Source: Telegraph
Embarrassing John Terry must give up England captaincy
If Terry is forced to resign, as seems likely, the armband would pass to either Wayne Rooney, the most popular player in the dressing room, or Rio Ferdinand, the present vice-captain. Steven Gerrard is too inhibited an individual to be England captain while Frank Lampard, though popular, could find it difficult to succeed his club-mate. [LNB]I like Terry, the one natural leader in the England dressing room, a player so passionately committed to the cause of St George that he willingly endures jabs just to get his stiff back through games, but this really is an embarrassment too far. It's time for him to stand down. [LNB] Related ArticlesJohn Terry has lost the air of invincibilityJudge lifts super injunction over John Terry affairIn the public interestBurnley v Chelsea: match previewAncelotti: Lampard 'best in world'Transfer TalkUnless Terry somehow pulls off his greatest ever piece of defending, surviving the firestorm of headlines hurtling his way, then it would be little surprise if England were led out by Rooney for their first World Cup game against the United States in Rustenburg on June 12. Terry could even be gone by the March friendly with Egypt. This weekend will be a brutal one for Terry and the FA. [LNB]The game's governors are torn. Some senior members of the FA hierarchy want Terry either to relinquish the captaincy or for Fabio Capello to strip him of the honour. Other members of the FA believe it is a decision solely for Capello, who has stood by his captain during past indiscretions. [LNB]Ian Watmore, the FA chief executive, said before Christmas, during the last wave of allegations against Terry, that any decision would be up to Capello and the England coaching staff. 'It's their call on all matters to do with the playing side and the captaincy,'' stressed Watmore. [LNB]Watmore, though, has never experienced the whirlwind about to rattle the FA windows and lift tiles off the roof. Momentum builds up, columnists weigh in, point-scoring politicians leap on the bandwagon, and eventually somebody falls on their sword. [LNB]The details are vastly different but this Terry affair carries so many echoes of the growing wave of disapproval, including the intervention of the then Prime Minister Tony Blair, that accounted for former England captain Glenn Hoddle after his ludicrous comments about the disabled. [LNB]Such an observation about Terry's predicament is not rooted in hysteria. Just history. [LNB]Terry is not the type to resign, so this could drag on, a damaging plot-line in the drama of England's 2010 World Cup preparations. Every press conference will experience detours down tawdry paths. [LNB]The right of Watmore and chairman Lord Triesman to continue leading the FA will also be brought into question if it appears that they have any sympathy towards Terry. [LNB]At the very least, Terry's situation will be discussed with Capello next week when the Italian returns to work following his recuperation from knee surgery. [LNB]The daily headlines will continue to question his fitness to lead. In Fleet Street parlance, this story has legs and will run and run. [LNB]There are those within the FA who never thought Terry a suitable candidate to captain England anyway. Old battle-lines are being drawn up again. [LNB]With the World Cup only five months away and a bid to host the 2018 tournament in full swing, Terry's latest troubles will mortify the FA. [LNB]The moment the injunction was lifted yesterday on the disclosure that Terry conducted an extra-marital affair with Vanessa Perroncel, the former girlfriend of Wayne Bridge, the FA was plunged into the sort of crisis that it had sought to avoid ever since the dark days of the Dentist's Chair, Hoddle's crazed comments and Faria Alam, the Soho Square typist with the tryst-list. [LNB]Under Watmore and Triesman, the FA has actually become a calmer place. So had the England dressing room under Capello until the disclosure of Terry's affair. [LNB]It's only football, hardly a bastion of morality, but certain standards are still expected of the England captain. [LNB]Terry's standing with the dressing room will inevitably be undermined by the disclosure that he had an affair with a fellow-international's then girlfriend. The dressing-room dynamic, which has been particularly strong since Capello was appointed to the manager's role, would be threatened. [LNB]If Bridge announced his international retirement, arguing that he could not play in the same team as Terry then the England side would be further damaged. [LNB]Bridge is hardly the world's greatest left-back but England are desperately short of cover for Ashley Cole, particularly with Kieran Gibbs now injured. Understandable sympathy for Bridge within the England squad would also mean internal criticism directed at Terry. [LNB]However cynical most professionals are, there are those within the England dressing room who will take a moral stance on Terry's behaviour as a man and as a captain. [LNB]If it seems that Terry's conduct and continued ownership of the captain's armband affects morale going into a World Cup then Capello has no choice. Terry should go. [LNB][LNB]Affair with French model [LNB]John Terry had an extra-marital affair with Vanessa Perroncel, a French-born underwear model who was until December the long-term girlfriend of his fellow England defender Wayne Bridge. [LNB]Lawyers for the £150,000-a-week England and Chelsea captain had obtained a 'super injunction' to prevent newspapers disclosing the affair, but that restriction was lifted yesterday in the High Court by Mr Justice Tugendhat. [LNB]Sources close to Bridge say he is 'in bits' after hearing about the affair. The Manchester City defender was one of Terry's closest friends and a team-mate at Chelsea until last January. [LNB]Terry, 29, married his long-term girlfriend Toni Poole at Blenheim Palace in 2007, in a £1 million ceremony which was largely funded by a lucrative deal with OK! Magazine. Bridge and Miss Perroncel were among the guests at the wedding. [LNB]
