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
