Utterly classless from Ferdinand come out with that statement (quelle surprise)... however, he is right. The excuse given for leaving him out was a joke, we knew it at the time, but people played along because there are only so many places and Cahill and Lescott have played well. To select Kelly ahead of him based on "footballing reasons" is a joke, as Martin only played a few games for us last year (18 in total, to Rio's 38 for Utd). If it were me, I would have taken Kelly in the original 23 man squad and gone with a very young team with the World Cup in mind, but Roy didn't do that. The idea that Roy is selecting Kelly because he is interested in giving experience to youth is preposterous. If he was going to do that, the likes of Henderson and Kelly would have been selected ahead of Terry, Parker, Barry and Lampard in the first place. Let's face it, Rio has been left out so that the guy who (allegedly) racially abused his brother can lead England's defence in the Euros. What makes it so much worse is that Roy lied about it, saying it was footballing reasons. Horrible man. I would have preferred him to be honest, just come out and say "There is a controversy there, a difficulty between the players so I can only select one to ensure a good team atmosphere and I choose Terry based on his form." The injuries have caught him in his lie. I hope Lescott gets a knock, just so we can see Roy squirm and blather about how Ryan Shawcross had a better season than Ferdinand.
Does anyone doubt that if Terry had gotten injured, Rio would have been called up?