The revelations of John Terry’s affair with Vanessa Perroncel have dominated the headlines since the story broke last week and it looks like it’s far from being over, with the news of the World apparently ready to uncover more scandals this Sunday.
The Chelsea skipper has shamed the England captaincy with his antics on more than one occasion, and it could be argued he never deserved it in the first place. This isn’t the first time he’s cheated on his wife and as we told you in our catalogue of shame, cheating isn’t Terry’s only vice.
Debate has raged all week whether Terry would resign from the captaincy, face the sack by Fabio Capello or be allowed to lead England out at the World Cup this Summer. Capello answered the question yesterday by stripping Terry of the captain’s armband in a decision that shouldn’t have been needed to be made. the England captaincy is the single greatest sporting honour to aspire to in England and it has never been as disgraced as it has by Terry.
When the judge lifted the “super injunction” and allowed his antics to be published in the national newspapers it should have been followed by a statement from John Terry announcing his immediate resignation. It would have been the first and last act of honour Terry had done as captain of England, but as it happens he chose to ignore calls from the general public, pundits and journalists by insisting he wouldn’t resign. It was probably his last act of selfishness before Capello took just 12 minutes to give john Terry the bad news in a meeting yesterday.
The right thing has been done. the armband was disgraced and the offender has been removed from his position, but it’s hard to see who the winner is in all of this.
Terry has lost the armband. Wayne Bridge has had to suffer humiliating headlines in the press. Vanessa Perroncel has been portrayed as a bit of a slapper. John Terry’s wife has shown herself to be a bit of a silly mare for standing by the serial love cheat. And the children involved will grow up knowing that one of their parents is a dishonest love rat.
The only person to emerge with a bonus from this is Rio Ferdinand, who has been promoted from his position as vice captain, to full captain. It’s an honour I’m sure he’s always wanted and he was arguably a better candidate than John Terry from the start, but would he have wanted to ‘earn’ the captaincy under these circumstances? I highly doubt it.
The England national team too will suffer. When Bridge and Terry take to the pitch or even the training ground, there is sure to be a certain amount of tension that will cause unrest amongst the rest of the squad. some will remain loyal to Terry, while others who are friendlier with bridge will be sickened by What Terry has done to his team mate and long term friend.
There are still some Terry sympathizers though. Jason Cundy voiced his opinion straight from Terry’s arse on Talksport, while the feeling on several Chelsea forums I’ve read seems to be that Terry has been the victim of a witch hunt.
What it boils down to is that John Terry, as England captain, has negatively affected the lives of his wife, Wayne Bridge, his Chelsea and England team mates, his children and Bridge’s child. The mood the revelations has inflicted on the England dressing room remains to be seen, but it could potentially affect the morale of the team as opinion is bound to be split.
The England captain is supposed to set an example to the rest of the players and be the representative of the England national team. He has failed in his duties and has quite rightly been stripped of the honour. And while order hasn’t quite been restored, the sacking of John Terry is most definitely a step in the right direction.
February 12th, 2010
Everyone can list the offences of Ferdinand and Terry and they can be a biased as you want depending on whether you are a Utd or Chelsea fan or not. The reality is that Gerrard was always the choice of the majority of fans. He should be captain and Rooney should be vice. They are the only two world class players in the England squad. They should be the first two names on the team sheet and should play in their best positions and not continually shafted to fit in less talented players. They are also good mates off the pitch and will work together well. If the FA concentrated on football and not fitting their Cockney wide boys in all the time England may have a chance in the future. At the moment football interests are not a priority for the suits in London.