da luck： Having been appointed official captain of England, after temporarily sharing the honour with David Platt, Tony Adams led his country through an international tournament to the semi-final stage, a feat which has not since been replicated by any of his successors. Speaking on Glenn Hoddle’s decision to strip Adams of the armband in favour of Alan Shearer, the ex-Arsenal skipper conceded to a fans’ forum in 2008: “I have some resentment over the way Glenn Hoddle gave the captaincy to Alan Shearer instead of me but I can let that go. I reacted positively.” Although Adams’ attitude following the change was never questioned, England, spearheaded by Shearer, crashed out of France ’98 less than two years later in the first knock-out round.
da leao： Fast-forward to February 2010 and yet another England captaincy reshuffle. On this occasion, John Terry, denounced for his off-field misdemeanors, was removed as captain following a close association with what most regard as one of the lowest periods in the national team’s history. That said, Terry’s leadership qualities and status as one of Europe’s finest centre-backs never weakened. Since his initial appointment back in August 2006, Terry had guided Chelsea to two FA Cup triumphs, one Carling Cup, a Champions’ League final and been selected in UEFA’s Team of the Year on three occasions.
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The features which define Terry; his strength of character and ability to motivate others, should have surpassed his relationship with Wayne Bridge’s ex-girlfriend as justification for remaining captain. Unfortunately for Terry, Bridge’s position within the England set-up forced Capello to make a decision he otherwise shouldn’t have. It seems unlikely that Terry would have been punished to such an extent had it not been a relationship with a team mate’s girlfriend in question.
Capello, stirred by a widespread roasting of Terry in the media, opted to promote Rio Ferdinand to full-time captain, before reinstating Terry just over a year later. The Italian’s handling of the captaincy situation has come under heavy criticism, but for Capello, and perhaps more importantly, the England team as a whole, the means justify the ends. During the thirteen months Ferdinand was captain, England competed in thirteen matches with the Manchester United defender completing 90 minutes just twice; the unconvincing World Cup warm-up friendly against Japan and the goalless yawn-fest at Wembley against Montenegro last October.
What’s more, the most expensive British defender in history has had little impact on England’s more promising conquests since the capitulation in South Africa last summer, most notably away wins in Switzerland and Denmark, Ferdinand being absent for both. Whilst it remains to be seen whether Ferdinand will react to Capello’s change of heart in the same manner Adams did nearly a decade and a half ago, the decision to reinstate Terry has come at the right time, as England’s European Championship Qualification bid progresses from its earliest phase.
Capello will struggle to ever convince England fans of his man-management methods, this latest episode providing more evidence of his inability to keep the peace. But, having originally stated his indifference to the significance of the captain’s role – Italians traditionally awarding the responsibility to the squad’s oldest player – his reassessment should be vindicated, provided he stands by his captain this time round in spite of future offences Terry is likely to be accused of.
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