Adrift on a raft of tabloid allegations regarding his players’ private lives, before this match Carlo Ancelotti declared he wished to “judge my players on their professional behaviour”. Little wonder he lost his rag at half-time. The intention of the noon kick-off was to quell any potential crowd trouble and it appeared to have the knock-on effect of troubling Ancelotti’s side on the pitch.

“When we went back into the dressing [room] today the manager was crazy,” Mikel John Obi said. “He went mad at us. We knew we could do better. But we came out in the second half and that’s what we gave him. He shouted at us in English and ­Italian – everything. When he’s mad he mixes everything up. He was not happy.”

It was not surprising the normally sanguine Italian gave his charges the bilingual what for. Didier Drogba aside they were awful in the opening 45 minutes. Joe Cole was hauled off at half-time – no broken ankle or marital trouble to excuse this England international’s absence from the pitch after the interval. Ancelotti’s assistant, Ray Wilkins, confirming it was a tactical decision to replace the attacker with Salomon Kalou.

It was Mikel’s lofted pass that sprung the Cardiff defence for Drogba’s second-minute goal, but the Nigeria international admitted that things were not right at half-time. Had he been unaware of this fact it seems his manager would have made things crystal clear.

“Normally he’s pretty laid-back. But when things are not going right, that’s when he goes a bit mad. But apart from that he’s very laid-back, a very cool person,” the midfielder said. “We don’t like seeing him like that. So we like to do things right.”

In his programme notes the Chelsea pitch’s absentee captain, John Terry, managed to thank the fans for their support and apologise in the opening two paragraphs. Thanks for the unwavering support and sorry for personally shipping those two goals at Everton in midweek. Sorry he may have been, but not sorry enough to line up in the fifth round of the FA Cup.

It was almost written in the stars that the captain’s replacement, Alex, would be at fault for Michael Chopra’s equaliser. The Brazil international inexplicably stopped running as Chris Burke’s in-swinging cross winged its way into the box. It was hard not to take note that the winger’s cross preceded the skinning of Yuri Zhirkov – Ashley Cole’s £16m understudy. To lose one world-class defender may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose two looks like ­carelessness.

England hope Cole will be picture perfect come South Africa and his club team-mates are just as keen to get him back – Mikel’s endorsement of Zhirkov was hardly resounding: “Ashley is a very ­important player for this team,” he said. “He is ­going to be a big loss for us. We have Yuri who can play there, but Ashley is a very ­important player. We feel really bad that this has happened to him at this stage of the season. It’s not good at any stage but now there are some big games coming up. But Yuri can do the job.”

Chelsea’s defence did look more solid in the second half, mainly because the attack located their claws and pinned their Championship opponents back. The imperious Drogba laid on goals for Michael Ballack and Daniel Sturridge (who has scored in every round of the FA Cup for Chelsea this season) before Kalou rounded off what morphed into a resounding victory with a neat finish under David Marshall.

J Cole’s replacement deserved a goal for a performance that added vibrancy to what had been a flaccid attack. Once more England fans will wait anxiously on the rehabilitation of a Chelsea player named Cole – this, however, is not as straightforward as ankle surgery. This, as Wilkins acknowledged, is a confidence issue.

“He is an entertainer and the supporters love to see him do his stuff,” Ancelotti’s ­assistant added. “For ­individualists like Joe in possession of the ball, it is a ­confidence thing. If certain things don’t go right then it is just one of those things. But we have no problems with Joe ­whatsoever.

“It is only a touch of confidence because he is trying to get back to feeling great. That is the first thing, feeling great, because when you are coming back from these injuries you end up with little niggles on the other side because you are overcompensating. Once Joe is up and playing he will be fine.”

Confidence deficiencies, ankle breaks and tabloid scrutiny … the lot of ­Chelsea’s England internationals is a rough one. ­Perhaps Frank Lampard should be ­bubble‑wrapped until June.

FA CupChelseaCardiff CityMikey Staffordguardian.co.uk

The decision over John Terry’s captaincy rests with his manager. Not since the Reformation has an Italian held such sway

It’s the biggest meeting between a Brit and an Italian since Henry VIII asked Clement VII for a hand with his marriage. And while it seems unlikely that this weekend’s sit-down between England captain John Terry and his manager Fabio Capello will result in a resettlement between church and state, you wouldn’t want to rule it out.

Terry, as you may be aware, is in trouble for certain indiscretions. A married man and father of two, Terry is alleged to have had an affair with Vanessa Petrocelli, the mother of former teammate Wayne Bridge’s child. There has been much toing-and-froing as to the consequences of this matter, what it says about England’s chances of winning the World Cup and the moral decline of this once great nation of ours. The responsibility for divining what the ultimate consequences should be, it has been decided, is to fall on Capello, and Capello alone.

“[John] is keeping his own counsel until he speaks to England manager Fabio Capello and then Mr Capello will decide what ­announcement will be made,” said Terry’s PR flak Phil Hall this week. The Guardian reported that the FA’s chief executive, Ian Watmore, and chairman, Lord Triesman, had officially determined that they would not get involved.

Normally, one would suspect a stitch-up in a situation like this – a determined bout of handwashing, leaving the foreigner to take the blame. Not that anyone would ever have asked Sven-Goran Eriksson to adjudicate on amorous faux-pas. But it seems that something different is happening this time around; the decision is being left to Capello because he knows.

Capello is currently treated with a respect greater than that afforded any public figure in the UK. Apart, possibly, from Judi Dench. Mr, or better, Don Capello is not only hailed for his achievements as a football coach, but for his qualities as a man. Here’s the estimable Martin Samuel writing in the Daily Mail:

“In times of crisis, we demand our leaders demonstrate all the patience of a white van man stuck behind a panicking learner driver on the outside lane of a dual carriageway. Capello, thankfully, is better than that. He is better than kneejerk, he is better than soundbite, he is better than crisis management on the hoof.”

Is he better than a bear or a lion in a fight? We may never find out. But currently, he is being ascribed the qualities that might have made Alexander the Great blush.

Officially, of course, the issue of what to do with Terry – specifically, whether to remove him from the England captaincy – will be resolved strictly according to “footballing criteria”. But you can’t help but get the feeling that more is desired of of this weekend’s capo a capo encounter.

I think there are certain people who are hoping that this 63-year-old, currently recovering from knee surgery, will decide whether what Terry did was acceptable – or not. That this stern, martial traditionalist will draw a line in the sand against the dissolute culture of which Terry is a symbol. That, even If Team Bridge is willing to forgive him, he will rule that Terry is not the right man to be lead our country into battle.

An Italian shriving the nation’s sins? Wonder what Big Henry would make of that.

John TerryChelseaEnglandFabio CapelloWorld Cup 2010Paul MacInnesguardian.co.uk