Anyone who reads the blog on a regular basis will know where I stand on John Terry – God knows I’ve been slated for it often enough. When he’s fucked up over the years, I’m usually the first to have a go at him for it but whilst it’s ok to have an opinion on an offence he’s actually guilty of, I’ve never tried to hang him for a crime he’s yet to commit.
The FA have a different stance however because in spite of his trial for alleged racism not even happening until after the Euros, they’ve taken it upon themselves to punish him ahead of the verdict by stripping him of his captaincy again.
Not that I’m actually arsed about him being England captain one way or the other because I made it clear after the last fiasco my preference was for him to tell Capello where to shove it anyway. The point is though, he did accept it back – gladly – and as yet, hasn’t been proven to have done anything to warrant it being taken away again.
In spite of JT having a legal right to the presumption of innocence though, the FA have yet again bowed to pressure whipped up by what can only be described as a witch-hunt in the press. Of course, as far as Chelsea are concerned going forward, it’s probably not a bad thing. JT isn’t getting any younger or fitter and we’ll be delighted every bit of his effort will now be focused on his club rather than the country so keen to hang him (assuming he steps down internationally). For JT though, this will hurt far more than his pride.
Firstly, we all know what captaining his country means to him, he’s never made a secret of that. It was painful for him when his off-field antics cost him the captaincy last time but having served his time, he was given a second chance by Capello. So clearly, it’ll hurt to have that taken away again because of an as-yet unproven allegation.
Secondly though, in spite of the many character references he’s received in the wake of the allegation, the CPS seem to have got their teeth into this one and as I pointed out earlier this week, a lot seems to have been made of it simply because he is who he is.
In other words, he’s being made an example of – and the FA, have just set a precedent that could well hammer the first nail into that particular coffin.
Blue is the colour
