THE ENGLAND manager, Fabio Capello, is to talk to Wayne Bridge as John Terry’s future as England captain hangs in the balance.
Capello is in Switzerland, where he has been recuperating from knee surgery, and is due back on Thursday. He intends to meet the England general manager, Franco Baldini, to discuss the furore that has erupted over Terry’s alleged affair with Bridge’s former partner, Vanessa Perroncel. Capello will then assess what damage has been done to the England set-up by the story.
Capello and Baldini are understood to be deeply disappointed by the latest revelations surrounding Terry’s private life. They have maintained that the 29-year-old’s professionalism in the England squad and on the pitch has never been in doubt, yet the possibility that the latest story could cause divisions within the national squad has serious implications for Terry’s captaincy.
The England coaching team will speak to Bridge, who moved to Manchester City a year ago and has separated from Perroncel, to judge his state of mind. Bridge released a statement over the weekend saying that the reports “deal with matters which are of a deeply personal and private nature” and saying that he did not intend to comment on the reports, for the sake of the couple’s three-year-old son.
The English Football Association is not commenting but while its chief executive, Ian Watmore, and chairman, Lord Triesman, are far from impressed, they are content for Capello to have the final say.
The Italian will speak to Terry before deciding what action to take.
Capello has some time in which to react, with the England squad not due to meet until a friendly with the Africa Cup of Nations winner Egypt at Wembley on March 3rd. But the Italian will go to Poland next weekend for the Euro 2012 qualifying draw and he is sure to be asked about the Terry affair.
Senior England players have been disappointed by Terry’s behaviour and it remains to be seen how Bridge – who was a Chelsea team-mate of Terry for five and a half years – might react to having to share a changing room with the centre-half. City’s players, though not the England midfielder Gareth Barry, wore T-shirts bearing the slogan “Team Bridge” during yesterday’s 2-0 win over Portsmouth. Bridge is recovering from a knee injury.
The Chelsea manager, Carlo Ancelotti, does not intend to strip Terry, a married father of twins, of the club captaincy, though he has urged him to “control his private life”.
Senior players are understood to have met the defender last week to make their feelings known. The Chelsea captain was stony-faced after scoring the winning goal at Burnley on Saturday.
Revelations of his affair are the latest controversy to blight Terry. A Sunday newspaper suggested in December that he had accepted £10,000 (€11,500) from an undercover reporter to conduct a tour of Chelsea’s training complex. England were surprised Terry had allowed himself to be placed in such a compromising position.
Perroncel has hired the publicist Max Clifford, who claimed she was “upset and desperate to know where all this stuff is coming from”.
“There are things in there that she is not happy about and she said were totally untrue,” said Clifford.
Former England captain Alan Shearer described Terry as a “fantastic leader”. He said: “We do not know all the facts, so it would be wrong to suggest anything. What I do know is that John Terry is a fantastic leader and a very good footballer.
“I do not know him as a person – I have just played against him. Only John Terry and Fabio Capello will be able to tell in the coming weeks if it (the allegations) affects the captaincy.”
After the game at Turf Moor on Saturday, Terry remained stony-faced amid claims that he had an affair with the ex-partner of his former team-mate Wayne Bridge. He refused to comment on the allegations that he had cheated on wife Toni.
The pressure on him was exacerbated yesterday by extensive coverage in Sunday newspapers about his alleged relationship with Perroncel.
Guardian Service
