Rio Ferdinand has been criticised by Newcastle United fans for hypocrisy when it comes to his complaints with Manchester United’s owners - The Glazers. Ferdinand, who won countless trophies with Man United, was left angry after he watched them get hammered four-nil at Brentford on Saturday.
The one-time England international went on to criticise the Glazer Family for being absent in the midst of a crisis - which was a similar question Geordies had over Mike Ashley for the most part of his 14-year ownership of Newcastle.
Back in 2021, just months before Ashley finally sold United to the Saudi-led consortium, Ferdinand criticised Toon fans, even urging them to ‘take over the club’ themselves.
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Speaking on his YouTube channel FIVE, he said: “It’s his [Ashley's] club and he’s doing what he wants to do and what he thinks is right.
“Whether you like it or not, he’s the one that’s put the money up and he’s doing what he thinks is right for the club. Whether the Geordies like it or not - a lot of them hate him and don’t like him but round your money up and take over the club then.”
Ashley was rarely seen at Newcastle games and was often criticised for a lack of investment into the playing squad and training facilities. Ironically, in Ferdinand’s latest YouTube video, the centre-back pinpointed very similar issues with Man United and the Glaziers.
His co-host, Stephen Howson, asked if the training facilities are Man United are still world-class and leading, as well as questions about the playing staff. Yet it is Ferdinand’s comments on absent owners that angered Newcastle fans the most.
“If it’s going wrong,” he said, “it’s your company and it’s all hands on deck. You’re there and asking ‘what is going on? I want answers,’ and ‘I’m going front up, myself, and if anyone has any answers I am there and I’m going to go through it with a fine tooth comb,’ where are these people man?”
“Where are they? I can’t understand how you can see your business struggling so badly but still, you don’t come, you don’t see and you don’t stay here for a sustained amount of time until things start to improve and then you say ‘I’m okay to leave here.’
“I don’t know many big businesses, the real big owners, who would see their business on its knees, really struggling, that they take a hiatus and say ‘I’m just going to chill, stay at a distance, not get involved and not get my hands dirty.’
“Billionaire people who still have the desire, the heart, the attention to detail, the willingness to go in there and roll their sleeves up and say ‘I’m going to make this a success,’ these people are doing that. I don’t see it, and they wonder why people are calling for them to get out of the club.”
The hypocrisy of his take on the situation at Old Trafford in comparison to his reaction to criticism of Ashley is stark. Many fans also pointed out a previous comment from Ferdinand while appearing on BT Sport where he was asked why Newcastle, with proper investment, needed to be a yo-yo club. His response was again a defence of Ashley.
“He doesn’t want to do that anymore,” he told Jake Humphrey, “he’s been there, done that and wants to move on. What’s the problem?”
The problem was a well-supported club had become nothing but a shell. Fans by the time the club had been sold had fallen out of love with Newcastle United. Sick of an owner prepared to do the bare minimum with the aim to see the club survive but little else.
The problem was a lack of investment - in players, infrastructure and facilities. The problem was a club that had 16 consecutive years in the Premier League suddenly became a club constantly battling against the drop - failing twice to secure their Premier League status.
But perhaps the main problem was people without knowledge of the club telling pay fans to be happy with the club just existing. Ferdinand told fans to say ‘thank you’ to Ashley for investing in the squad for the club’s second Championship season under him.
That comment failed to address the fact that Newcastle had fallen into the second tier on the back of mistakes made by Ashley - they were paying the price for his lack of ambition. Fans were told to be grateful for Ashley - when in reality, the club was set so far back that whatever success comes under the current owner will take longer due to them having to right some very severe wrongs of the Ashley era.
Offering comment on the Man United situation would be unfair - those who follow Newcastle United would likely not do it for the very reason they’re watching from afar without any detail of what is really happening. And yes, some fans may be enjoying watching Man United falter and fall but few would tell fans to hold a whip round and buy their club.
But indeed fans have not held back in delivering that message to Ferdinand, who now perhaps understands the hurt and pain of a club being unloved and poorly led.
It is perhaps fitting Newcastle's first marker, now under the wealth of the Public Investment and with Dan Ashworth, Darren Eales and Eddie Howe leading the club, could be passing Man United. It may not be too long before Manchester United fans and Ferdinand look upon that ‘wee club in the North’ as something to be envious of.
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