• Chelsea manager laments how ’social stories’ dominate game
• Captain ‘amazing’ not to let court case affect performances

André Villas-Boas believes the furore around the John Terry racism allegation is leaving a blemish on the image of the English game. “It is an unfortunate event, with consequences, and it doesn’t dignify British football, to be fair,” said the Chelsea coach in the aftermath of another controversial development as Terry was stripped of the England captaincy.

As Villas-Boas spent another press conference assailed by questions which relate to matters that have little to do with Chelsea’s match against Manchester United on Sunday, he lamented the way “social stories” dominate the agenda in English football.

“I think in the Premier League there is always a pattern of these kind of stories appearing, what each player does outside of the pitch,” the Chelsea manager said. “We had it in various different cases, we and other clubs. We have to let the people get called to court and the court to make the necessary decision.”

Managing a squad whose most influential player has been at the centre of such a sensitive issue – which has been debated across the media, inside every football stadium Chelsea visit, in Football Association meeting rooms and courtrooms as Terry still awaits trial – has been an eye-opener for a man trying to make headway in his first season in England.

Villas-Boas admitted there is very little to prepare a coach for how to deal with all the ramifications of the kind of social stories which have also ramped up the pressure at Liverpool and Manchester United over the Luis Suárez-Patrice Evra case and Manchester City with the Carlos Tevez predicament.

“It comes with the job and, as you gain experiences, you know how to deal with it better,” he said. “On that sense John has been amazing in terms of his off-field events not affecting his on-field performances.”

Villas-Boas suggested that Terry’s capacity apparently to thrive on adversity has in a perverse way suited Chelsea, and he sees no reason why the same would not apply for England, should Fabio Capello continue to select the centre-back. “For us, we benefit. Hopefully for his country it will continue to be the same. I’m not saying it fuels him, that he needs negativity, but he has been outstanding,” Villas-Boas said.

A knee injury rules Terry out of action this weekend. But fitness permitting, the coach has no qualms about playing him as soon as possible. Chelsea are adamant they will stand by their undisputed captain until there is any reason arising from his trial to do otherwise.

It is hard to imagine a more challenging debut season in an overseas league for a young manager but Villas-Boas broke into a wry smile as he paused to reflect on the experience so far. “It’s exciting and adventurous and magnificent – at the moment,” he said. There is no doubt that Chelsea’s position off the Premier League pace rankles, however. “There was a click of two games that made us lose track. And because we had so many emotions going on for that particular game against QPR and the impact it had on us for continuing to challenge for the title, I am sure I would come back again at the end of the season and say that was the key for us not to be champions.

“We should have a lot more points, that’s the reality, which is why there is that heaviness of a year that is not going well. We need to find a sequence of results to make us explode.”

Despite the inroads made by Manchester City this season, Villas-Boas believes United remain the benchmark. “I think so, bearing in mind the injuries they had which are now returning. I think they will be the ones to beat. Although the distance to Man City is equal to nothing, they will be the main favourites.”

ChelseaAndré Villas-BoasJohn TerryAmy Lawrence
guardian.co.uk

Taking away John Terry’s armband but letting his trial be delayed isn’t the way to show that racist abuse is a serious charge

The FA’s decision that John Terry should no longer be England captain is the right one, but for the wrong reasons.

Any suggestion that he might be distracted from the job at hand, leading England at Euro 2012, simply doesn’t add up. Terry is captaining Chelsea week in, week out, with no obvious impact on his ability to put in the crunching tackles and well-aimed headers, plus the gutsy leadership on the pitch he is rightly renowned for. Likewise, if it is suggested his England captaincy under the cloud of the forthcoming trial for racist abuse might harm the image of English football, then what is he doing captaining one of the most high-profile teams in our League and about to recommence their Champions League campaign too?

No, today’s decision by the FA is a model of indecisive action. The alleged incident took place at a game in October 2011. Almost two months later the Crown Prosecution Service decides there is sufficient evidence for a case to answer. Another two months on and finally the case came to court this week only for it to be announced that the trial will be delayed until after Euro 2012, on July 9 – nine months after the alleged incident.

Various reasons have been given for the delay, the main one being that Terry, Anton Ferdinand and the various witnesses likely to be called were too busy playing football. The danger is that this seems to suggest the offence of racist abuse of a player isn’t that serious, and can wait until the end of the season to be sorted out. But it is unlikely this would be a drawn-out case – it should take a week or a fortnight at most – and if it had gone to trial at the end of this month, when England are due to play a friendly match, perhaps only one or two games at most would have been missed. Why couldn’t the FA have had a loud word in the ear of both clubs – whose concerns over players being called both for the defence and prosecution influenced the judge’s decision to postpone the trial – and made it clear that they expected this issue to be dealt with quickly, and that dragging it on would do nobody any favours.

Instead we have today’s messy decision, for which the only plausible explanation is that the FA fears that if Terry were convicted, England would have been captained at the Euros by a proven racist.

This case should have been dealt with in the same way any public servant accused of racial abuse would be treated: immediately suspended on full pay and given the opportunity to clear their name as quickly as possible. A Premier League footballer, particularly one who represents his country too, should be no different from a teacher, a nurse, or a policeman. They take all the riches earned via becoming a “role model”; and should therefore accept the responsibilities too.

Decisive leadership by the FA would have helped force the pace of both the investigation and date of the trial from the start. We’ve been treated instead to anything but.

And where does this leave us now? Most thought football had moved on decisively from the racism it indulged in the 1970s and 1980s. The game even seemed ready to grapple with the complexities of exclusion that, for instance, have left us with just two clubs out of the 92 in the Premier and Football Leagues with black managers. But instead we are left questioning whether football is as serious about kicking out racism as we once thought it was.

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John TerryRace issuesThe FAChelseaEnglandPremier LeagueMark Perryman
guardian.co.uk