Terry bolstered by Pearce backing over ´witch hunt´

John Terry’s hopes of hanging on to his position as England captain have been bolstered by public backing from Stuart Pearce, one of the national team’s coaches, who described the furore over the defender’s alleged extra-marital affair as a “witch hunt”.

Head coach Fabio Capello is expected to decide by the end of this week whether to strip Terry of the captaincy in the wake of reports that the married 29-year-old had an affair with model Vanessa Perroncel, the former partner of international team-mate Wayne Bridge.

Pearce, who coaches England’s under-21s as well as helping Capello with the senior squad, said: “The one thing I would say is John Terry is a fantastic captain, in footballing terms on and off the pitch I think he is a selfless professional and his form is fantastic for his country.

“So I’m not a big lover of witch hunts of people which I’m afraid our country tends to follow a little bit these days.

“The bottom line is John, his family and everyone concerned in the matter – it’s a matter for those people and not the likes of other people who haven’t got a vested interest in what goes on.”

Capello arrived back in England on Thursday after recuperating from a recent knee operation in Switzerland and was expected to meet Terry and make a decision on his future before Sunday’s draw for Euro 2012 qualifying in Warsaw.

The Italian faces a tricky judgement over how to respond to a situation which has divided opinion in England to the extent that he will be severely criticised whatever course of action he takes.

Terry’s alleged affair has resulted in him being pilloried, in the words of one columnist, as a “five-star scumbag” while numerous football figures have accused him of breaking a dressing room taboo by getting involved with the former partner of Bridge.

As Dave Bassett, the former Wimbledon and Sheffield Utd manager, put it: “I’ve had players who have left their missus or had bits and pieces on the side but they’ve not gone off with a team-mate’s bird. That’s crossing a line and where it comes unstuck with Terry.”

Capello could opt to take the view that events in Terry’s private life are none of his business and have no bearing on the player’s role with England.

But that line may be untenable if — as has been reported — Bridge is not willing to be part of an England squad led by Terry.

On the other hand, if he decides to drop Terry in order to accommodate Bridge, Capello will be accused of undermining England’s chances of winning the World Cup in South Africa later this year.

Bridge, who is currently England’s second-choice left-back but by no means assured of making Capello’s final squad for the World Cup, has not made any public comment.

Terry has so far resisted calls for him to resign the captaincy and issued a statement on Tuesday saying he would not be making a decision before he had spoken to Capello.

Perroncel, who has a son with Bridge, is reportedly considering an offer of 250,000 pounds to sell her story, raising the possibility of further revelations in the run-up to the World Cup.

Reports of Terry’s infidelity were published after a High Court judge lifted an injunction on the media barring disclosure of the alleged affair, ruling that it could not be justified under current English law.

Max Mosley, the former Formula One boss who successfully sued the News of the World in 2008 over revelations about his private life, said the case demonstrated the need for stricter privacy laws in Britain.

“What people tend to overlook is the awful effect of this sort of thing on the families and on the individuals,” Mosley said.

“It’s all very well to say they shouldn’t do it. The fact is people do do these things. The question is whether it should be made public.”