Rio Ferdinand broke the habit of a lifetime on Tuesday night and heaped praise on Manchester City's fans ahead of their Champions League clash with Real Madrid.
Providing analysis on BT Sport, the former Manchester United defender said: "When we came to the stadium this evening, they [the Man City supporters] know it's business time. There are lots of fans here, flags all over the place, loads of Real Madrid fans here as well so I'm looking forward to it."
While Ferdinand didn't go over the top with his comment, his words are a far cry from his usual stance on how well supported the Manchester club is. Back in 2014, when the former defender was still a player with QPR, he couldn't help but poke fun at City's fans during their Champions League clash with Roma.