Ferdinand and Hodgson make the team.

Its official Lollipop. After a tension fuelled World Cup qualifier and a controversial announcement Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand and England boss Roy Hodgson have accepted offers to join FA Chairman, Greg Dyke’s England Commission.

Just one day since Sports Minister, Helen Grant and FA Director Heather Rabbatts – the only female member of the committee surprised the world of football by criticising the groups all white, all male make up, Ferdinand has joined the ranks.

Jamaican born Rabbatts wrote to Dyke and fellow board members to voice her frank opinion on the lack of diversity on the panel.

She said: “The FA should be leading by example, not reinforcing entrenched attitudes.”

“I make the comments about diversity not because they are additional to this matter but because they lie at its heart.”

Although the FA were talking to Ferdinand  around 48 hours before Rabbatts’ comments on his place in the commission her words put pressure not just on Dyke but on English football to truly represent diversity on an international scale.

The group’s main concern is how to increase the number of England-qualified players appearing for the country’s top clubs. But with the appointment of Ferdinand and such controversial comments from someone within the commission have their concerns now turned to the call for FA Diversity?

It’s unlikely anything will over shadow England’s desperate need for success on the international field but Rabbatts comments have definitely been heard.

And now Ferdinand must feel the strain to bring his experience of winning six Premier League titles with Manchester United and 81 caps with England to the group.

As the first non-white member of the 10-person panel his appointment could be seen as tokenism. Plus critics have not forgotten how the footballer missed an FA drug test and was banned for eight months in 2003.

Revered captain. Drugs test dodger. Whatever you want to call him Ferdinand has made the team and Rabbatts comments or his previous mistakes should not demean his continued success.

Even before the FA made their decision Dyke said the fact that Ferdinand is a current Manchester United player needed to be taken into account and if he had the necessary time to fully participate on the commission.

But the chairman rightly said: “As a current player with forthright views and opinions on the game, we can look forward to Rio providing significant insight and experience.”

The announcement does not shut the door on FA diversity. At a time when Tottenham player Andros Townsend made such a huge impact on England’s win its incredible – no lunacy that there are hardly any representatives from ethnic communities. But Lollipop cannot wait to see what Ferdinand has to offer.

As former captain and player just what more could the 34-year-old bring to English football?

 

Not bad at all Jay-Z

After the release of his twelfth studio album this summer Magna Carter Jay-Z is back on tour in Manchester attempting to sell out concerts for the umpteenth time.

The 43-year-old took to the gothic simplistic arena stage with producer and friend Timbaland to take on Manchester Phones 4 U Arena.

Dressed in black and gold chains with multiple TV screens showing his face and the eclectic loud base kicking in it seemed like a typical hip-hop performance. And as he opened with his hit collaboration of the Summer, Holy Grail I questioned whether this was all just a promotion after the announcement of Justin Timberlake’s UK dates for the 20/20 Experience World Tour.

But the 17 Grammy award-winning rapper was emphatic and the Manchester crowd’s screams were ecstatic. “Who of y’all got that Magna Carter?” he asked the crazed fans as he leapt into Oceans (with the recorded singing of Franck Ocean) and other collaborations he produced with Drake and Rick Ross.

With his musical career spanning since 1995 Jay- Z knows he is more acclaimed for his earlier work. The last hour of relentless rap was dedicated to previous hits from his sixth studio album the Blueprint as the crowd split into two for “Jigga that N***a” then “99 Problems” from the Black Album erupted the arena.

His lifespan of hits show just how long the artist has been around and as the sweat dripped from his face, he croaked: “Manchester you ready?”

After a much-needed break Timbaland took over while the star caught his breath back stage. Most critics would say this emphasized his age and that maybe he should have stayed in ‘retirement’ back in 2005. But when the likes of Nicki Minaj and Rihanna take tons of costume change breaks it is hard to criticise Jay-Z for withdrawing.

With acts like  Justin Bieber and Chris Brown still up and still coming now is not the time for withdrawals.

The star ended with his Grammy award-winning single Numb/Encore with the lyrics, “I came I saw I conquered,” ringing in people’s ears.

“Hard Knock life” then “Forever Young” concluded the two-hour rap fest leaving the crowd in Manchester reminiscing off his greatest hits.

The Magna Carter World Tour may have left even the most of religious fans questioning whether he could still “Run this Town,” at 43 with Beyonce and baby in toe.

“Enough is enough I’m calling this off,” blasts Jay-Z in Holy Grail. But as a rapper, entrepreneur and record producer could he ever do just that.

Not just yet  Manchester.

At Manchester Arena and touring