Capello faces meltdown
Fabio Capello faces an England captaincy crisis.
The Three Lions boss lost John Terry as skipper against his wishes when the FA board stripped JT of the armband over his criminal charge for racially abusing Anton Ferdinand.
Rio Ferdinand, Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard have been next in line to lead England.
But there are question-marks over all three.
Ferdinand, 33, says he does not want the job — and is not guaranteed a place in the team anyway.
Gerrard is favourite to take over. He was Capello's first skipper and led England at the 2010 World Cup when Terry lost the armband first time round and Ferdinand was injured.
Yet the Liverpool midfielder has struggled with injury this term and Capello is not convinced about him as a skipper, believing the captaincy takes away Gerrard's edge as a player.
Gerrard, 31, is aware of the manager's feelings — but he is prepared to do it if asked.
Wayne Rooney, 26, would have been another contender but he is suspended for England's first two games at Euro 2012 against France and Sweden.
And while Lampard and Gareth Barry have been captains under Capello, Lamps, 33, is likely to be only a squad player at the Euros and Barry cannot be certain of a starting place, either.
The captain needs to be someone who is guaranteed to be in the side — and must be approved but the FA as it is understood they will have the final say.
Last night there was a growing clamour to give the armband to Scott Parker.
Tottenham's scrapper has captaincy experience at West Ham and has also cemented his position as England's holding midfielder.
Joe Hart is another player sure of his place but it would be a surprise if Capello went for a keeper as his leader on the pitch.
Ashley Cole, capped 93 times, has never shown any interest in captaincy.
Ferdinand lost the job when Capello opted to restore Terry as skipper last March.
And in an interview to be screened on BBC's Football Focus today, the Manchester United defender is asked if he wanted the job back.
He replies: "Honestly, no. I've been England captain before for a brief period. It was taken away from me so I'm just going to concen-trate on playing for Manchester United."
Ferdinand does, however, want to be involved at Euro 2012 — especially as he has never played in the tournament.
Kevin Keegan left out the centre-back in 2000 and Ferdinand was suspended in 2004 over a missed drugs test. England failed to qualify four years later.
Ferdinand added: "Playing for your country is a great achievement and I always feel privileged to be selected. So if that comes up again I'd meet up happily and give my 100 per cent focus as usual."
Ferdinand also speaks about his brother Anton in the BBC interview. He believes the QPR player has been unfairly vilified as he did not make the complaint which led to the charge against Terry.
A spokesman for Rio's agents, New Era Global Sports, said: "Rio is as committed to England as ever but feels the captain's job is now for someone else."
The FA's decision to axe Terry as captain was criticised by his Chelsea boss Andre Villas-Boas and Arsenal's Arsene Wenger.
AVB said: "I have spoken to JT and of course he is disappointed.
"I don't know whether he is considering his position with England. That is a personal decision. But from Chelsea's perspective, this changes nothing.
"John will continue to be our captain and it will not affect his performances.
"He's been through a period like this before and came back to a level of great individual performances."
Wenger added: "I think it's the manager who names the captain.
"It is a difficult position for Capello to be in but some responsibilities should be left to the manager." - www.thesun.co.uk
Comments (0)