WHY JOHN TERRY SHOULD BE SACKED AS ENGLAND CAPTAIN
– AND NOT BE FORGIVEN AGAIN THIS TIME
FRANK WORRALL reporting for your Weekly Sport.
THERE’S a saying that goes like this: The definition of insanity is doing the same thing time and time again…and expecting a different outcome. And another one that claims a leopard never really changes its spots…
So, just why did Fabio Capello take the biggest gamble of his footballing managerial career – and reinstate John Terry as his England captain last spring after sacking him a year previously?
Did he seriously expect Terry never to be in the dock over his conduct again?
If so, he was certainly naïve from a man who has managed some of the biggest club teams across the globe.
To recap, Terry had previous – and lots of it – when Capello initially took the armband off him in February 2010. Here are a few of the misdemeanours of the England captain…
1. A married father of twins, Terry is alleged to have had an affair with Vanessa Perroncel, the former girlfriend his old Chelsea team-mate Wayne Bridge.
2. Disrespect for the victims of 9/11. In 2001, was fined two weeks wages by Chelsea after a drinking session which culminated in the alleged harassment of American tourists at a Heathrow hotel in the immediate aftermath of the 9/11 attacks on New York.
3. In 2008 he parked his Bentley in a disabled bay in the high street in Esher, Surrey, while he and his family dined at a nearby Pizza Express. He was fined £60 and accused of being ‘arrogant’ by a local councillor.
4. In 2009 he was accused of organising a secret tour of Chelsea’s training ground, allegedly in exchange for £10,000.
5. In February 2010 the Daily Mail revealed he had allegedly been touting out his personal box at Wembley for £4,000 a match.
These plus other rumours and allegations made him an unlikely England captain and it was of little surprise when Capello sacked him from the job.
But it was an extraordinary U-turn when he then decided to reinstate him – Capello, a man of natural caution, was playing with fire.
Now there are allegations of racism against the England skipper involving the Queens Park Rangers defender Anton Ferdinand – but, quite rightly, that cannot be laid at his door as a new addition to his misdemeanours sheet. He is innocent until proven guilty on that score.
But if you looked again at other elements of that match between QPR and near neighbours Chelsea last Sunday you would see just why John Terry is unfit to lead his country.
The encounter typified just what a bad example he is to young children who look up to him as the captain of the English national side for guidance.
Terry is simply a disgrace in the way he constantly harasses and barracks referees, moaning about their decisions and aggressively back-chats to them throughout the game.
How very ironic it is that this man is meant to be one of the standard bearers of the Premier League’s much-vaunted Respect campaign – which is designed to improve respect from players to refs – and yet, in reality, he is one, if not the, worst abusers of it.
And that, irrelevant of the outcome of the Anton Ferdinand issue, is why Terry should be stripped of the captaincy of England once again – and NOT be allowed a reprieve this time.
Who to replace him? Long-term I would go for the young man who is set to replace him in the team itself – yes, the wonderfully talented, naturally gifted Phil Jones, of Man United, who is also a natural leader.
He is a younger version of Terry – but cleaned up, with much more natural ability.
In the short-term, as Jones matures, I would give the job to Steven Gerrard, the best player of our generation, along with Wayne Rooney.
But, unlike Rooney and Terry, he is not tainted by scandals – and he can lead the England team forward into Euro 2012 with a fresh breeze behind him.
Time for Capello to get this one right, methinks…
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