get his hair messed up
Dispicable man? Khaled, you keep suggesting Lee Bowyer for United! Now THAT'S a dispicibale man! By the way, to our friend from the great nation of Australia, there's a slight chance that referring to Quinton Fortune only as "the South African" could be construed as a bit racist or xenophobic.
The question over Rio's ability is beyond doubt. WHEN WE GOT HIM BACH HE SINGLE HANDEDLY shored up our defence. As an individual, he leaves a lot to be desired. He hurt his club his fans and his team mates over his stupidity. Now he allows his agent to do this to us when we are trying to get something out of a miserable season. I hope Utd. are secretly lining up his replacement then dump him on the continent to whoever and while you are at it, consider letting Ruud go in the same direction and buy quality intensity and pace. Oh and don't forget Paul Robinson. I'm sick and tired of this man's antics.
Can we stop saying "with the B#30M we would get for Rio we could buy the 4 players we need to strenghen the squad"? Unless Chelsea wanted him (and I really don't think they do), we would get nothing like the amount we paid for him in today's market. B#15M would be closer to the mark - perhaps enough to buy only an Essien. Selling Rio is not the solution people - have you all forgotten how poor the defence was while he was banned?
Nowadays South Africa is both white and coloured and not before time. I actually forgot his name and therefore wrote what I wrote. If I offended anyone I am sorry. But still, get rid off him.
Why so much bias against Rio? Roy Keane 33 gets B#90+ grand a week and he is far from a being a world class midfielder and he has never distinguished himself on the world stage as Rio did in the last World Cup.Sol Campbell gets about what Rio is asking. Why is it considered unreasonable for Rio to be remunerated at a rate commensurate with his status as one of the best centre backs in the world? I agree that Fortune is not up to the standard of a Manchester United player; but so are Fletcher, Miller, Bellion and P.Neville.
Sipho, Durban, Republic of South Africa.
Anybody booing anybody in a United shirt should be ashamed of themselves. Whilst he wears the shirt, he should get our support, end of story. While i amhear, can I put a plug in for acquiring Upson from Birmingham, the best left sided centre-back in the Prem. Sylvestre has got no future there, for me
There's no denying that having Rio in our central defence instils stability. However you wouldnt imagine Keane or Giggs dining with the Chelskis while negotiating contracts. Rio is probably not to be trusted. Having gone missing for much of the season & then squeezing the club for max. $$ when our chips are down. I personally would feel uneasy having him as our future captain. I say shove him off & rebuild with someone more loyal & more worth the money spent.
Yes, I felt uncomfortable when Rio was booed Utd fans. After all he IS still a UTD player.
However, Rio must understand that the fans demand loyalty to the club, one which has stood by him and even paid his salary the last 9 mths even though his own stupidity meant that he was prevented from meeting his contractual obligations.If Rio actually did meet Kenyon and knew that Kenyon would be there, then he is either plain stupid or unscrupulous. Knowing what happened with Ashley Cole and the fact that his own contract was being renegotiated, one has to ask what the lad was thinking (or was he?)
What we need are players who really want to play for Utd like RVN, Smith, Rooney etc.
Rio has stated that he wants to stay but for what price? Rio be reasonable!
I was one to boo Rio he is greedy and overated,what must Hienze be worth 200,000per week.Giggs was also booed he was more like a spectator it was like United played the whole game with 10 men.On effort he should not play in the final.
The best defender in the football world??
for god sake... let see...
gary,wes,gabby all score goals..
gary score from overlapping from right hand side, wes score against juve top defender, gabby score on his DEBUT at Bolton., Silvestre got a brace against liverpool, o'shea score a cantona-esque at highbury....
rio has zero..he even miss by a yard against birmingham in the 2002/2003 campaign...
so much for the best defender.. sell him!!!
After seeing the limitations of Gallas last night I suspect that he may be part of a summer clear out that will leave Chelsea pretty light on CBs with only the unproven Huth and the injury prone Carvallho alongside Terry. None of us should be surprised to see the hand of Zahavi behind this as a further move for Rio (which reports suggest has been done already) will net the agent another B#1m+ fee. At the risk of opening an industrial sized can of worms may I suggest that for a ready made (and cost effective) replacement we need look no further than one of Keanos Eiran colleagues who successfully kept Chelsea and Aresenal at bay twice this term, ourselves once and even had the decency to score for us in the derby.......just a thought.
Jen I'd hate to see Shay Given at United. I find him very average and devoid of personality. I'd much rather see a commanding presence in the United penalty area. As for Gallas, I think it's unfair to criticise him. He was played at left-back last night, not centre-back. However, Ricardo Carvalho has a touch of the Laurent Blancs about him so it would be no surprise to see Ferdinand partner John Terry in the Chelsea defence.
If Rio does go, I'd make sure he pays back the B#2.5m we paid him over the 8 months the club stood by him.
And all this about his agent being on holiday. What rubbish, Rio must b eone of his most lucrative clients - have they not heard of fax or email?
What a load of cobblers some of you so-called United fans write. You seem to think that quality players grow on trees. Ferdinand's impact when he was and wasn't playing for us is as clear as day and night. He is not just a great player in his own right, his presence alone gives confidence to the other defenders. There is no ball playing centre back his equal in the premiership IMO. His importance to United is unarguable so why get rid of him? That's just plain foolishness. Why are you blaming him for a 9 months ban, far in excess of any precedent so far been set, that was unnecessarily harsh as many posters at the time said? Sure it was foolish but the punishment was totally unreasonable as is a lot of the vitriole being aimed at him. Of course he is going to take some time over negotiating his new contract. Every player does. Get over it - he is a United player - he will sign. Stop booing him, support him on the pitch - support United.
Eh, Don, I think Jen was referring to Richard Dunne! Jen, I agree Dunne has had a great season, he's really turned his career around and may be back in the Irish team soon, but he'll always be likely to be found out by smaller forwards. He is a good defender, but all our defenders are probably better.
Dropping Rio for Utd.'s only chance of silverware this season is one of the more ignorant things I've ever heard. Having said that, after the match is won and the trophy lifted, if he hasn't signed, I'd flog him to whoever wants to pay a massive fee. No player is bigger than Utd., and especially not a player who has horrifically let the club down in the past, and still received the utmost in support from the club.
it makes me sick to hear these so called united supporters booing rio and telling him to leave the club or sign. Rio is by far our best defender, he is better than every chelsea defender to and they even know it, gallas terry cavalho are all excellent true but when rio is absent so is the whole of uniteds defence, this is not the same with chelsea but it is with arsenal when cambell is away maybe thats why rio and sol are englands centre backs, rio is outsatnding and about two months ago you would all agree if not for the contract saga. so he wants more money, dont we all? so he likes to have fun, dont we all? hes human let him live he does his job perfectly and deserves his pay. i agree he owes us for our loyalty durin the ban but since his return he has been excellent, and still he says he wants to stay, if he leaves it will be because of fans like you guys (mary, sale) who jump on his back as soon as speculation of him leaving arrives. rio wants the best contract because thats what he deserves he has done nopthing wrong on the pitch, now we are invading his life outside, contracts are very important and its his buisness not yours let the man live, and dont question his loyalty because your not being loyal.
Swap greedy Rio for Cudicini and Carvalho and cash then we can get some decent players. We should not be held to ransom...............
Oops. Jen wasn't even talking about goalkeepers. I must have only skimmed through Jen's comments. My mistake. I don't think Fergie will be going for Dunnie anytime soon. Let's stick with Brown, Silvestre and Heinze if Rio does a runner. They're more than capable. We might even secure Rio's services for the next ten years. Stranger things have happened. He may be a greedy so-and-so, but against Arsenal at Old Trafford this season he was immense. Once he has signed I'm sure he'll be 100% committed to the cause.