There was "a communication problem" between Sir Alex Ferguson and Rio Ferdinand over 'Kick It Out' t-shirt protest

Much was made after Manchester United's 4-2 win over Stoke City on Saturday about Rio Ferdinand's 'Kick It Out' protest and Sir Alex Ferguson hitting out against him for it. In the manager's press conference today, ahead of his side's UEFA Champions League clash tomorrow with Portuguese side SC Braga, he made it clear that he has no issue with Rio anymore after they talked about the situation at Carrington during training on Sunday. Here's what he had to say:

"The issue's quite simple. I've spoken to Rio. I think there was a communication problem. He felt I should have spoken to him on Friday and I obviously didn't anticipate that he'd have a problem wearing the shirt. My advice to him was that I always feel a union is stronger than an individual. It's important he airs his grievances to the right people, to the PFA As the manager of a club you lay down policy and you don’t want to see it ignored. That’s where my anger came from on Saturday. But we've resolved the situation, there's no lingering problems and we move on. That's the end of the matter."

- Ferguson | Source: ManUtd.com

So there you go -- it's not an issue because it's been dealt with. Let's all move on. Fergie also explained that Rio would be rested tomorrow for simple squad rotation purposes so be sure not to read much into that when he's not announced as one the starting XI players.