RIO HAS TO FOLLOW THE FAB 'N' FERGIE SCRIPT

WITH impeccable timing, Rio Ferdinand chose Friday morning to come out "blasting" the "critics" who have dared to suggest he has not been at his best this season.

Not a bad way to squeeze even more publicity for the film he has helped produce and which previewed in London's West End the previous night.

Rio has always been savvy like that. Even when he was a teenager breaking through at West Ham you could see that his talent would extend beyond the fooball pitch.

Tall, dark and handsome, Rio emerged from the tough streets of south London with a sense of style. Not just because of the way he performed as a ball-playing centre half but also the way he conducted himself.

As much as he loved the game, he saw a bigger world out there and even in his late teens felt a need to try and help put something back into the complex community he had risen from.

And he had a point recently when he suggested that troubled kids from inner city areas are more likely to look up to and listen to role model footballers than be persuaded away from a life of crime by politicians.

But in many ways that is part of the problem.

Too many of the youth yearn for the vast wealth and Hollywood lifestyles players now enjoy and want a short-cut to that rather than a decent education. Too many of them see it all as easy, fast money without understanding that on top of possessing talent a boy must make huge sacrifices and offer total dedication to make it as pro footballer.

And even then success in the game and the rewards that follow can ride on luck. Most won't want to make those sacrifices or get the breaks so will turn to what they see as the best alternative to quick cash, street crime.

That's why it is a pity Ferdinand's first big venture into mainstream movies - his money and profile helped bring the project together - was yet another film about gangsters and guns rather than an uplifting story based on his own rise to fame.

I do not necessarily think Ferdinand has taken his eye off the ball because of his expanding business empire.

But if there are too many more moments when he seems to switch off, then it could become an issue for Sir Alex Ferguson and Fabio Capello who surely want him concentrating on their scripts for success.

I prefer to believe Rio's rallying call which insists he will take the stick on the chin and bounce back stronger, starting with today's clash against Liverpool.

England certainly need a focused Rio at the top of his game next summer in South Africa.

From what I have heard about the film Dead Man Running, he should realise he has got a lot more chance of winning a World Cup medal than an Oscar.

• BECKHAM CAN WIN US THE WORLD CUP
• UNITED MAKE COST-CUTTING MEASURES
• VAN DER SAR SCARE FOR UNITED

This article has 2 comments