Terry stripped of England captaincy - Capello keeps his promise

On Friday 5th of February 2010 John Terry lost the ultimate honour to be bestowed upon an international footballer - he was sacked as captain of the England Football Team. Since last week Terry's name has been dragged through the press and people across the world have been waiting with baited breath to see whether the footballer's alleged indiscretions would lead to him paying the ultimate price.

The decision was reportedly confirmed after a 10-minute meeting with Terry where presumably he was challenged by Fabio Capello to prove why he should keep the armband. England's manager gave Terry a final appeal to explain himself and the inability to convince Capello will surely open the floodgates on the whole scandal. Various tabloids are seemingly prepping themselves to truely destroy Terry and by stripping him of his captaincy Capello and the FA have taken away his last layer of protection.

Is it a good decision? On the one hand England are a mere five months away from a World Cup where, after a very impressive qualifying campaign (under the leadership of John Terry), the team is positioned as one of the favourites for the tournament. The squad has a plethora of talent but also has balance giving England a real shot at World Cup glory. Taking the captaincy away from Terry and giving it to the experienced Rio Ferdinand will not have a great deal of impact on the performance of the side. However, what could have an impact will be the relationship between Terry and his teammates. He remains one of the best defenders in the country and he will surely keep his place within the side which will mean all within the squad will have to get past the news that has dominated UK press for the last two weeks. Some will be sympathetic to Terry, others will not be and Capello may have an even harder decision to make dependent on whether he sees Terry's presence within the squad as unsettling. The England squad will meet up in late February ahead of the Egypt friendly at Wembley on March 3rd and Capello will need to quickly rebuild what is very possibly a split team. If the revelations continue and other players, especially if they are other England players, are involved then the hugely sucessful Italien could have a real problem on his hands - only time will tell.

With regards to the decision on captaincy, Capello made the right decision. If the allegations are true then Terry in no way deserves the honour of leading the England football team. He is not just a leader on the pitch, he is supposed to be an ambassador for England. Capello has also always acted in way that makes it very clear that he won't accept any messing around - anything that puts team performance or morale in jeopardy will be not be stood for and his sacking Terry has not only sent an important message the player but also to the wider squad. He will not allow anything to get in the way of him successfully doing his job which is exactly the sort of manager England have needed for many, many years.