John Terry: Fit to be England Captain?

By:Ian
2010-02-01

Chelsea’s 2-1 victory over Burnley at Turf Moor made the headlines more because their front page headliner John Terry scored the winning goal,than because the win took them clear at the top of the Premier League ahead of Manchester United’s crucial clash at the Emirates stadium against Arsenal.

Since the News of the World exclusive revealed this weekend that Terry had an affair with former team mate Wayne Bridge’s partner at the time, French swimwear model Vanessa Perroncel. Not only that, but Perroncel became pregnant due to the affair and then had an abortion, paid for by Terry, who then supposedly gave the model £20,000 to “cheer herself up” after the procedure.

Initially, on the 22nd January, Terry was awarded a “super injunction” against the News of the World which stopped them publishing the story initially. Controversially, the injunction claimed human rights laws to allow Terry to win the injunction, but this decision was subsequently overturned on appeal, which ruled that Terry was not trying to save his reputation, rather more his earnings, allowing the News of the World to run the full story this weekend.

It isn’t the first time Terry has been involved in controversy of this nature, the former “Dad of the Year” was reported to have cheated on his wife, Terri, with at least eight women before they were married in 2007, famously stating;
“I’ve misbehaved and slept with girls behind her back and that’s not right. She knows about it all now and we’re moving on. I’m not going to cheat on her ever again.”

Doleful words of contrition may sound from the heart, but just a few short weeks after this Terry was involved in an incident in his car with a 17 year old girl. He was involved in the group of Chelsea players widely condemned for mocking American passengers the day after 9/11 and just recently he was backed by the Football Association after being filmed facilitating tours of the Chelsea training ground to wealthy clients of a well known ticket tout.

While none of the many incidents that have dogged Terry throughout his career will have had any real impact on his place in the England team, this one may well. Bridge, a former team mate at Chelsea and a current team mate with England, is thought to be furious at the revelation. With a potential rift between Terry and Bridge in the England squad, is it conceivable that Terry could lead England at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa in good faith?

Certainly there are no issues regarding his footballing abilities. The fact he managed to put in such a good performance, scoring a goal, against Burnley at the weekend is testament to the fact that Terry can somehow alienate his private life from his footballing life, but even after he scored the goal, there was no outburst of emotion. No joy in his celebration. He played with his heart, but his eyes were dead.
That’s no good for the captain of England.

There’s also the very real problem of the relationship between Bridge and Terry which is already, according to some reports, causing a rift in the England dressing room. Terry’s one saving grace may be that Bridge’s form and injury concerns could see him miss out on the finals anyway, but that does not excuse his behaviour.

Fabio Capello has a tough decision to make. John Terry the footballer is a fantastic leader of the England team. John Terry the man, sadly, is most definitely not.