Has Ferguson Lost Authority Over Rio Ferdinand ?

Reports from Manchester United say that Sir Alex Ferguson has resolved his dispute with Rio Ferdinand after the defender refused to wear the anti-discrimination campaign ‘Kick out’ T-shirts. Despite tumors that Ferdinand would not wear the t-shirt, Ferguson claimed that all his players would respect the campaign and wear the t-shirts but as expected Ferdinand came out to train ahead of  stoke clash with his normal United top, embarrassing the Scottish manager. 

I’ve made peace with Rio Ferdinand, says Ferguson

Speaking after the match Ferguson claimed that it is an unsporting behavior from the defender and that he will be dealt with. So does the manager know about Ferdinand’ s exploits earlier before the game ? Ferguson’s players often speak of his man-management skills and mellower side, but on this occasion he patently got it wrong. There was such incidents earlier during which, players like Beckham , Roy Keane saw the brusque side of the manager. 

And so far, the 33-year-old has so far remained silent and has not said anything in his Twitter also. Rather it was the United boss who came out and said that it was his mistake that the mis-communication had occurred and that he should have spoken to Ferdinand about this on Friday.

“As the manager of a club, you lay down policy and you don’t want to see it ignored,” Ferguson added. “That’s where my anger came from on Saturday. But we’ve resolved the situation, there’s no lingering problems and we move on.”

“My advice to him (Ferdinand) was that I always feel a union is stronger than an individual,” Ferguson said. “It’s important he airs his grievances to the right people, to the PFA (Professional Footballers’ Association) or the FA.”

Ferdinand was not the only player to boycott the campaign as stars from various other clubs joined the protest by not wearing the anti-discrimination tops. Everton’s Anichebe and Pienaar, Manchester City’s Lescott and Micah Richards, Qpr’s Cisse, Reading’s Jason Roberts all refused to wear the t-shirts in order to protest FA’s recent decisions in involving high profile players like John Terry and Luis Suarez.

The Kick It Out campaigns are an effective programme which has been successful since its inception back in 1993 and hardly any of the players have disputed it. But neither can anyone tell Ferdinand, Roberts, Lescott, Anichebe or anyone else they must compromise their own beliefs. And PFA chairman  Clarke Carlisle agreed to it, claiming:

“Everyone has a right to free speech. You can’t coerce anyone into shaking hands, you can’t make somebody wear a t-shirt.”

Ferguson who is a strong believer of the campaign and its policies was wrong in thinking he could lay authority over, and if reports are true that he has already cleared the air with Ferdinand, then it would appear he knows it.