has finally responded to being branded a ‘clown’ by fellow pundit Jamie Carragher and has suggested his Hall of Fame induction might have motivated the unprovoked barb.
after Ferdinand claimed Inter Milan had been denied a ‘stonewall’ penalty in the first half of their 2-0 victory over in the last week.
After initially awarding a penalty, referee Jesus Gil Manzano was sent to the monitor by VAR to re-watch the incident and decided the contact was not sufficient to merit a spot-kick so reversed his call.
Ferdinand, though, remains adamant Inter should have been awarded a penalty and has hit back at Carragher, even hinting that his little insult may have been a result of the ex-Liverpool defender getting overlooked from the latest round of Hall of Fame nominees.
Responding to Carragher’s insult on his , Ferdinand said: ‘You know what the mad thing is, he’s a friend of the show and every time I see him it’s all love, man.
‘And I’m a loving guy and we hug and we shake hands and we have a little laugh.’
When it was suggested Carragher said it for views on social media, Ferdinand continued: ‘Clicks, clicks, clicks. That’s cool, that’s cool. But I don’t understand why he came with the hostility.
‘It’s a hostile energy I don’t understand it. Like I say, he’s been on our show. When we see each other it’s all cool. He used to carry my boots when we were with England and stuff like that.
‘The thing that it might have been is, it was the Hall of Fame week innit? That’s the only thing I can think.
‘Because me and him are cool, we chat, sometimes text here and there. I just don’t get it man. I’ve only got good energy for him.
‘Listen, I take it as banter but how a man delivers it is his own thing. I’m cool, yeah, but when you see me I just need to check that energy again.’
Asked if he got any message from Carragher afterwards, Ferdinand added: ‘My man’s always messaging me, this is what I’m saying. It’s just a madness to me. He’s always messages me, man.
‘We’ve been in England teams together! He carried my boots and stuff like that. He’s always showed me love. He shows me love all the time.
‘I don’t know where this energy has come from. That’s all I want him to tell me, where has this energy come from? Is it real energy or not? I need to know and when I see him I’ll ask him.’
On whether he still believes it was a penalty, Ferdinand added: ‘It was a penalty. If that was a Man United player in the box and his ankles got clipped, you are doing cartwheels and somersaults out of the Stretford End to try and get to the ref. The guys in the studio agreed with me by the way.’
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