Players feel Terry went too far

JOHN TERRY was in danger of being left isolated within the England camp last night after senior team-mates reacted in dismay to his public call for a clear-the-air meeting with Fabio Capello following the side’s stuttering start at the World Cup.

The deposed captain had faced the media yesterday “on behalf of the team” and suggested he would head a group of players in expressing their concerns to the manager. The centre half named a group including the current captain, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard and Wayne Rooney, who had all stayed up in the wake of Friday’s dismal draw with Algeria to discuss the team’s shortcomings and their frustrations with the World Cup campaign to date.

Yet while the players may have agreed in principle with the need to air their opinions with Capello, there is a feeling within the group that Terry’s outburst went too far.

The defender clearly felt he had a mandate to speak for the squad, but his comments may ultimately serve to unsettle any sense of unity that Terry had originally hoped to be strengthening.

There have been murmurings of discontent from some at a perceived lack of preparatory work and a desire to switch to a 4-5-1 formation which would include Joe Cole.

There was dissatisfaction, too, in the way the staff dealt with the goalkeeping situation after Rob Green’s error against the USA, with matters not helped by the team being closeted away in their training camp for long periods.

Terry said: “With previous managers, I’ve stood up and others have done the same. It’s not one of those things where the manager calls the shots and that’s it. People have got this picture of him where you can’t say stuff in meetings. We have a responsibility to ourselves, to the manager and everyone else to voice an opinion and hope he takes it on board.”

GuardianService