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It's been almost 3-whole-months since Rio Ferdinand missed that random drugs test that initially caused all this fuss. And that's exactly how-long it has take the FA to finally come up with a verdict as to how the England and Manchester United defender should rightfully be punished for his actions. And, as I'm sure you'll agree, an 8-month ban from Football (...and a £50,000 fine) is one heck of a lot more than we were expecting, from an organisation who, in the past, has let many a player quite simply walk-away with little more than a "slap on the wrist".
The money may still be a joke, but while the FA do deserve some credit for showing us they DO mean business (...this time!), 8-months is a heck of a long time to go without playing football! I can agree with punishing a player for missing such a test, in today's day and age; whatever his reason or excuse. But for a young player regarded as one of the country's best defenders - and a man who, as I believe, has only been proven guilty of missing the test (WITHOUT intention!) - this is quite rediculous! I mean, it's not like we even know if he actually DID take a performance-enhancing drug of any kind, now, is it! How can they do this to someone who is still `Innocent´ until proven otherwise?!? Just think of what it could do to him, mentally....
Does anyone not actually realise how long 8 months actually is??
Rio Ferdinand is looking at around 248-days without Football. He'll miss the remainder of Manchester United's Premiership, FA Cup and Champions' League season (as of 12th January); England's entire Euro 2004, and Sven-Goran Eriksson's remaining pre-tournament preparations; and even the first few weeks of NEXT season, as if it wasn't bad enough!!
Now, no-one else can really "understand" what it's going to be like for him, but even for a multi-million-pound footballer who "has it all", that has surely got to be enough to drive you insane!
Come the 2004-05 Premiership campaign next-year, for all we know, he could be a completely different player, altogether! The Rio Ferdinand who shone so-mightily in the 2002 World Cup as we know him could, after such a length of time without top-draw football, never be the same again.
And that is something I wouldn't be surprised to see, this time next-year. We've seen it in the past with players suffering career-threatening injuries, and how, when they return, they are a mere shadow of the `danger-man´ they were, only 18-months-ago.
Ranger's Dutch striker Michael Mols springs-to-mind... I can remember when he first arrived in Scottish Football - as can anyone else who saw it, I'm sure. To put it simply, he was the ``Ruud van Nistelrooy´´ of the Scottish Premier League, several years ago. Goals, goals... And more goals! He had it all, and helped Rangers to it all (domestically), also. What's more, he was on the verge of a sensational long-awaited break into the Dutch national-side; along with the likes of Patrick Kluivert and Jimmy-Floyd Hasselbaink (in a time before "Van the Man").
But, then came a serious knee-ligament injury, which kept him out of football altogether for the best-part of 2-years. No more goals; not more Title-challenges; no hope for the Champions' League; and no more dream-come-true with Holland in major competition. It was all gone, and this injury wasn't "going away" easily.
And when he did finally return, all he had in those years before the incident appeared to have gone with his rusty old muscles. He was slow, sluggish and lacking overall. Because of the severity - most importantly, the length-of-time had kept him out for - Michael Mols has lost it all. Rangers were now looking towards others to get the goals for them; as were the Nederlands, too. And, unfortunately, for what looked like a very promsing player, indeed; he doesn't seem to be "recovering" as well as we'd like, right now, either. Such a shame... Such potential....
And then, there's England's very-own Michael Bridges.... Well, he's obviously only "England's" in the sense of nationality, as opposed to anything `on-the-pitch´. But he could've been, y'know... If not for a similar injury to that which made Michael Mols' career suffer greatly.
There he was, on the form of his life at Elland Road, finishing the season as the Leeds United's top-scorer after a rather "awkard" time with Sunderland... And suddenly, time stands-still for him as a career-threatening knee-ligament injury strikes the promising Geordie-boy, and we do not see him again for another 18-months-or-so, as this presistance of this "regularity" amongst modern-day footballers claims its latest victim; cutting another young-man's dreams short, for the time being.
Like Mols again, by the time Bridges had returned to action with Leeds (only a month-or-two from today, infact), it had been all-too-long an absense from the one-thing he loved more than anything else in the world. And again, he, too, appears to be taking-his-time with a full-reovery back to his rampant goal-scoring ways.
Such a shame, yet again, for a player who, many believe, could've been the next-best-thing to Alan Shearer for England's "un-claimed" No.9 shirt....
But at least Michael Bridges is still young. As long as he never has to suffer another `set-back´ quite like that one again, he still has the best-part of another decade for top-flight, first-team football, to really make a name for himself. Michael Mols, however, was a considerable-bit older than young Bridges, approaching the wrong-side of 30, when it all begins to... "go". So, it's fair to say, there will still be hope for Rio Ferdinand after his 8-month INJURY-FREE vacation to `Hell´ and back. It just might take a bit of time, that's all. So, like all the others, it's doubtful he'll be thrown straight-back into the starting-eleven at Old Trafford, so-short of match practice and just about everything that has made him the respectable footballing-figure he is today (despite what you may or may not believe over this missed drugs test business).
Fellow United team-mate Ruud van Nistelrooy is another to have suffered under the curse of the dreaded knee-ligament inury - and look at how he made his return to European Football, playing better-than-ever at the `Theatre of Dreams´, helping United to the Premier League Title (again), while staking his claim as one of the deadliest strikers in Europe, with over 30 goals in his first season back!
...And this, too, was a player who looked like he may have "lost it" in his initial cup-final return to the game with PSV - and he's scoring regularly for Holland, too!
So, you see, there is always going to be a great deal of hope for Rio Ferdinand when he does make his long-awaited return to football, in September 2004.
But the one-thing I fear about is just how-long it'll take him to fully-return. If he takes too long, or cannot re-establish himself soon-enough, who's to say Sir Alex Ferguson and Sven-Goran Eriksson will no longer see him as first-choice, any longer?
For United, Fergie will now surely HAVE to sign someone in January, to save the club their season - if only for the Champions' League campaign. And with Eriksson always looking for younger players in his team, Sol Campbell could have himself an "other-half" who he really feels attatched to, come Portugal, next Summer.
Any player - no matter how-big or how-small - can be affected without regular first-team football for such a long period of time. Injuries or not, everyone who plays an the highest-level cannot keep-it-up in the reserves - just look at Dwight Yorke when van Nistelrooy and Forlan arrived, with Andy Cole going the other-way.
But this whole situation... It's a complete shambles! Once again, I feel rather ashamed to share the same nationality with the kind of people who can call such a descision "the right one". By all means, the FA deserve "some" respect for this; well-done for finally sticking your fingers out - whether you were pressured by Sepp Blatter or not.
But, once again, they've clearly failed to think things through properly, and, because of this, we have lost a large-chunk of one of England's brightest home-grown talents, in the long-run.
For 8-months he will be without the one-thing he loves most; the one-thing he excels at (despite what some critics may say). Clearly, this is going to effect him emotionally aswell; being at Euro 2004 as only "a fan"; unable to play.
I don't see this as being a case of `how Man United's season could suffer without him´ or how `England's chances of winning Euro 2004 have now been severed´... That's just selfish! And that, in-time, is how the FA have acted over all this, in my view; they're trying to prove a point, but again, they've gotten it wrong, and have gone too far. I just HOPE the appeal helps things a little, for the good of the future of the man himself.
Rio Ferdinand isn't just a "Footballer" - he's a real person, too, you know!!
The money may still be a joke, but while the FA do deserve some credit for showing us they DO mean business (...this time!), 8-months is a heck of a long time to go without playing football! I can agree with punishing a player for missing such a test, in today's day and age; whatever his reason or excuse. But for a young player regarded as one of the country's best defenders - and a man who, as I believe, has only been proven guilty of missing the test (WITHOUT intention!) - this is quite rediculous! I mean, it's not like we even know if he actually DID take a performance-enhancing drug of any kind, now, is it! How can they do this to someone who is still `Innocent´ until proven otherwise?!? Just think of what it could do to him, mentally....
Does anyone not actually realise how long 8 months actually is??
Rio Ferdinand is looking at around 248-days without Football. He'll miss the remainder of Manchester United's Premiership, FA Cup and Champions' League season (as of 12th January); England's entire Euro 2004, and Sven-Goran Eriksson's remaining pre-tournament preparations; and even the first few weeks of NEXT season, as if it wasn't bad enough!!
Now, no-one else can really "understand" what it's going to be like for him, but even for a multi-million-pound footballer who "has it all", that has surely got to be enough to drive you insane!
Come the 2004-05 Premiership campaign next-year, for all we know, he could be a completely different player, altogether! The Rio Ferdinand who shone so-mightily in the 2002 World Cup as we know him could, after such a length of time without top-draw football, never be the same again.
And that is something I wouldn't be surprised to see, this time next-year. We've seen it in the past with players suffering career-threatening injuries, and how, when they return, they are a mere shadow of the `danger-man´ they were, only 18-months-ago.
Ranger's Dutch striker Michael Mols springs-to-mind... I can remember when he first arrived in Scottish Football - as can anyone else who saw it, I'm sure. To put it simply, he was the ``Ruud van Nistelrooy´´ of the Scottish Premier League, several years ago. Goals, goals... And more goals! He had it all, and helped Rangers to it all (domestically), also. What's more, he was on the verge of a sensational long-awaited break into the Dutch national-side; along with the likes of Patrick Kluivert and Jimmy-Floyd Hasselbaink (in a time before "Van the Man").
But, then came a serious knee-ligament injury, which kept him out of football altogether for the best-part of 2-years. No more goals; not more Title-challenges; no hope for the Champions' League; and no more dream-come-true with Holland in major competition. It was all gone, and this injury wasn't "going away" easily.
And when he did finally return, all he had in those years before the incident appeared to have gone with his rusty old muscles. He was slow, sluggish and lacking overall. Because of the severity - most importantly, the length-of-time had kept him out for - Michael Mols has lost it all. Rangers were now looking towards others to get the goals for them; as were the Nederlands, too. And, unfortunately, for what looked like a very promsing player, indeed; he doesn't seem to be "recovering" as well as we'd like, right now, either. Such a shame... Such potential....
And then, there's England's very-own Michael Bridges.... Well, he's obviously only "England's" in the sense of nationality, as opposed to anything `on-the-pitch´. But he could've been, y'know... If not for a similar injury to that which made Michael Mols' career suffer greatly.
There he was, on the form of his life at Elland Road, finishing the season as the Leeds United's top-scorer after a rather "awkard" time with Sunderland... And suddenly, time stands-still for him as a career-threatening knee-ligament injury strikes the promising Geordie-boy, and we do not see him again for another 18-months-or-so, as this presistance of this "regularity" amongst modern-day footballers claims its latest victim; cutting another young-man's dreams short, for the time being.
Like Mols again, by the time Bridges had returned to action with Leeds (only a month-or-two from today, infact), it had been all-too-long an absense from the one-thing he loved more than anything else in the world. And again, he, too, appears to be taking-his-time with a full-reovery back to his rampant goal-scoring ways.
Such a shame, yet again, for a player who, many believe, could've been the next-best-thing to Alan Shearer for England's "un-claimed" No.9 shirt....
But at least Michael Bridges is still young. As long as he never has to suffer another `set-back´ quite like that one again, he still has the best-part of another decade for top-flight, first-team football, to really make a name for himself. Michael Mols, however, was a considerable-bit older than young Bridges, approaching the wrong-side of 30, when it all begins to... "go". So, it's fair to say, there will still be hope for Rio Ferdinand after his 8-month INJURY-FREE vacation to `Hell´ and back. It just might take a bit of time, that's all. So, like all the others, it's doubtful he'll be thrown straight-back into the starting-eleven at Old Trafford, so-short of match practice and just about everything that has made him the respectable footballing-figure he is today (despite what you may or may not believe over this missed drugs test business).
Fellow United team-mate Ruud van Nistelrooy is another to have suffered under the curse of the dreaded knee-ligament inury - and look at how he made his return to European Football, playing better-than-ever at the `Theatre of Dreams´, helping United to the Premier League Title (again), while staking his claim as one of the deadliest strikers in Europe, with over 30 goals in his first season back!
...And this, too, was a player who looked like he may have "lost it" in his initial cup-final return to the game with PSV - and he's scoring regularly for Holland, too!
So, you see, there is always going to be a great deal of hope for Rio Ferdinand when he does make his long-awaited return to football, in September 2004.
But the one-thing I fear about is just how-long it'll take him to fully-return. If he takes too long, or cannot re-establish himself soon-enough, who's to say Sir Alex Ferguson and Sven-Goran Eriksson will no longer see him as first-choice, any longer?
For United, Fergie will now surely HAVE to sign someone in January, to save the club their season - if only for the Champions' League campaign. And with Eriksson always looking for younger players in his team, Sol Campbell could have himself an "other-half" who he really feels attatched to, come Portugal, next Summer.
Any player - no matter how-big or how-small - can be affected without regular first-team football for such a long period of time. Injuries or not, everyone who plays an the highest-level cannot keep-it-up in the reserves - just look at Dwight Yorke when van Nistelrooy and Forlan arrived, with Andy Cole going the other-way.
But this whole situation... It's a complete shambles! Once again, I feel rather ashamed to share the same nationality with the kind of people who can call such a descision "the right one". By all means, the FA deserve "some" respect for this; well-done for finally sticking your fingers out - whether you were pressured by Sepp Blatter or not.
But, once again, they've clearly failed to think things through properly, and, because of this, we have lost a large-chunk of one of England's brightest home-grown talents, in the long-run.
For 8-months he will be without the one-thing he loves most; the one-thing he excels at (despite what some critics may say). Clearly, this is going to effect him emotionally aswell; being at Euro 2004 as only "a fan"; unable to play.
I don't see this as being a case of `how Man United's season could suffer without him´ or how `England's chances of winning Euro 2004 have now been severed´... That's just selfish! And that, in-time, is how the FA have acted over all this, in my view; they're trying to prove a point, but again, they've gotten it wrong, and have gone too far. I just HOPE the appeal helps things a little, for the good of the future of the man himself.
Rio Ferdinand isn't just a "Footballer" - he's a real person, too, you know!!
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Jú§t Tinká wrote:
"We could play Keane and G. Neville center back..."
-----
Yeah... Gary Neville could head the ball CLEAR, while Keano's playing every-other game around the European fixtures; barely making the full 45-minutes of the first-half! :)
And as for the Michael Bridges thing; while the fact that he suffered a possible career-ending injury has certainly affected his long-awaited comeback, you still cannot deny the fact that the long-time-without-football will have affected him `upstairs´, also.
Okay, perhaps not quite `as-much´, seeing as it was his knee-ligaments; but if a player is to perform well in Football he needs to have the right-mind and level of concentration for the game ahead.
No doubt, both he and Mols will have been thinking too-much about how to `instantly-impress´ and have a big-impact on his return, at a time when they should, instead, be working on trying to get-better, gradually.
And yes, because it's ``Rio Ferdinand´´, they "HAVE" to make things several-times-worse! :P
"We could play Keane and G. Neville center back..."
-----
Yeah... Gary Neville could head the ball CLEAR, while Keano's playing every-other game around the European fixtures; barely making the full 45-minutes of the first-half! :)
And as for the Michael Bridges thing; while the fact that he suffered a possible career-ending injury has certainly affected his long-awaited comeback, you still cannot deny the fact that the long-time-without-football will have affected him `upstairs´, also.
Okay, perhaps not quite `as-much´, seeing as it was his knee-ligaments; but if a player is to perform well in Football he needs to have the right-mind and level of concentration for the game ahead.
No doubt, both he and Mols will have been thinking too-much about how to `instantly-impress´ and have a big-impact on his return, at a time when they should, instead, be working on trying to get-better, gradually.
And yes, because it's ``Rio Ferdinand´´, they "HAVE" to make things several-times-worse! :P
The saddest thing about Mols was that he wasn't in the days before "Van the Man" but was signed by Rangers instead of him. Having been the manager of PSV before hand, Advocaat brought a fair few Dutch players over with him.
For the 4 or 5 months of the 99-00 season that he played Mols matched Larsson goal for goal. That is very impressive.
As for Ferdinand... I'm glad to see they hit him with a ban. And a big one too, to make sure everyone knows that the FA won't be mess about anymore. Whether or not Rio was on any sort of drugs or not is beside the point, failing to turn up for a drugs test is considered just as bad. And whilst 8 months might seem a long time, any other sport and it would have been a 2 YEAR ban. 8 months is only one third of that.
He got off lightly if you look at it like that.
For the 4 or 5 months of the 99-00 season that he played Mols matched Larsson goal for goal. That is very impressive.
As for Ferdinand... I'm glad to see they hit him with a ban. And a big one too, to make sure everyone knows that the FA won't be mess about anymore. Whether or not Rio was on any sort of drugs or not is beside the point, failing to turn up for a drugs test is considered just as bad. And whilst 8 months might seem a long time, any other sport and it would have been a 2 YEAR ban. 8 months is only one third of that.
He got off lightly if you look at it like that.
now more trouble with O'shea and Silvestre injured.
We could play Keane and G. Neville center back
But they influence game more in their normal positions
We could play Keane and G. Neville center back
But they influence game more in their normal positions
Solskjær wrote:
> I only compare Bridges and Mols to the Rio Ferdinand situation because
> both players were out of the game for a very long time.
>
> I don't see how it matters if they were out-of-action due to injury
> or not. The fact is, they were out of the game for a very long time
> and, within that time, they had been effected mentally. So, when they
> did return - as much as they were looking forward and working-hard
> for it - they were not quite the same player as before.
>
But its not the mental effects, Bridges doesn't play as much because his body no longer copes well to the physical side of the game. his injuries don't allow him to perform to the same high standards, to an extent he is disabled.
> I only compare Bridges and Mols to the Rio Ferdinand situation because
> both players were out of the game for a very long time.
>
> I don't see how it matters if they were out-of-action due to injury
> or not. The fact is, they were out of the game for a very long time
> and, within that time, they had been effected mentally. So, when they
> did return - as much as they were looking forward and working-hard
> for it - they were not quite the same player as before.
>
But its not the mental effects, Bridges doesn't play as much because his body no longer copes well to the physical side of the game. his injuries don't allow him to perform to the same high standards, to an extent he is disabled.
Rio only got banned like that because the FA sucked up to the bloke at FIFA who absolutely hates England. If it were Ronaldo or Zidane, they would have gotten away with nothing.
The bloke at FIFA was threatening to knock England out of Euro cos of the violence. IMO Turkey are far far far worse. The croud has flares for crying out loud?? All you have to do is look a the state of the pitch where the Turks lobbed bog roll on the pitch when Chelsea last played in Champions League.
The bloke at FIFA was threatening to knock England out of Euro cos of the violence. IMO Turkey are far far far worse. The croud has flares for crying out loud?? All you have to do is look a the state of the pitch where the Turks lobbed bog roll on the pitch when Chelsea last played in Champions League.
All that needs to be said is Negouia (whatever his damn name is) got a mere £2,000 for EXACTLY the same offence. Why didn't Rio get the same?
No ban should have been given, unless they go back and ban Negouia as well and especially not one for 8 months, a ban 3 months longer then players who have actually failed drug tests. So in other words the FA is saying with this ban that not showing up (even though he offered to come back but the testers obviously had to get back in time for Neighbours) is worse than actually failing the test. Well that and the fact that they're a bunch of cowards who crumble under the watchful eye of that idiot Blatter.
No ban should have been given, unless they go back and ban Negouia as well and especially not one for 8 months, a ban 3 months longer then players who have actually failed drug tests. So in other words the FA is saying with this ban that not showing up (even though he offered to come back but the testers obviously had to get back in time for Neighbours) is worse than actually failing the test. Well that and the fact that they're a bunch of cowards who crumble under the watchful eye of that idiot Blatter.
8 months is just a stupid ban. End of story.
3 months would have made the point that the FA wouldn't stand for players trying to sidestep the procedure, regardless of being outrageously out of sync with every other football player ever dicliplined for the same offence in this country.
3 months would have made the point that the FA wouldn't stand for players trying to sidestep the procedure, regardless of being outrageously out of sync with every other football player ever dicliplined for the same offence in this country.
but other stars that got tested positive for substances like Davids got 5 month while rio missed the test, nobody knows why but him
I only compare Bridges and Mols to the Rio Ferdinand situation because both players were out of the game for a very long time.
I don't see how it matters if they were out-of-action due to injury or not. The fact is, they were out of the game for a very long time and, within that time, they had been effected mentally. So, when they did return - as much as they were looking forward and working-hard for it - they were not quite the same player as before.
And while Rio Ferdinand's 8-months is quite `small´ in comparison the lengths-of-time the other 2 were out for, I still believe it will have an effect on the player's mental-side.
Understand, now?
I don't see how it matters if they were out-of-action due to injury or not. The fact is, they were out of the game for a very long time and, within that time, they had been effected mentally. So, when they did return - as much as they were looking forward and working-hard for it - they were not quite the same player as before.
And while Rio Ferdinand's 8-months is quite `small´ in comparison the lengths-of-time the other 2 were out for, I still believe it will have an effect on the player's mental-side.
Understand, now?
Solskjær wrote:
"slap on the wrist"
"understand"
"has it all"
`danger-man´
``Ruud van Nistelrooy´´
"Van the Man"
"going away"
"recovering"
"England's"
`on-the-pitch´
"awkard"
"regularity"
"un-claimed"
`set-back´
"go"
`Hell´
`Theatre of Dreams´
"lost it"
"other-half"
"the right one"
"some"
"a fan"
`how Man United's season could suffer without him´
`England's chances of winning Euro 2004 have now been severed´
"Footballer"
You certainly do love to use quotations, eh, Solskjaer? ;-)
And yes, before you ask, I am really bored.
But I did read the rest of the post and didn't just aimlessly scurry around looking for quote marks (honest! ;-)), and you make plenty of valid points. In my honest opinion, Ferdinand was hit with a ban he really didn't deserve. They had the chance to test him following his realisation that he'd missed the test, as he phoned to say he'd just remembered, didn't he? So they could have waited and tested him a few hours later, but they didn't.
And although it was a serious test, it was a bit random, so forgetfulness was probably a perfectly valid excuse.
FIFA have used this case as a threat to other players, and going by the results of this particular case, a warning has been issued that many players will now be keen to take notice of. For Ferdinand, a bit of a rubbish situation, and for Man United and England, a major loss.
"slap on the wrist"
"understand"
"has it all"
`danger-man´
``Ruud van Nistelrooy´´
"Van the Man"
"going away"
"recovering"
"England's"
`on-the-pitch´
"awkard"
"regularity"
"un-claimed"
`set-back´
"go"
`Hell´
`Theatre of Dreams´
"lost it"
"other-half"
"the right one"
"some"
"a fan"
`how Man United's season could suffer without him´
`England's chances of winning Euro 2004 have now been severed´
"Footballer"
You certainly do love to use quotations, eh, Solskjaer? ;-)
And yes, before you ask, I am really bored.
But I did read the rest of the post and didn't just aimlessly scurry around looking for quote marks (honest! ;-)), and you make plenty of valid points. In my honest opinion, Ferdinand was hit with a ban he really didn't deserve. They had the chance to test him following his realisation that he'd missed the test, as he phoned to say he'd just remembered, didn't he? So they could have waited and tested him a few hours later, but they didn't.
And although it was a serious test, it was a bit random, so forgetfulness was probably a perfectly valid excuse.
FIFA have used this case as a threat to other players, and going by the results of this particular case, a warning has been issued that many players will now be keen to take notice of. For Ferdinand, a bit of a rubbish situation, and for Man United and England, a major loss.
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