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Rio Ferdinand faces battle to get back into QPR side, says Harry Redknapp QPR’s Harry Redknapp defends banned Rio Ferdinand as a ‘top-class person’
(about 1 hour later)
QPR’s Rio Ferdinand, banned for three games after being found guilty of misconduct for an abusive Twitter comment, faces a battle to get back into the first team, according to Harry Redknapp. Harry Redknapp has launched a staunch defence of Rio Ferdinand as a “top-class person” despite his three-match FA ban – but warned the defender faces a battle to win back his place in the QPR side.
The 35-year-old former England captain directed a jibe at a Twitter follower who criticised him last month, containing the word “sket”, which the Collins English Dictionary defines as “a promiscuous girl or woman”. Redknapp hailed Ferdinand’s character, in spite of the former England defender being banned and fined £25,000 for comments made on social network Twitter.
Ferdinand, who has made an indifferent start at Loftus Road following his arrival from Manchester United, was also fined £25,000 and ordered to attend an education programme as part of the punishment. The 35-year-old former England captain directed a jibe at a follower who criticised him last month, containing the word “sket”, which the Collins English Dictionary defines as “a promiscuous girl or woman”.
Redknapp, speaking in the build-up to QPR’s game against the Premier League leaders Chelsea on Saturday, said he had not seen the FA’s report and could not comment on it, or whether the club would appeal against the ruling. While Redknapp said the club are still weighing up whether to appeal, he believes there is no need to talk to Ferdinand about his conduct.
He did, however, discuss the form of his defence. Ferdinand missed QPR’s match against Liverpool on 19 October – a game in which they played far better than they had been with him in the team, despite losing 3-2. They also played well without Ferdinand to beat Aston Villa 2-0 at Loftus Road on Monday, a result that saw them move off the bottom of the Premier League table. “We’ve not seen the FA report yet so we really can’t comment. We’re not sure exactly what he’s done and what the charge is and what the reasons are behind it. So until we see that, I’ve not seen it, we’re not in a position to comment on it.
“The lads who played at the back played very well,” said Redknapp. “They were outstanding and I thought Richard Dunne was man of the match the other night. “I’ve not spoken to Phil [Rangers CEO Philip Beard], the chairman or Rio about it. We’ll have to sit down and see what the circumstances are. I don’t know much about it.
“Rio understands that. The team played well against Liverpool and now he just has to wait for his chance to get back in and he has to keep working hard until the opportunity comes.” “Rio does know how to behave off the pitch, I’ve not had many footballers behave better off the pitch than Rio, on the pitch and off the pitch. I don’t have any problems with the way Rio conducts himself. I haven’t met many classier footballers in my time than Rio Ferdinand, he’s a top-class person.
Ferdinand hinted last week that he was considering retiring at the end of the season, but Redknapp said that despite the current situation, Ferdinand was still part of his plans. “I don’t need to talk to him about it, not really. I don’t read Twitter, I don’t even know what it is, I wouldn’t know how to read it and it doesn’t interest me one little bit.”
“I want Rio available for every game, that’s for sure. He will get back into the team. We haven’t got that many defenders, Clint Hill is coming back which is good, Nedum Onuoha is out with a hamstring, that was a blow to us, we are not overloaded there.” Redknapp said it would be a blow to lose Ferdinand for three matches – though warned he will face a battle to win back his place in the side after the defence performed well without him in the win over Aston Villa.
Redknapp said he knew nothing about social media and did not know what Twitter was and said he had no idea of exactly what it was that Ferdinand had done wrong. “The lads who played at the back played very well. They were outstanding and I thought Richard Dunne was man of the match the other night. Rio understands that. He just has to wait for his chance to get back in and he has to keep working hard until the opportunity comes.
Ferdinand, who made 81 appearances for England, the last in June 2011, is a member of the FA chairman Greg Dyke’s commission looking at how to improve English football. “[But] we’re not overloaded with fit defenders, so I want Rio available for every game, that’s for sure.”
Redknapp also refused to rule Adel Taarabt out of contention for Saturday’s Premier League trip to Chelsea, after the Morocco forward pledged to fight for full fitness in a training-ground meeting on Monday.
“He came to see me on Monday and we had a great chat,” said Redknapp. “He admitted he needed to get fitter: he wants to get fit, wants to play, wants to get back in the team, and that’s all I needed to hear from him.
“I felt having spoken to him I didn’t want to stick him into the reserves as the only senior player amongst the kids, because Sean [Wright-Phillips] wasn’t going to play. So instead he came out and worked, and worked very, very hard with the first-team group, he put in a real shift.
“I’m delighted with the way he’s trained, his attitude and I was pleased with the chat we had. He held his hand up and said ‘I do want to play and I can get fitter, and I want to get back in the team’. If it turns him round and he comes back, shows everyone what he can do, then it will be great.
“He’s got fantastic ability, and it would be one the great crimes in football if he doesn’t realise that. I wouldn’t hesitate to put him in the squad [to play Chelsea], he’s trained well.”