RIO Announcement Today?

Most in the media seem to going with the 3 months ban.

Good luck Rio (you MUPPET!!!! |I )
hope it aint too severe as England are really going to need him this summer.

[GETT1NLOTS]

Strange post that coming from a Man Utd fan.

Mind you I admire your honesty at least.

He will need to improve more if he's to play for England this summer. My mate goes to OT week in week out and he gets very nervous every time Rio's on the ball.

Its a Joke the way he's been treated IMO, let him get back to concentrating on football i say, if what we read is true he should get a bollocking at worst.

cheers notty....

the rumour at OT was that he legged it deliberately coz he was under treatment for something a little embarassing :o

either way i will be upset to see him banned. the 30 mill price tag was not his fault but unfortunately a lot of Utd fans seem to want to blame him for it. admittedly he is not playing well but neither is fans favourite Mickey silvestre but he doesnt get any stick???
Rio reminds me of Pallister, quick, comfortable on the ball etc but prone to ball watching and defensive lapses. Pally had Bruce and Schmeichel to help maintain his concentration !!
Rio needs a similar player and G.Nev at the moment is the only likely candidate.

As for england i thought Rio and Sol were easily the best centre half partnership in the last world cup and we will miss them. Terry is good but i still think he has a bit to do yet.

[GETT1NLOTS]

Yeah Rio had an excellent World Cup. He would still be in my first eleven for England.

I can't believe I'm reading this!
The woman who was in charge of his doping test got the sack yesterday!
She has a mortgage, she may have kids to support but she's in the dole queue today.

Shankley was wrong: football is only a game, nothing more, but a good deal less for this woman.
Jeez.

8 months |I

The message is fairly clear: if you're in doubt about your blood\urine test, do a runner and you'll only do time the rest of this season and the summer, be up and running more or less for the next football season.
You sad, sad people.
8 years would have been about right.

[alexmac]

8 MONTHS

That is shocking, especially with what has been written in the papers recently. I am sure Man U will appeal against the decision though. He will be out for the Euros if the ban stands, bad news for England.

tell me about it mate
>:
im still in total and utter shock.
im not posting my views yet as i really need to calm down.
gonna sleep on it and post tomorrow. >:

[alexmac]

He took a test the next day I believe, if he had any reasons to be in doubt then surely they would have come up in this test???? Illegal substances etc. do not simply dissapear from blood/urine overnight, do they? IMO Rio has been made a scapegoat in this case. There have been various blunders which have come to light here....I think he has been very hard done by...IMO.

[Big Andy]

8 months and 50K fine. mmmmmmmmm

it`s not enough imo, but it`s still serious food for thought for any big time charlie who thinks he can disregard such serious guidelines and responsibilities

the fine won`t hurt him, it was always going to be a waste of time, but the ban will hurt surely.

he`s still got the appeal I suppose but I doubt he`ll get it turned over.

You sad, sad people.

Thats a bit fierce Peter, we all have our views.

[GETT1NLOTS]

You know I am torn here.

Part of me says that Rio is hard done by and that 8 months is ridiculous considering he took the test the next day. Plus I am an England fan and this will hurt our chances in the EC this coming summer. Plus a Man city player got only a two week fine for something similar this season didn't he?

The other part of me says that all footballers are overpaid morons and it is about time someone brought someone into line. Just look at the Rugby Union boys and the difference is so stark it is almost embarrassing for footballers.

Lastly rules are rules in most sports. That Scottish skier (Campbell?) lost his bronze medal for using a USA Vics nasal spray. In this respect Ferdinand knows how it feels to fall foul of the rules that he was well aware of.

However I am selfish in some respects – aren’t we all just a little bit? And as an Englishman I wish the example could have been made on someone else and not on a man who has the potential to be one of our finest players.

BTW I can only imagine (pure conjecture here) that his phone records proved his contention, that he tried to get back the same day, was complete Bulllshit?

[alexmac]

Gettin, I think the scottish lad was called Alan Baxter?

[GETT1NLOTS]

He's the one mate.

Many apologies Mr Baxter.

[alexmac]

Don't both 'Baxters' and 'Campbells' make tinned soup?????

That must be what mixed you up mate!

[Aykay1]

Im in 2 minds here aswell - as a gooner obviously im glad to see rio out for the rest of the season (although wes brown isnt a bad replacement!).

Rios been a @#%$, i dont think anyone can dispute that, and im assuming that due to the severity of the ban, the FA seem fairly convinced that he did a runner from the testers rather than forgot to take the test.

I am getting concerned though about the influence the media are having on football nowadays. I have come to realise over the past couple of months just how powerful and how much of an influence the media can be. It is probably a bit too powerful for my liking.

Here i go on my rant.

Whichever way u look at the old trafford incident with keown, rvn etc, when you look at what happened in the cold light of day, all that happened was some pushing and a bit of verbal. Yes we were wrong i admit, but its hardly an all out brawl is it?

In my opinion the media put so much pressure on the FA to deal with the Arsenal players severely, that in the end the FA felt they had to comply to divert a backlash. It was just handbags. end of.

The same thing has happened with Rio i think. The press have spent the last few months undermiming the FA's authority and this has given them the perfect opportunity to show the press "who the daddy is" (for want of a better phrase!)

I just wonder when the FA will treat all clubs the same, They crucify Arsenal for the handbags at Old Trafford then let off Southampton & Black burn for a far more serious ruck. If what happened at Old Trafford is worse than Souness removing his jacket and beckoning the Southampton bench over for a ruck in the tunnel then im a spurs fan. How much publicity was there about the brawl with Southampton and Blackburn? (during which there were punches thrown i might add.)

Not a squeak. The Old Trafford stuff was on the front page on the joke of a paper they call the Sun, yet the Soton/Blackburn brawl didnt even make it out of the match report. The report even took the stance that "boys will be boys" and that because Souness was a lovable hardman in his playing days that it was amusing too see him transfer this to his managerial duties. Crass hypocrisy.

Then today, you must ask the question whether Mr Forgetful is guilty or not, would the sentence have been the same if the player played for say Bolton?

Ive been on Arsenal message boards and people on there are saying how great it is 'an all. But the ban itself is completely unprecedented and, in my opinion, very harsh.

If it had been Sol Campbell for examplethe reaction would be completely different!

To round this off i would just like to say that if i hear anybody else say that Big Clubs get favourable treatment i will scream.

[GETT1NLOTS]

The big clubs get favourable treatment.

[Aykay1]

AAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!