John Terry Stripped of Captaincy
As expected England captain John Terry was releaved of his duties as captain of his country on Friday after a brief 12 minute face-to-face meeting with manager Fabio Capello.
Capello had been in Switzerland recovering from a knee operation when the news broke about John Terry’s affair with England teammate Wayne Bridge’s ex-girlfriend and mother of his child. While media speculation had assumed Terry would be removed as captain, Capello did not make a final decision until he returned to London on Friday and had a chance to hear from Terry personally. The decision is reported to have been made in the spirit of “good team ethic”.
As England continues on in it’s preparation for World Cup 2010, Rio Ferdinand is favorite to replace Terry, however other names including Wayne Rooney have been mentioned for the honor.
Being the captain of a national team a huge responsibility. The conduct displayed by the captain is a direct reflection of his team, hence the reason they generally appoint someone who is responsible on and off the field. This is embarassing for John Terry, he’s married and has kids with another woman and to get caught up in this really makes me think twice about Terry as a person. It’s not like he slept with a random woman, Wayne Bridge and Terry were teammates at Chelsea and this was obviously pre-metitated. This is a slap in the face to all the England players, if I were in the England squad I would feel betrayed. I would like to think that bringing my lady around my teammates would be a safe thing to do, John Terry proved that as an inaccurate statement. I’m love John Terry as a player, I think he’s terrific. He’s probably the best center defender England has on the team sheet, but team moral and team chemistry and far more important than any one player in a tournament of this magnitude. I’m excited to hear that the captaincy was stripped from him, that leaves room for the one and only, super man, and everyones’ captain fantastic: Steven Gerrard!