Mark Goldbridge has told Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand to ‘bore off’ during an online spat following the Red Devils’ 1-0 victory over Chelsea.
United returned to winning ways at Stamford Bridge on Saturday night, with Matheus Cunha’s first-half strike enough to extend the Red Devils buffer over the Blues to 10 points, and put them in an emphatic position to secure Champions League football next season.
After the match, Rio Ferdinand took to social media app X to claim that interim head coach Michael Carrick ‘has to get the job’ at United, adding that there are ‘far too many people’ saying that his former team-mate shouldn’t get the full-time gig at Old Trafford.
Speaking in a video, Ferdinand said: ‘Show me who else is out there, realistically and gettable, who is going to come in, and you’re going to go “absolute surefire hit”.
‘For all that he has done at the moment, there are far too many people going, “yeah but I don’t think he should be the one because this, because that,” or not even giving a reason.
‘Everyone you speak about there is going to be big question marks over them, Michael Carrick is still going to have some question marks.
‘I’m not saying that he is going to go in there and if he gets the job, he is going to be perfect and 100 per cent easy. But he sure has put himself in a position that’s making it really difficult for anybody to go, “he can’t get it,” and justifiably say that.’
Goldbridge, a United-supporting content creator who has amassed 3.7million subscribers across two YouTube channels, seemed to take umbrage with Ferdinand’s remarks, and took to the comments section to aim a dig at the United legend.
‘Said nothing after Leeds. Bore off,’ Goldbridge wrote under Ferdinand’s video.
Ferdinand, who won 14 major trophies – including six Premier League titles and a Champions League – during a 12-year spell at Old Trafford, hit back at Goldbridge within two minutes of his reply.
The retired defender, who now resides in Dubai, wrote ‘Keep up Brent’, referencing Goldbridge’s real name, Brent Di Cesare, before adding a clip of himself critiquing United’s defeat to Leeds from earlier that week.
The spat between the pair came less than a week after Goldbridge’s YouTube channels The United Stand and That’s Football were acquired by Gary Neville’s media company The Overlap, which is majority-owned by radio and podcast giants Global.
The Overlap has paid an undisclosed seven-figure sum for the channels, which industry insiders believe to comfortably exceed £1m, as they seek to build ‘one of the most exciting football communities in the world’.
The deal will see Goldbridge continue to front both channels, while what is being described as ‘a significant expansion’ will follow.
The United Stand will be extended to include ‘Stick to United’, which will feature former players and journalists, and ‘The Daily United’, a daily United news strand. Other major clubs across Europe will also be targeted.
Neville, executive director of The Overlap, said: ‘We are building what we believe will become one of the most exciting independent football communities in the world – one that gives fans direct, personality-led content.
‘The United Stand and That’s Football are two of the best-known football channels on YouTube, and our intention is to develop them into the most compelling Manchester United and football news channels in the market.’
Goldbridge added: ‘I’ve spent the last 10 years building The United Stand for Manchester United fans and That’s Football for all fans, and I’m prouder of that than anything I’ve ever done. This deal is about what comes next.
‘The Overlap has the ambition, the credibility, and the resources to help me take what I do to the next level.’
