Ferdinand: City players will be concerned about own financial plight

‘Am I getting paid?’ Rio Ferdinand claims Man City players will be worried about their OWN financial situation after they were charged by the Premier League with breaking over 100 rules… but insists they won’t get involved in ‘what’s happening upstairs’

• Rio Ferdinand discussed situation at Manchester City from player perspective
• Pundit compared the place the players find themselves in to his prior position
• Comments come amid Pep Guardiola’s defiance to the media on Friday  

Rio Ferdinand has said that the Manchester City players will be concerned about their own financial situation – though will not otherwise be taking much notice of what is happening ‘upstairs’ at the club.

City this week were charged by the Premier League with 115 alleged breaches of their financial rules. Pep Guardiola, the club’s manager, came out swinging on Friday, accusing the 19 other clubs of conspiring in their downfall. 

Speaking ahead of Chelsea’s trip to West Ham on Saturday lunchtime on BT Sport, Ferdinand compared the situation at City to that of his own while at Manchester United in the mid-2000s.

He said that the players will be concerned about a few things, including continued renumeration, participation in competition and whether or not they will be awarded a points deduction, or worse relegated. 

‘I think they players will look at it and think, “are we going to stay in the competitions?” he said. 

Rio Ferdinand compared the situation at Manchester City to that of his own at rivals United in the mid-2000s 

‘”We are hopefully not going to get a points deduction or be relegated. And am I getting paid?” That is the black and white of it from the players point of view. 

‘You don’t get involved in what is happening upstairs. I was at Manchester United with the Glazer stuff that was going on.’ 

Ferdinand was at Manchester United when the club was sold to the Glazers in 2005. 

The sale was met by widespread protests at the club, with supporters staying away and publicly expressing their displeasure at the arrival of the Americans, including with effigies outside the ground. 

‘You don’t really get engaged with that at all. The fans and players have a discrepancy, as a player you just want to get over the white line and win.’

Regarding Guardiola’s bullishness in front of the media on Friday, Ferdinand suggested that he would not have done such had he not been convinced that the club were innocent in the face of the charges levelled against them. 

‘It screamed to me that he had had a real in depth conversation with the powers that be and they have given him in no uncertain teams that they are innocent,’ he said.

‘And [they] have not broken any rules. I don’t see Pep Guardiola coming out – listen he is an intelligent guy and is experienced enough in this game – he is not going to pin himself to something where there could be holes in that. 

Ferdinand referenced the Glazer protests – but appeared to suggest players do not take much notice 

Ferdinand said that City’s players will not be focused on the happenings ‘upstairs’ at the club

‘I think the board and the owners have said, we are not guilty, stay with us, trust us. You have to come with us. I think he has listened to that and said this is my family and I am going to stick with them.’ 

The City boss himself said that he felt his players remained focused on the main task at hand and were not ‘distracted’ by the increasing noise surrounding the club. 

‘After if we did something wrong, which I don’t think is going to happen, we accept it. I said the same before with [the] UEFA [case] – I rely on them 100 per cent,’ he said.  ‘Why should my players be distracted? I’m confident in my players.’

Guardiola was in a bullish mood at his press conference ahead of his side’s hosting of Aston Villa on Sunday afternoon, 

Amid various astonishing lines, Guardiola took aim at the other 19 clubs in the Premier League, including naming the nine who supposedly lobbied the Court of Arbitration for Sport in 2020 to uphold City’s ban from European competition.

‘My first thought is that we are already being condemned,’ he said. ‘What has happened this week is the same as what happened with UEFA. With UEFA we were condemned.

‘We are lucky we live in a marvellous country where we have a society where everyone is innocent until proven guilty. We didn’t have this opportunity. We are already sentenced and “tough”.

‘I’m fully convinced that we will be innocent, and then what will happen next? Will it stop now?’

He went on to say that City were not part of the ‘establishment’ of the Premier League, but pleaded with the club’s supposed detractors to allow them to defend themselves.

Pep Guardiola launched an impassioned defence of Manchester City in the wake of unprecedented Premier League charges

‘They told me before they defend the accusation from UEFA, the club proved we were completely innocent, why should we not think [that] right now when we are being condemned from charges and suggestions?

‘Just in case we are not innocent we will accept what the judge in the Premier League decides, but what happens if in the same situation as UEFA? If we are innocent who is going to come back and return our damage? The damage is now for one decade

‘We are not part of the establishment of this league but at the same time I understand they can do it [accuse] but let us defend ourselves please. So that’s all.

‘They have opened a precedent right now, what they have done to us. Be careful, because in the future many clubs can make suggestions and there are a lot of clubs that can be accused like we are being accused without maybe being innocent.’

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