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John Terry: England Captaincy Welcome News?

Everything pointed to Fabio Capello naming Rio Ferdinand permanent England captain today. He’s transformed himself into a player befitting captaincy both on and off the field, he seemed to be the preferred choice around the country (if you take out West London) and he was heavily tipped in the press.

I’d certainly leaned towards Rio being given the nod earlier this week and if I’m honest, with my England head on, it’s a decision I wouldn’t have argued. So, the announcement that Chelsea captain, John Terry, has retained the England captaincy came as a bit of a surprise.

I’ve already looked at what each player does well and maybe not so well and on balance, Rio came out the more favourable at this moment in time. Capello obviously didn’t agree but I’ve no doubt at least half the country will question his choice.

Obviously it’s hard not to be biased because I’ve always considered JT an excellent Chelsea captain, so from that stand-point it looks like the ideal appointment. JT as captain, Rio as a more than capable vice-captain and Stevie Me dropped from the captaincy set-up altogether. But, putting Chelsea aside for a minute, what sort of arguments does Terry’s appointment raise?

Well, some would say that two years ago, Terry was given the armband by Steve McClaren – a period of captaincy that ultimately ended in his failing to lead England to qualify for Euro 2008. So, is Capello taking a risk here or will JT be determined to make amends for that failure? On that subject, Terry states “I think I have learned from the disappointment of not qualifying that we have to concentrate on the early stages. This is another chance for me, it is an opportunity to captain a winning team. Let’s not talk about winning the World Cup. We just need to qualify. Our target has to be solely on qualifying for the World Cup. We have the squad to do it and we now have to show that on the pitch. It’s in our hands to do it”

And what of the questions around Terry’s inability to keep his emotions in check? Not even looking at discipline here, because personally I think the Chelsea captain had started to address this towards the end of last season and I’ve no doubt his profile (not to mention the new Chelsea boss) will dictate he continues to do so this season. But what about his tears in the face of defeat? I mean, personally I’d be exactly the same (and was) after something like the Champions League final, but then I’m hardly in the Terry Butcher mould. And whilst most of us at Chelsea took those scenes as a sign of his complete devastation at failing the club he loves, what does that say to his team-mates? After all, I’ve criticised players like Gallas on many occasions for not being there for his players in defeat as well as victory.

However, Terry would argue that his devastation following the Champions League defeat might actually have worked in his favour, particularly when it came to leading England to victory over the USA so soon after. Terry says “It showed my character to the manager. To bounce back the way I did after that huge disappointment showed what kind of person I am. Maybe that persuaded him.”

Well, whatever it was that swung it in his favour, Terry has said it means the world to him to have retained the captaincy. Following the announcement today, Terry said “To get the armband back is a huge achievement for me and makes me very proud once again. The manager called everyone together and told the squad as a whole. I was a little bit shocked. Rio has been in awesome form for Manchester United so for me to get the armband ahead of everyone in the squad is a massive achievement. I had heard little whispers that Rio had got it so I was shocked.”

I doubt he was the only one. And whilst he leads England out at Wembley in tomorrow’s friendly against the Czech Republic there’s very little doubt he’ll be a lot happier than half of the country he represents.

 

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