Rio Ferdinand backed by Steve Bruce amid criticism following England loss

Former Manchester United captain Steve Bruce defended Rio Ferdinand following the England centre-half's lapse in the World Cup qualification defeat to Ukraine. 

Bruce, the Sunderland manager, has called for the United defender's mistakes to be seen in perspective after Ferdinand erred badly in the 1-0 defeat on Saturday and claimed his lack of match fitness was to blame for uncharacteristic gaffes.

"I think that to be fair to Rio he has made a couple of mistakes but we haven't seen him make a couple of mistakes in years and over the last few years he has matured into one top-class central defender," Bruce said. 

"When you analyse the big games he has played for England or Manchester United, his mistakes are very few and far between. Obviously now he has made a couple of mistakes and people are on his back.

"We have a trait in our country where we all jump on each other very quickly but the kid has played fantastically well for years now and he has had a couple of high-profile mistakes.

"We made a couple of mistakes and went down to ten men and at that level no matter who you are playing, especially Ukraine who needed a result; it was always going to be difficult and rightly so."

Bruce, who played more than 300 games for United from 1987 to 1996, is20 backing Old Trafford counterpart Sir Alex Ferguson to get Ferdinand back on track when their Premier League title challenge resumes this weekend.

"I think that Sir Alex will do what he normally does," Bruce said. "He will pull him aside and says don't worry about anyone else just please me and do that by putting in a performance for Manchester United and I'm sure he will

"The biggest thing for Rio is for him to play regularly. I don't care how good you are, if you're not playing week-in, week-our then you are going to find it very difficult and for Rio in particular to get himself 100 per cent fit and get back playing every week.

"In the intensity of an international game and in the Premier League in my experience it's vitally important you play every week

"I did it a couple of weeks ago with Lee Cattermole, he hadn't played, he hadn't trained for two weeks after the Under-21s and I put him back in against Wolves and it was too early and he's just a boy of 21. You learn from that."

Bruce has told striker Darren Bent that he will have to maintain his current form that yielded Sunderland seven goals this term to force his way into England head coach Fabio Capello's plans for the World Cup finals next summer.

"With Darren I've just told him to keep playing the way you have done,"

Bruce added. "He's been a breath or fresh air for Sunderland. He plays with a smile on his face. He enjoys being Sunderland's centre-forward and all he can do is keep doing what he has been doing, if he keep performing then he's got to gave a chance.

"We haven't got a great batch of strikers, in my day in the 1990s I could give you ten including (Les) Ferdinand, (Ian) Wright, (Alan) Shearer, (Peter) Beardsley, (Teddy) Sheringham and there were lots more.

"But at the moment Mr Capello is very loyal and you seem to find that with the big managers. They are very loyal to the people that have done well for them.

"It's a double-edged sword for a manager. You want your international ones to do well in internationals but I've been scouring the papers to see how the lads got on that went away."

Sunderland face Liverpool this Saturday at the Stadium of Light and Bruce will be banking on Bent and his team-mates to maintain their promising start to the season against faltering Premier League title challengers.

"We have started okay but it would have been a fantastic start if we'd held on last week at Old Trafford," Bruce said.

"All in all with the changes that we have made 15 players have gone and seven have come in – it has been a decent start and hopefully I can continue the good work because it is a terrific club."

 

Sepp Blatter threatens clubs who illegally poach players with points deduction

Sepp Blatter has warned clubs who illegally poach players in the future could face a points deduction.

Chelsea were last week banned from signing players until Jan 2011 after being found guilty of illegally inducing 16-year-old Gael Kakuta to leave Lyon in 2007.

Chelsea have appealed but Blatter believes that, after that case is decided, clubs who induce players to leave teams illegally should be hit "where it hurts", by having points deducted. The Fifa president also believes such a sanction should be imposed against clubs whose fans are involved in hooliganism or racism. 

Blatter, who was in Cardiff on Wednesday to open the Football Association of Wales's new training complex at the Vale of Glamorgan, has urged national associations to have the "courage" to take such drastic action.

"It is so right when you speak about taking points away," said Blatter, who referred to another case unrelated to Chelsea, adding: "We have already seen the reaction of a club who have said a player is registered with them but not as a professional player; he is only an amateur. This will not help because it's a question of age and not a question of if he has a contract or not."

Blatter believes serious crowd violence and cases of racism could also be dealt with harshly, but it would take a change in rules for such a harsh decision to be taken.

"The other day there was a big fight in Switzerland because the two leading clubs last season, Basle and Zurich, were not behaving well. In my opinion to have a match without spectators you punish football. You don't punish the clubs. You punish football. I would take one point away from each one and then it would be finished and there would be no more problems.

"Take racism. If there is a fine of £100,000 or £200,000, you will always find someone that pays the fine. But if you take away points then this will be an example.

"The national associations must have the courage to do so and then you will stop that. You have to touch them were it hurts. Take away points and you will see it is finished."

Blatter's feelings come following a call from Leeds chief executive Shaun Harvey, who claimed it was time to consider a points deduction for such crimes.

Blatter highlighted the concern around the world when he added: "Recently I met Luiz Lula, the president of Brazil, to discuss the 2014 World Cup, and at the end of the meeting he told me, 'Please stop the exodus of our young players. Stop it. Let them stay here'." 

By John Ley