…if many fans had their way, he’d be told to stick the contract offer up his arse and fuck off out of Manchester on the next train.
The Guardian reports:
‘Sir Alex Ferguson broke the habit of a lifetime last night when he effectively accused Rio Ferdinand of letting down Manchester United and, making no attempt to disguise his disappointment, confirmed there would be "lingering suspicions and doubts" until the England defender proved he had no interest in signing for Chelsea by agreeing a new contract.
‘Ferguson, usually that fierce protector of his own, stopped short of outright criticism of Ferdinand but accepted there were holes in the defender's version of events. He said he had been "bemused" to learn that Ferdinand and his agent Pini Zahavi had not only met Chelsea's chief executive Peter Kenyon in London two Saturdays ago but that, contrary to the defender's statement that it had been a "brief hello", they had gone to a second restaurant where they had spent three hours together. "It's so obvious now that it wasn't as frivolous a meeting as it was made out," said Ferguson.
‘Although United have opted against reporting Chelsea to the Premier League, Ferguson is convinced the meeting was set up deliberately because Chelsea want to entice Ferdinand to Stamford Bridge. "It doesn't reflect well on us as a football club," he said of Ferdinand's part in the controversy. "The players at this club know how well treated they are. They know what a great club it is. So it doesn't sit well with us."
‘Given that Ferguson religiously steers clear of saying anything that could be construed as criticism of his players, the fact he offered such a withering assessment speaks volumes for how strongly he feels about the matter.’
The Times:
‘The advice from Sir Alex Ferguson to Rio Ferdinand was simple and direct. The man demanding the highest salary paid to a footballer in England, at a time when Manchester United supporters are enduring enormous season ticket price rises, should sign the contract offered to him and end the embarrassment convulsing the club.
‘The United manager did not hide his anger that Ferdinand's original description of a fleeting meeting with the Chelsea chief executive, Peter Kenyon, in a London restaurant on April 9 was far from the whole truth. The fact that they talked for three hours in two different venues immediately before Ferdinand presented salary demands of some £120,000 a week to the United board is, in his view, suspicious. "It is so obvious now that this was not as frivolous a meeting as was made out," Ferguson said yesterday. "David Gill is abroad and we have not had a meeting about it since the revelations, but I am sure we will be having one."
‘At their Friday meeting, Zahavi promised Ferdinand's response in "four to five days" but, asked whether Manchester United had taken a call from Kenyon - their former chief executive - to apologise for any embarrassment caused, Ferguson curtly replied: "Not to my knowledge." Relations between the two were strained during Kenyon's time in Manchester and yesterday the United manager remarked that Kenyon was now "in a stew".
‘So is Ferdinand. That he should be making what many see as outrageous salary demands against a club who publicly backed the defender and paid him £70,000 a week while he was serving an eight-month ban for failing to take a drugs test, would be a hard sell to the fans. That it should come at a time when Manchester United supporters have been told their season tickets prices will be increased by 26 per cent is abysmal timing.’
The Mirror:
‘Sir Alex Ferguson hauled Rio Ferdinand into his office yesterday to remind the defender of his debt of loyalty to Manchester United and to urge him to sign a new deal. Fergie's patience finally snapped with the 'tapping-up' scandal Ferdinand has found himself in following the United star's London dinner dates with Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon.
‘The United boss held one-to-one talks before training yesterday with Ferdinand over the England star's future and told him the best course of action was to sign the new three-year extension the club have offered him.
‘Although Ferdinand's agent Pini Zahavi wants his client to hold out for more money, Fergie is understood to have warned his £29.1million signing of the damage the controversy is doing to his reputation.’