Anton Ferdinand

Date of Birth : 18th February, 1985 Place of Birth : Peckham, London Signed : December 2002 Position : Centre-Half Height : 6.00 Weight : 11.03 Appearances: 137 Goals : 5 International Appearances : 0

KB: KUMB; HM Hammers Mad; ST Sunday Times; SE Sunday Express; SM Sunday Mirror; OB Observer;
DM Daily Mirror; GU Guardian; TM Times; HD Hammers Diary; SK Sky; DE Daily Express

The Guardian: West Ham have a long tradition of youth development with Anton Ferdinand ranking among their brightest academy graduates. Here, though, Ferdinand was too often disappointingly slapdash, his display at centre-half, during which he was at fault for Reid's winner, contrasting markedly with that of Sunderland's equally elegant but defensively far meaner Jonny Evans whose game was encapsulated by a vital, impeccably timed, first-half tackle on Dean Ashton. If Reid has inspired Keane's side in the final third, the signings of Evans - on loan - and Phil Bardsley from Manchester United in January have provided resilience. Indeed, their goal apart, West Ham, who, having used all three substitutes, were reduced to 10 men in the 87th minute when Ljungberg was carried off on a stretcher with a hamstring injury, barely threatened Craig Gordon's goal. Maybe Curbishley should ask Keane for some tips on delivering rousing half-time speeches. (Louise Taylor, 31st March 2008)

KUMB: Ferdinand fell asleep as Huddlestone’s cross found Berbatov’s run – from an offside position - unchecked and the header gave Green no chance. Things went from bad to worse a couple of minutes later. Ljungberg gave away a foul on the right and once more Ferdinand was napping as Berbatov placed an identical header past Green. There we were, all the good work of the first few minutes undone by naivety and lax defending. (Gordon Thrower, 10th March, 2008)

Daily Mirror: Curbishley even took the unusual step of naming and shaming Anton Ferdinand as the defender who was supposed to mark Berbatov but lost him on both occasions. It is almost the unwritten rule in the managerial code not to name the offender and Arsene Wenger has only done it once in his 12 years as Arsenal manager when he singled out Nelson Vivas for costing them the title in 1999. But Ferdinand got it in the neck yesterday - even more than pantomime villain Luis Boa Morte who was sent off a minute before half-time for a second yellow card for persistent fouling. Curbishley said: "Anton has got to dig in. He gave a penalty away against Chelsea very early on and can't allow forwards free headers. Berbatov has got one and then another." (John Cross, 10th March, 2008)

The Times: Berbatov put them ahead after eight minutes, glancing a header low into the corner from Tom Huddlestone’s free kick. Only two minutes later, Spurs were two ahead with a mirror image of that goal. This time Huddlestone’s free kick was from the left and Berbatov escaped Anton Ferdinand to nod his second of the match and his nineteenth of the season. “Another set-play has gone in, and then another one,” Curbishley said. “Anton was specifically designated to mark Berbatov and he has got to dig in. You can’t allow centre forwards toget free headers.” (Nick Szczepanik, 10th March, 2008)

Hammers Mad: Floundering Fulham's winter of discontent continued at Upton Park after Anton Ferdinand responded to a half-time ear-bashing from Alan Curbishley to give West Ham the points. Although Simon Davies gave the Cottagers an early lead against a sloppy home defence, Dean Ashton headed Hammers level on the half-hour, before the former England Under-21 defender lashed home the winner midway through the second period.

Sky Sports: Ronaldo was presented with the chance to make it 2-0 midway through the second half, but he drilled his penalty wide after Jonathan Spector was penalised for handball. Yet West Ham had been the better side for large swathes of the game and drew level on 77 minutes when substitute Anton Ferdinand headed home Mark Noble's corner. Noble was the creator for his side's winning goal on 82 minutes, curling in a free-kick from the right which Matthew Upson rose well to meet for his first goal for the club.

The Observer: Mark Noble chased down a ball heading for the goalline before having the vision to pull it back for Anton Ferdinand. From just inside the penalty area he fired in a striker's finish and brought relief to Alan Curbishley and his still injury-ravaged side. "That was a big result for us because it cements our position in the top half and we'll see what the second half of the season brings," said Curbishley. On this evidence it promises more than to Fulham. (Philip Dorward, 13th December, 2008)

BBC Sport: Cristiano Ronaldo's missed penalty for Manchester United proved crucial at West Ham as the Premier League champions were beaten at Upton Park. United got an early let-off when Hayden Mullins hit the woodwork and Mark Noble blazed high from the rebound. Ronaldo quickly made the Hammers pay when he headed in a Ryan Giggs cross. But Ronaldo missed a penalty and that inspired West Ham into a late rally, which saw Anton Ferdinand and Matthew Upson each head in for the win.

Sunday Times: An innocuous foul by Giggs on John Pantsil, a right-back drafted in to the right of midfield in the second half, produced two further corners for West Ham, from the second of which Anton Ferdinand rose to head home. A draw would have been welcome enough, but five minutes later, from another set piece, a free kick also earned by Pantsil, Matthew Upson thumped another header past Tomasz Kuszczak for the winner. (Andrew Longmore, 30th December, 2007)

KUMB: It was game over on 86 minutes when Zamora lost the ball badly to allow a bursting run forward from Onuoha who laid off a pass to his fellow substitute Geovanni who smashed the ball past Green. In fact, were it not for a superb one handed save, the Brazilian would have had a second following an atrocious ball giveaway by Anton Ferdinand in time added on. (East Stand Martin, 13th August)

WestHamOnline: Just didn’t seem with it at times. I hark back to what I have said before about him – he just doesn’t concentrate for 90 minutes. He continues to do stupid things immediately after he has just done something really good. His distribution is still poor – he looks up and if there isn’t a pass straight away he seems to get bored and wants to get rid of the ball so just lumps it into space. Was ball watching for their first goal and his overall performance was poor. (Vinny, 11th August)

KUMB: Some players have a languid, laid-back style that is deceptive. Not this one. Lost the ball far too many times and seemingly wasn’t too worried too much about getting it back. (Gordon Thrower, 11th August)

KUMB: When they announced the name of Anton Ferdinand in West Ham’s team against Southend, a section of the crowd booed. My seven year-old grandson, who proudly wears Ferdinand’s number on the back of his West Ham shirt, looked up at me with a puzzled expression on his face. I know that Ferdinand’s behaviour last season left a lot to be desired. However, this attitude towards him seems very strange. As a teacher and parent of 35 years, I have always found that praising good behaviour is always more effective than criticising bad behaviour. I noticed at the end of the game, Ferdinand was the only player who came over to the West Ham crowd to sign autographs. Maybe it was his way of saying sorry. I would suggest we accept his apologies and get behind him for what could be an important season in the career of Anton Ferdinand. (30th July, 2007)

Anton Ferdinand signing autographs after the game against Southend

KUMB: Anton Ferdinand has revealed that he is looking forward to the challenge of retaining his first team spot next season.Ferdinand, who along with Matthew Upson, Calum Davenport, James Collins and Danny Gabbidon will be fighting for the two available central defensive spots revealed that he wasn't phased by the competition - and that he still saw his long-term future with the Hammers. "I definitely want to stay," he said. "I would not be at the club now if that was not the case. "I am happy to fight because if you're not playing well, you know you are not going to be playing the following week. (23rd July, 2007)

The Guardian: Young fired England's first penalty and was followed with an equally emphatic finish by James Milner. For Holland, Drenthe was first to flinch, but although Noble put England 3-1 ahead a miss by Hoyte meant sudden death. Matt Derbyshire, Anton Ferdinand, Scott Carson and then Liam Rosenior all scored before Reo-Coker had his effort blocked by Waterman. The drama, though, was still not over as Arnold Kruiswijk blazed over. Derbyshire missed England's 15th penalty but amazingly Daniel de Ridder followed suit. Ferdinand then became the fourth English player to miss and Zuiverloon put Holland into the final. (21st June, 2007)